Tonight’s game has playoff-seeding implications with the winner getting the edge if both teams finish the season with similar records.
On Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals took care of business against the Houston Texans and improved their record to 7-0. For Week 8 though, it’s a short turnaround with a Thursday night match-up against the 6-1 Green Bay Packers on the slate. While the game is being billed as the best Thursday night match-up of all time, both teams will be shorthanded.
Green Bay will be without wide receivers Davante Adams and Allen Lazard as they both entered COVID protocols earlier this week.
Arizona will continue to be without their three-time Pro Bowl center, Rodney Hudson. Im addition, within the last 24 hours, it was revealed All-Pro defensive lineman J.J. Watt suffered a separated shoulder and may be out for the remainder of the season.
Tonight’s game has playoff-seeding implications with the winner getting the edge if both teams finish the season with similar records. Arizona also has the opportunity to make franchise history. In their 102-year history, they have never started a season with eight consecutive wins.
He will have played in only 55 of 97 regular season games from 2016 and on.
When the Arizona Cardinals signed defensive end J.J. Watt to a two-year, $28 million contract this past offseason, one of the big questions surrounding the three-time Defensive Player of the Year was his durability.
He played in all 16 games last season in 2020, but he also had missed a lot of time in previous seasons.
Now that his season might be over for the Cardinals after sustaining a shoulder injury that needs surgery, a trip to injured reserve seems inevitable.
When that happens, it will be his fourth stint on IR in his last six seasons.
Since 2016, he made it through a whole season only twice — 2018 and 2020.
He played in three games in 2016, five in 2017 and then 10 in 2019. If he does not play again this season, he will have appeared in only seven games.
Including this season, it means he will have only played 55 of 97 games in six seasons.
This was always going to be the risk.
Watt has certainly made an impact on the team this season, both on the field and in the building. But it is a huge blow to lose him.
He will still impact the team with his presence after his surgery but the Cardinals didn’t give him a $28 million contract to be a cheerleader.
The Cardinals aren’t likely going to get defensive line help via trade. They need the players in the building to stay healthy and step up.
Wednesday night brought terrible news for the Arizona Cardinals. Defensive end J.J. Watt’s season might be over because of a shoulder injury he sustained on Sunday and needs surgery.
Arizona faces the Green Bay Packers Thursday night in Week 8, their first game of the year without him.
It is an injury they certainly can weather, but if they are going to continue to play at the level they have through the first half of the season, two players will need to step up in particular.
They need a lot from defensive linemen Zach Allen and Jordan Phillips.
You can forget a trade for anyone significant. The Cardinals have almost no room under the salary cap.
They will naturally need Chandler Jones to be productive from the edge and he returns against the Packers, although he has not had a sack since Week 1, when he had five. They also need Markus Golden to continue playing at the level he has. He leads the team with six sacks and has four in the last two games.
But those two play outside. Watt was their best interior defender and was causing the most disruption on the team.
They certainly have talent on the defensive line without him, but now they really need both Phillips and Allen to be great.
Phillips is finally healthy. The Cardinals need him to be something like he was in 2019 with the Buffalo Bills, when he had 9.5 sacks.
Allen has struggled with health so far in his career. But when they drafted him, they saw him as a player who could do a lot of the things Watt can do. There have been flashes here and there, but too many times he has been invisible on the field.
They need tackles, pressures, batted balls, quarterback hits and sacks.
The help isn’t coming from outside the organization.
If the Cardinals are going to continue to be one of the best defenses in the league, then the defensive linemen they have left on the roster need to stay healthy and play up to their potential.
The Cardinals and Packers are on prime time Thursday night. Here is the info you need to watch or listen to the game.
Week 8 of the NFL season kicks off tonight with one of the best Thursday-night matchups we have ever seen. The 6-1 Green Bay Packers, winners of six straight, take on the 7-0 Arizona Cardinals in prime time on the national stage.
Both teams are well on their way to the postseason, leading their divisions, and have stars at quarterback playing at a high level this season. Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers is the reigning MVP while Arizona’s Kyler Murray is one of the favorites to win it this year with his play so far this season.
The Cardinals are doing it all well this year. They have a high-flying offense, averaging more than 32 points a game, and they have the league’s No. 1 scoring defense, allowing just more than 16 points per contest. They have beaten three of last year’s playoff teams on the road already by an average of 21 points.
Both teams are missing some star power in Thursday’s game. The Packers are unlikely to have receiver Davante Adams, as he contracted COVID-19 and is on the COVID list. The Cardinals ruled out DE J.J. Watt with a shoulder injury and he now needs surgery that could end his season.
Even with those players missing, this should be a must-watch game. Since you should be watching it tonight, here is the information you need to see it, stream it or listen to it.
When and where
Green Bay Packers at Arizona Cardinals, 8:20 p.m. ET (5:20 p.m. Arizona time), State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ
TV, streaming, broadcast team, coverage map
The game will air on FOX and on NFL Network with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman calling the game in the booth with Erin Andrews reporting from the sideline.
It also will air on Amazon Prime Video with multiple broadcast feeds. In addition to the main broadcast of Buck and Aikman, there is an all-female team of Hannah Storm and Andrea Kremer you can listen to, a Spanish feed with Jorge Perez Navarro calling the game or a scouts feed with Daniel Jeremiah, Bucky Brooks and Joy Taylor.
You can also stream the game live on FuboTV. Try it free.
It is a national broadcast. It is the only game being played and will air everywhere in the country.
Radio info
The Cardinals radio broadcast in English is on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. Dave Pasch and Ron Wolfley will call the game with Paul Calvisi reporting from the sideline. You can also hear the Cardinals’ broadcast on SiriusXM, on Sirius ch. 83, XM ch. 225 and on the SXM App.
The Spanish broadcast for the Cardinals airs on KHOV 105.1 FM. Luis Hernandez and Rolando Cantu will call the game.
There is a national radio broadcast for the game on Westwood One. Kevin Kugler and Kurt Warner will call the game. You can also hear that broadcast on SiriusXM, on Sirius ch. 88, XM ch. 88 and on the SXM App.
The local Packers broadcast will air on Milwaukee’s WTMJ 620 AM and on the 49 stations in four states that make up the Packers Radio network. Wayne Larrivee and Larry McCarren call the game. You can also hear the Packers’ broadcast on SiriusXM, on Sirius ch. 81, XM ch. 226 and on the SXM App.
Watt played through an injury against the Texans and now his season might be over.
The Arizona Cardinals know they will be without defensive end J.J. Watt Thursday against the Green Bay Packers, as he has been ruled out with a shoulder injury. It was a surprise, as there was no report of him getting hurt on Sunday against the Houston Texans.
According to Schefter, he injured his shoulder in the second quarter but played through it.
Now his season is in jeopardy.
No date has been set yet for surgery.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, he plans on having surgery as soon as possible and to rehab. Recovery is likely at least three months, which would go into the playoffs. However, as Rapoport notes, he has made quick recoveries before.
It is a big blow to the 7-0 Cardinals. While he has not had big numbers this season yet, he has been extremely disruptive.
Now the rest of the defensive line will need to step up in his absence to keep up the run they are having.
Check out the details for the final injury report for the Cardinals’ Week 8 opponent, the Packers.
The Green Bay Packers wrapped up their week of practice preparing for their Thursday night game on Thursday against the Arizona Cardinals. They released their final injury report of the week and could get some defensive starters back.
The Cardinals will be down a defensive line starter against the Packers.
The Arizona Cardinals released their final injury report of the week leading up to their Thursday night battle against the Green Bay Packers. While they have gotten two defensive players back, they will be without one important one on the short week.
Check out the latest edition of the podcast covering all the biggest stories about the Cardinals.
The latest episode of the podcast is out and is ready for your listening pleasure ahead of the Arizona Cardinals’ Week 8 game against the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night.
Revenge of the Birds’ Seth Cox and I look back at the Cardinals’ 31-5 win over the Houston Texans, discuss the injuries that show up on the latest injury report, debate whether the significance of the game against the Packers is diminished because of Green Bay’s COVID losses and then preview the game in terms of matchups and predictions.
Enjoy the show!
Enjoy the show with the embedded player above or by subscribing to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform, so you never miss a show. Make sure as well to give it a five-star rating!
The approximate timestamps for the topics of discussion are below.
(1:00) Intros, reactions to season overall and the win over the Texans
As good as the offense has been, the defense might be even better through half of the season.
Today’s NFL gives much more attention to high-flying offenses. The Arizona Cardinals have one of those units, having scored over 30 points in six of their seven games this season.
However, as impressive as the Cardinals’ offensive attack this year has been, the defense deserves at least as much attention.
The Cardinals were expected to be great offensively with the development of Kyler Murray and the addition of more talent on that side of the ball.
The defense, though, has been nothing short of shockingly good.
They dominate in basically every important metric.
They have allowed the fourth-fewest total yards.
They have allowed the fewest points per game in the NFL — the No. 1-ranked scoring defense.
They are No. 1 in third-down defense, allowing opponents to convert only 28.8% of the time.
They are No. 1 in fourth-down defense, allowing opponents to convert only 25% of the time and have a league-high 12 fourth-down stops.
They are No. 3 in pass defense.
They are No. 4 in passer rating allowed (remember that in 2019, they were dead last).
They allow the third-lowest passing yards per attempt in the NFL.
They are fifth in sacks with 19.
They have allowed the second-fewest rushing touchdowns in the league.
They are No. 1 in forced fumbles.
They are second in goal-to-go defense, allowing touchdowns only 50% of the time.
They are middle-of-the-road against the run, but that hasn’t mattered because of the offense. Teams aren’t really able to run the ball because they are trailing in games.
They have continuity in the system and more talent than in previous seasons.
The combination of their top offense and top defense, if this production continues, might make them the Super Bowl favorites by the end of the season.
The Cardinals have one former Packers player on their roster, while Green Bay has a pair of former Cardinals.
The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are set to play Thursday night at State Farm Stadium. They have not faced one another since 2018. However, there are some familiar faces to the teams as three players between the two teams used to play for the other in their career.
