The Buffalo Bills will visit an unfamiliar foe in Week 10 in the Arizona Cardinals.

In a situation like this, we have to do a little deeper diving to find out more about the Bills’ (7-2) upcoming opponent. So to find more about the Cards (5-3) we stepped behind enemy lines with Jess Root, managing editor for our friends over at Cardinals Wire, to learn more about Buffalo’s upcoming opponent:

Is there any chance there’s a way to slow Kyler Murray down? Is it as simple as keeping him in the pocket?

JR: Containing Murray has been a tall task for anyone this year, especially the last few weeks. It isn’t that simple. It is a combination of keeping him in the pocket and covering his receivers down the field. If down the field is taken away and so are the running lanes, he will check things down and if the defense can tackle those players with minimal gains, that is the key.

How has Jordan Phillips fared in his first season in Arizona?

JR: Phillips started off with two quick sacks to begin the year and has been disruptive. However, his effectiveness has waned as he has been playing with nagging injuries the last few weeks. He had to deal with the death of his father and has missed a lot of practice time the last three weeks. The hope is he will be better against the Bills.

It appears the last game or two haven’t been his usual high standards, but DeAndre Hopkins still seems as good as ever, so it’s safe to safe he’s on the same page as Kyler?

JR: Hopkins and Murray are working great together. They challenge each other. They are friends. Up until this week, Hopkins was the league’s top receiver statistically. Lately, though, the emergence of Christian Kirk has taken some of his targets. Hopkins is due a huge game again, so he is a player to watch.

We’ve chatted before about this, but the Cardinals’ secondary was historically awful before. Now better? What’s better in 2020 about this group?

JR: The personnel is better. Last season, instead of the expected rotation of Patrick Peterson, Robert Alford and Tramaine Brock to start the year, Alford was lost for the season, Peterson was suspended six games, making Brock the No. 1 corner. Byron Murphy was a rookie and had ups and downs, and then their third cornerback was Kevin Peterson or Chris Jones. Then, Patrick Peterson was bad until the last month of the season. They also got little pass rush and could not cover tight ends.

Peterson is not playing at an All-Pro level, but has been mostly solid. Dre Kirkpatrick was brought in to replace an injured Alford and Murphy is playing his more natural position in the slot. They upgraded their inside linebacker in De’Vondre Campbell and added Devon Kennard and now Markus Golden off the edge, as well as Jordan Phillips inside. It isn’t an elite unit but it is at least an NFL defense now.

Finally, who wins and why?

JR: This is going to be another shootout. I expect the Cardinals to start better but the Bills to come back. Murray and Allen have big games but the Cardinals will make a stop after taking the lead in the fourth quarter and come away with a 37-33 win at home.

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