Tag: Arizona Cardinals

NFC West predictions for the rest of the season; Kyler Murray MVP talk

A look at Kyler Murray’s MVP chances, Kelvin Beachum’s play and predictions for the rest of the season in the NFC West.

The Arizona Cardinals are coming off their bye week, so in the newest edition of the podcast, cohost Seth Cox and I didn’t have a game to review.

So we discussed quarterback Kyler Murray and his shrinking MVP odds, discussing whether he has a legitimate chance to win it, and what would need to happen for him to get it.

We talk about the play of tackle Kelvin Beachum and whether the Cardinals should replace him when Jonah Williams comes back from injured reserve this week.

Finally, we look at the remaining schedule for the entire NFC West and predict how many wins we think each team will end up having, and whether we think the Cardinals will ultimately win the division.

Enjoy the show!

Enjoy the show with the embedded player above or by subscribing to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or your favorite podcast platform, so you never miss a show. Make sure as well to give it a five-star rating!

Times and topics:

(1:00) Kyler Murray’s MVP chances

(24:53) Kelvin Beachum’s play

(35:02) NFC West predictions for rest of schedule

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Seahawks to wear navy jersey/gray pants combo in Week 12

Seahawks to wear navy jersey/gray pants combo in Week 12

The all-important uniform news for the Seattle Seahawks is finally upon us! On Wednesday morning, the Seahawks announced via their Twitter page they will be wearing the navy jersey/gray pants combo. It will be the first time this season they have worn this particular combo, as all their previous home games this year have been the all-navy or throwback look.

Overall, the Seahawks are 7-6 all-time in this uniform set. They went 2-0 in this combo last year, including a 20-10 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. Fitting, since the Cardinals will be visiting Lumen Field on Sunday.

Seattle first started wearing this combo at home during the 2021 season, a 30-23 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Before this past weekend, that game was the last time the Seahawks had defeated the Niners.

As I mentioned earlier, Seattle went 2-0 in these uniforms last year. A win over the Cardinals, and a thrilling 29-26 win over the Washington Commanders. Currently, the Hawks are on a five-game winning streak over Arizona. Perhaps these uniforms can keep the good vibes going for another week.

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Updated Cardinals practice squad in Week 12 after suspension, addition

The Cardinals had a practice squad player suspended and re-signed a tackle. Here is the updated practice squad for Week 12.

The Arizona Cardinals signed safety Andre Chachere to the practice squad on Monday but then made a move that perhaps was not expected. After linebacker Markus Bailey, who has been on the practice squad all season, was suspended six games for testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance, he was replaced by tackle Charlie Heck.

So the practice squad looks a little different than it did at the start of the week.

Here is the updated Week 12 practice squad roster:

Cardinals practice squad

  • QB Anthony Brown Jr.
  • RB Michael Carter
  • WR Andre Baccellia
  • WR Tejhaun Palmer
  • TE Bernhard Seikovits
  • OL Charlie Heck
  • OL Keith Ismael
  • OL Nick Leverett
  • OL Luke Tenuta
  • DL Anthony Goodlow
  • DL P.J. Mustipher
  • DL Ben Stille
  • OLB Ronnie Perkins
  • ILB Milo Eifler
  • CB Jaden Davis
  • CB Divaad Wilson
  • S Andre Chachere

These players are on the practice squad injured reserve:

  • OL Jackson Barton
  • DL Angelo Blackson

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

Cardinals bring back recently released O-lineman to practice squad

Heck was cut from the active roster to make room for starting right tackle Jonah Williams, who is coming back from injured reserve.

The Arizona Cardinals released tackle Charlie Heck on Monday and he cleared waivers Tuesday.

The team brought him back, signing him to the practice squad, filling the vacancy created with the six-game suspension of linebacker Markus Bailey for a positive test for a banned performance-enhancing substance.

Heck, who turned 28 on Wednesday, has appeared in seven games for the Cardinals this season, getting 30 total snaps on offense, sometimes as a tackle-eligible and, more recently, coming in to finish the game in a blowout win over the New york Jets.

He was released from the active roster because the Cardinals will activate tackle Jonah Williams from injured reserve and reinstate him to the 53-man roster. Williams injured his knee in the first quarter of the season opener and spent the last nine games and 10 weeks on IR.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

NFL makes decision about whether to move Cardinals-Vikings game to Monday night

After rumors and whispers that the Cardinals’ Week 13 game against the Vikings might get moved to Monday night, nothing will change.

The NFL has made a decision about the Week 13 Monday night game. The Arizona Cardinals will not see their Week 13 road game against the Minnesota Vikings moved to prime time.

The originally scheduled Monday night game, set to air on ABC and ESPN, was the 2-8 Cleveland Browns on the road against the 6-5 Denver Broncos, will not be flexed out in favor of another matchup.

The game between the 6-4 Cardinals, who lead the NFC West and the 8-2 Vikings, both teams in the thick of the NFC playoff race, which was one many believed could get flexed into the Monday night time slot, will remain on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

If the NFL was going to make a change in the Monday night game, they had to do so by Tuesday night.

So for Cardinals fans who already had travel plans to be in Minnesota for that game, those plans do not have to change.

The Cardinals and Vikings will play on Sunday, not on Monday.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

Cardinals linebacker makes statement about 6-game PED suspension

Markus Bailey received a six-game suspension after testing positive for a banned substance. He issued this statement about it.

Arizona Cardinals linebacker Markus Bailey, on the team’s practice squad, was suspended for six games under the NFL’s policy for performance-enhancing substances, has responded to the punishment in a statement by his legal representative.

The statement began, “It is with sadness and disappointment that Arizona Cardinals linebacker Markus Bailey accepts his suspension under NFL rules” and continued with a statement from Bailey:

“Anyone who knows me knows I would never have purposely taken any banned substance and that I’ve always been very intentional about what I put in my body. I’ve been tested countless times over the course of my NFL and college career and I’ve always been clean. I am accepting the suspension now so that I can put this behind me and get back to the locker room with my brothers as soon as possible this season. I have always been and will always be a clean athlete.”

Accepting it also makes sense on another level. Had Bailey appealed, there likely wouldn’t have been a decision until late in the season or even after it ended. In that case, if the suspension was upheld, some of the games or even all would have carried over until 2025, which would affect his pursuit of a contract because he will be a free agent.

If the Cardinals elect to keep him around, the suspension would end after Week 17, with one game remaining in the season.

The statement included comments from Oliver Catlin, anti-doping expert and President of Banned Substances Control Group (BSCG).

Catlin said, “The trace amount of the banned substance in his urine sample – at low picogram per gram levels—does not suggest a performance enhancing effect. This coupled with the fact Mr. Bailey tested clean less than a month earlier suggests the positive drug test likely came from inadvertent ingestion of a contaminated supplement or medication used between the negative and positive tests. We are continuing to do testing to hunt for the source.”

It ended with words from Bailey’s attorney, Rick Collins, Esq. He said, “The NFL has an unforgiving strict liability policy. Each athlete is responsible for whatever banned substance is detected no matter how it got there. Unlike some other sports, the NFL offers no reduced sanction for food or supplement contamination, which is a common concern. There is no threshold for most banned substances below which results are partially or fully excused in cases of inadvertent ingestion. We are investigating the source of the trace contaminant.”

Bailey’s spot on the practice squad was taken by tackle Charlie Heck, who had been placed on waivers Monday and cleared Tuesday.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

RT Kelvin Beachum has been lockdown pass blocker for weeks for Cardinals

The Cardinals get Jonah Williams back from IR this week. Will he or Beachum be the better option for the rest of the season?

The Arizona Cardinals will welcome back starting right tackle Jonah Williams this week from injured reserve and that presumably means he will return to the starting lineup, where he was to start the season before suffering a knee injury in the first quarter of the season opener.

But it is going to be hard to improve on the play of Kelvin Beachum, at least in pass blocking.

Beachum struggled in relief of Williams in Week 1, but has been fantastic since.

In Week 1, he allowed a pair of sacks and a hurry, according to PFF.

Since then, in eight games (he missed one game with a hamstring injury), he has allowed a total of one sack and one hurry and has been perfect (no sacks, no hits, no hurries) in the last five games.

He has been doing that next to a backup right guard in Trystan Colon, who is in the starting lineup because Will Hernandez suffered a season-ending knee injury.

Williams was the clear-cut starter before the season and there were major questions at right tackle based on Beachum’s play in Week 1. But now you wonder if Beachum or Williams would be the better option over the rest of the season.

We will see if Williams jumps right in this week and gets all the snaps on Sunday or whether the Cardinals will split time and ease Williams back.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

After bye, Cardinals remain in same spot in new Week 12 NFL power rankings

Have a look where the Cardinals rank in USA TODAY’s latest NFL power rankings.

The Arizona Cardinals did not play in Week 11 and also did not move in their place in the NFC West, remaining in first place and even gaining a half-game because the San Francisco 49ers lost to the Seattle Seahawks.

The Cardinals are now one game ahead of every other team in the division because they are 6-4 and the 49ers, Seahawks and L.A. Rams are all 5-5.

And, guess what? They also didn’t move in the latest NFL power rankings from USA TODAY’s Nate Davis. They hold at No. 10 overall.

The NFC West leaders come out of their bye with a one-game lead but two of their next three contests against Seattle, which has beaten the Cards in five straight.

Who is ahead of them? The Detroit Lions, Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Minnesota Vikings, Washington Commanders and Green Bay Packers. You know who the Cardinals lost to this season? Four of those teams — the Lions, Bills, Commanders and Packers.

Go figure.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

Cardinals lose linebacker to 6-game suspension

One of the Cardinals’ practice squad players has been suspended six games under the league’s PED policy.

The Arizona Cardinals have lost a linebacker for the next six games. First reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, practice squad linebacker Markus Bailey was suspended by the league for six games under the performance-enhancing substance policy.

Bailey had only played in one game, getting elevated to the active roster to play 16 special teams snaps in Week 7 when linebacker Owen Pappoe was hurt.

With seven games left in the regular season, he will be away from the team until after the team plays the Los Angeles Rams in Week 17.

A six-game suspension under the PED policy means he tested positive for a banned anabolic agent.

His suspension opens a spot on the practice squad, which the Cardinals used to bring back tackle Charlie Heck, who was cut on Monday, presumably so that tackle Jonah Williams could return to the roster from injured reserve.

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

 

Golden Tate believes the Seahawks can ‘shock the world’

Golden Tate believes the Seahawks can ‘shock the world’

It is simply amazing the world of difference even a single win can mean in the NFL. The Seattle Seahawks likely saved their season from going under with their 20-17 upset win over the San Francisco 49ers. It may only be a single win, but it was the difference between falling to 4-6 or improving to 5-5, which puts them right back in the middle of the NFC West hunt.

Folks around the league are noticing it, such as former Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate. On Good Morning Football, Tate explained how this team can potentially “shock the world” given the opportunity presented to them in the near future.

Namely, the Arizona Cardinals, who Seattle faces twice in the next three weeks. Including this weekend, for a crucial divisional showdown.

When Tate says the next few weeks could “make or break” the Seahawks’ season, he is not exaggerating. Arizona is the only team in the NFC West with a winning record, but they are only 6-4. Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco are all close behind with identical 5-5 records. In fact, the NFC West is the only division in football where not one team is below .500 on the year.

Facing the Cardinals twice in a three-week span is a tall order, but an excellent opportunity to potentially find a way to get back into first place.

Right now, the NFC Playoff picture looks like the North is going to send three teams to the postseason – Detroit, Green Bay and Minnesota. In the East, the Eagles look back to their usual winning ways, but the Washington Commanders are perhaps the shock team of the conference. Should all those teams qualify for the playoffs, then the only path for a West team to get in the dance would be to win the division outright.

So, why not Seattle? Like Showtime Tate said, it’s make or break time.

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