Cards Wire’s Jess Root and Titans Wire’s Mike Moraitis make their predictions for the Week 1 matchup.
Week 1 is here and the Arizona Cardinals will take on the Tennessee Titans for their season opener.
The Titans are slight favorites in the game, playing in their home stadium and coming off an 11-5 season in which they went to the playoffs and won the AFC South.
They averaged more than 30 points a game last season.
The Cardinals just missed the postseason with an 8-8 2020 record. They bolstered their offense with Rodney Hudson, A.J. Green and James Conner, as well as adding J.J. Watt on defense.
It should be a fun, close game.
How will it play out?
Titans Wire managing editor Mike Moraitis and I give our picks below. Read on!
The information you need to watch the Week 1 battle on TV or listen to it on the radio.
The Arizona Cardinals kick off their season on the road for the second year in a row. This time, they face the defending AFC South champion Tennessee Titans and their impressive offense.
Tennessee added wide receiver Julio Jones in the offseason. Jones, one of the best receivers in football for years, now joins receiver A.J. Brown, running back Derrick Henry, who has led the league in rushing two years in a row, and quarterback Ryan Tannehill in an offense that averaged more than 30 points a game last season without him.
The Cardinals also added big-name players. Receiver A.J. Green is now paired with DeAndre Hopkins. They traded for center Rodney Hudson and signed defensive end J.J. Watt.
Arizona has an explosive offense but believes they have a defense that can limit Tennessee.
It should be an exciting game. Here is now you can watch or listen to the game.
When and where
Arizona Cardinals at Tennessee Titans, 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. AZ time), Nissan Stadium, Nashville
TV, streaming, broadcasting team
The game will air on CBS. Tom McCarthy will call the game with Aaron Taylor in the booth.
You can also stream the game live on FuboTV. Try it free.
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.
The Spanish broadcast for the Cardinals airs on KQMR 100.3 FM. Luis Hernandez and Rolando Cantu will call the game.
The Titans Radio Network and Nashville flagship 104.5 The Zone will carry the game across the Mid-South with Mike Keith and former Cardinals head coach Dave McGinnis calling the game in the booth and Amie Wells reporting from the sideline.
Gardeck will have to miss at least the first three games of the season after suffering a hand injury.
The comeback for Arizona Cardinals linebacker Dennis Gardeck will have to wait a few weeks. After coming back from a torn ACL suffered last December and participating fully in practice on Wednesday, he is placed on injured reserve after suffering a hand injury. He will be out at least three weeks.
The team announced the move to place him on IR and added two players to the roster.
To replace Gardeck, linebacker Kylie Fitts was signed from the practice squad.
With receiver Antoine Wesley landing on the COVID reserve Friday, the Cardinals elevated cornerback Antonio Hamilton from the practice squad to the roster as a COVID replacement. He will likely be active on Sunday to play special teams.
With the elevation of Hamilton, it likely signals that rookie cornerback Tay Gowan will be inactive tomorrow.
The Cardinals lose 42-24 in a Madden 22 simulation of the Week 1 game. Kyler Murray is picked off three times in the simulation.
The Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee face one another in their season opener. How will it play out?
In a Madden NFL 22 simulation of the matchup of the two teams, it predicts a bad game from Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray and a big game from the Titans.
The simulation resulted in a 42-24 Titans win.
Murray had three touchdown passes but also was intercepted three times, twice by cornerback Kristian Fulton. The Cardinals also lost a fumble in the game.
The Titans got on the board first with a 44-yard touchdown run by running back Derrick Henry. He rushed for 131 yards and a score.
However, it was his backup, Jeremy McNichol, who had a big game. He had three touchdowns, two rushing and one receiving.
But receivers Julio Jones and A.J. Brown did not hurt the Cardinals at all. The star duo combined for five catches for 23 yards.
The Cardinals would tie the game at 7-7 but never led and trailed by as many as 21 points.
Murray had 234 passing yards three touchdown passes and three picks. He rushed for 15 yards. Chase Edmonds only had 27 yards on 10 carries.
Receivers DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green and Christian Kirk all had touchdown receptions. Kirk had seven catches for 61 yards to lead the team. Hopkins had six for 45 and Green had four of 32.
Rookie linebacker had an interception and defensive end J.J. Watt had two sacks.
If Sunday’s game goes at all like this simulation, it will be a long afternoon for Cardinals fans.
We go behind enemy lines with Titans Wire managing editor Mike Moraitis to learn more about the Titans.
The Arizona Cardinals are set to face the Tennessee Titans Sunday in Nashville. The Cardinals only play them once every four seasons, so they are not common opponents.
To help preview the game, Titans Wire managing editor Mike Moraitis answered some questions to give us more insight about the Cardinals’ first opponent.
These three key Cardinals veterans have been problems for the Titans in the past.
The Arizona Cardinals will need many players to step up on Sunday in their season opener against the Tennessee Titans. However, three Cardinals players have a history of playing well against them.
Cardinals linebacker Chandler Jones has had a sack in every season opener he has played for the Cardinals. He also has four sacks in three career games against the Titans.
Hopkins, who played the Titans twice a year while he was a member of the Houston Texans, has 83 catches and 1,313 receiving yards and seven touchdowns in 13 career games against them. He has had seven 100-yard receiving games against them.
Watt has 18 career sacks in 15 games against the Titans. In seven of those 15 games, he has had multiple sacks.
If the Cardinals get great play from all three players on Sunday, Arizona will likely be in a position to win the game and start the season 1-0.
If history repeats itself, we can expect a close, down-to-the-wire affair between the Cardinals and Titans on Sunday.
The Arizona Cardinals take on the Tennessee Titans this weekend on the road in Week 1. This inter-conference rivalry goes back to 1970 when the Cardinals were in St. Louis and the Titans were the Houston Oilers.
Sunday’s game will mark only the 12th game between the two franchises.
The Cardinals are 7-4 against the Titans and have won their last two against them and three of the last four meetings.
These games are often close. Their game in 2013 went to overtime. In fact, the last three games were decided by a total of 11 points and the largest margin was the Cardinals’ 12-7 win in 2017.
This was supposed to be a reunion game for CB Malcolm Butler. However, the Titans have two former Cardinals on their roster.
The Arizona Cardinals open the season Sunday against the Tennessee Titans on the road. It was supposed to be a reunion game for cornerback Malcolm Butler. He played the last three seasons for the Titans and then signed with the Cardinals after he was cut.
However, Butler will not get that reunion game because he suddenly retired before the season started.
The Cardinals have no other former Titans on their roster, but the Titans have a pair of Cardinals on theirs.
The Titans might have to use K Michael Badgley in Week 1 against the Cardinals, as Ficken suffered a groin injury on Friday.
The Tennessee Titans wrapped up their week of practice in preparation for their home opener in Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals. They released their final injury report of the week it got a little worse than Thursday.
One player was ruled out and four are questionable, including kicker Sam Ficken.
Linebacker David Long was ruled out with a hamstring injury. He was limited in practice both on Wednesday and Thursday but was unable to practice on Friday.
Ficken was a new addition to the injury report on Friday. He suffered a right groin injury and was limited in practice Friday. They added kicker Michael Badgley to the practice squad Friday and could be elevated to the roster Saturday if Ficken is unable to go.
Tight end Tommy Hudson (toe), cornerback Chris Jackson (hamstring) and receiver Josh Reynolds (foot) are also questionable for the game.
Hudson was unable to practice Friday after being limited on Thursday, the first time he appeared on the injury report.
Jackson was limited all week. Reynolds was added to the injury report Thursday and was limited both Thursday and Friday.
Receiver A.J. Brown (knee) was a full participant for the second day in a row after sitting out Wednesday.
Gardeck’s hand injury will keep him out of the season opener, while Antoine Wesley contracted COVID.
The Arizona Cardinals wrapped up their week of practice on Friday and released their final injury report of the week with game designations. They have two players ruled out.
Linebacker Dennis Gardeck sat out of practice both Thursday and Friday after he suffered a hand injury. He initially fully participated in practice on Wednesday with his recovery from his right knee injury from last season.
With Gardeck out, practice squad linebacker Kylie Fitts, whom the team protected from being signed elsewhere, likely will be elevated to the roster for Sunday.
Wide receiver Antoine Wesley was a new addition to the injury report Friday. He sat out with an illness and was ruled out.
Tight end Darrell Daniels, who was limited both Wednesday and Thursday with a toe injury, was a full participant Friday and has no game designation for his injury. He will be able to play.
