Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Buffalo Bills CB Josh Norman tests positive for COVID-19.
The Buffalo Bills will be without four players in Week 10 when they take on the Arizona Cardinals. The team announced that cornerback Josh Norman tested positive for COVID-19 and will not play on Sunday.
Due to safety precautions, other players also out along with Norman includes tight end Tyler Kroft, cornerback Levi Wallace and safety Dean Marlowe.
Check back for updates…
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Arizona Cardinals questions ahead of Buffalo Bills’ Week 10 meeting.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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Buffalo Bills, Arizona Cardinals matchup to watch ahead of Week 10.
The Buffalo Bills face another NFC West opponent in Week 10 in the Arizona Cardinals. The Bills (7-2) are going to put their best foot forward in this one like they do every game, but following this one, Buffalo heads into their bye week.
Because of that, the Bills will want a win more than ever, but the Cardinals (5-3) will want to bounce back from a loss, too. Should setup for a good showdown, and what could make the biggest difference is the games within the game.
With that, here are three matchups to watch for in Week 10 as the Bills take on the Cardinals:
Uniforms for Buffalo Bills, Arizona Cardinals uniforms and jersey for Week 10.
The Buffalo Bills are traveling down to the desert for their Week 10 meeting.
In doing so, the Bills (7-2) will sport a white and blue style… White uniforms on top of blue pants will be the look against the Arizona Cardinals (5-3) on Sunday:
Desert threads. 🔥#BUFvsAZ | #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/U6QgFMQQXy
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) November 11, 2020
It’s not clear exactly which uniforms the Cards will wear. It’s likely to include red on white or red on red. Last week at home, the Cardinals went red on white against the Dolphins like this:
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Buffalo Bills vs Arizona Cardinals prediction, game preview, and fantasy player to watch.
Buffalo Bills vs Arizona Cardinals prediction, game preview, and fantasy player to watch.
Date: Sunday, November 15
Game Time: 4:05 ET
Venue: State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ
Network: CBS
[jwplayer MfQRqIda]
– All of the CFN Fearless Predictions
For latest lines and to bet on the NFL, go to BetMGM
The Bills have to get Josh Allen hot early again.
They didn’t forget about the running game in the dominant win over Seattle, but Allen was too good. The team’s energy was there from the start, the defense forced four takeaways, and it was the type of win that proved it could play any style.
Arizona doesn’t mess around. It’s going to be versatile, balanced, and it’ll put up 400 yards without breathing hard. The team lives off of moving the chains and coming up with a whole lot of easy first downs thanks to Kyler Murray’s all-around game, but it’s not a great third down attack.
Buffalo is.
The O has hit its stride at just the right time.
It was great to start the season, had a few dud games, and it’s been all but unstoppable over the last month thanks to a killer running game that’s second in the NFL.
Buffalo can be run on, allowing 100 yards or more in four straight games before dealing with the Seattle attack that had to throw and throw some more. Â The home loss to Miami last week was strange – the team played well, but couldn’t get control of the game. The Cardinal running game will take over this week.
RB Chase Edmonds, Arizona
It’s still Kyler Murray’s offense and ground game, but other parts will get more work. Edmonds disappointed last week in his first featured role of the season against a solid Dolphins D. With Kenyon Drake likely out another week, Edmonds will like receive 20 carries and 5+ targets against the normally porous Bill run D.
Arizona will shake off the dud loss to Miami by getting the offense cranked up early in a wild and fun shootout. The Bills found another gear after a few shaky wins, but three turnovers and the inability to stop Murray in the open field will be too much to overcome.
Enjoy this. There will be over 1,000 yards of total offense.
Arizona 37, Buffalo 34
Bet on Buffalo vs Arizona with BetMGM
Arizona -2.5, o/u: 56.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2.5
5: Alex Trebek
1:Â “Who are three people who have never been in my kitchen.”
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Buffalo Bills, Arizona Cardinals things to watch in Week 10 and prediction.
The Buffalo Bills fared well against the AFC East, topping the Jets and Patriots, respectively, for two-straight wins. Last weekend, the Bills went on to beat the Seahawks as well.
Not only are the Bills looking for their fourth-straight win, it would go down as another streak with a win over the Cardinals on Sunday, it’d be a second-straight win over a NFC West opponent.
Will the Bills (7-2) go streaking with the win over the Cardinals (5-3)?
With that, here are six things to watch for and a prediction ahead of Week 10’s Bills-Cardinals contest:
Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott on Week 10 meeting with Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals.
The Bills are fresh off a challenge against Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and now in Week 10, the team is preparing to face another dual-threat dynamo in second-year pro Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals.
Both Wilson and Murray do get the job done with their arm and legs, but no one uses the latter quite like the Cardinals QB. Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott said via video conference on Wednesday that his team is going to have be a little extra unique this week to handle this opposing quarterback.
“He’s a special athlete and quarterback, so we’ll get creative,” McDermott said. “I’d say this one is the most mobile we will have faced at this point… They are an explosive offense and we’ve got to be on our game defensively.”
According to Next Gen Stats, Murray’s evaded pressure at a rate just over 28 percent in each of his first two seasons. In total, Murray has 543 rushing yards this season as well.Â
But in terms of passing, Murray does that great, too. He enters the matchup with a QBR of 77 and a 68.1 completion percentage. Murray’s 11th in the NFL in touchdown throws (16) and 12th in total passing yards (2,130).Â
And if the numbers weren’t enough, Murray’s not lacking on confidence, either… And Murray feels that way for good reason. Halfway through the 2020 season, he’s on pace to have the first 4,000-yard passing, 1,000-yard rushing season in NFL history.
“Whenever I’m on the field, I feel like I’m the best player on the field,” Murray said Wednesday via video conference. “I always have the ball in my hands. It’s my job to lead the offense down the field and put touchdowns up.”
Under McDermott, the Bills have had a degree of success defending these types of quarterbacks, though. Buffalo provided the rest of the NFL with a blueprint for containing Lamar Jackson last season against the Ravens along with the prior mentioned Seahawks outing last week.Â
Nonetheless, the Bills will have their work cut out for them with Murray.
“The speed and quickness element is off the charts” McDermott said. “When you watch it on film, when you watch it on TV, you can see the difference and we’re talking elite athletes that are around him.”
In containing Murray, Buffalo’s secondary will also have their hands full with weapons outside such as receivers DeAndre Hopkins, Larry Fitzgerald, Christian Kirk and Andy Isabella.Â
But again, the Seahawks were similar. DK Metcalf is the second-best receiver in terms of yards in the league and the Bills did enough to win last week vs. the likes of him and Tyler Lockett. The Bills did give up 34 total points, but there was one big thing that went right: Turnovers. Buffalo safety Jordan Poyer hinted this week on his video conference that more of the same will be needed against the Cards.Â
“You’ve got to be able to contain the quarterback and not let him out of the pocket. Then when the opportunity presents itself, he’ll try to make some throws on the run, we’ve got to make plays on the football,” Poyer said.Â
If the Bills can employ a defensive scheme tailored to the Cardinals that contains Murray’s big-play running ability as they did with Jackson and others, Buffalo may have the edge in the matchup on Sunday.
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Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott on Arizona Cardinals DT Jordan Phillips.
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If there’s one thing the Buffalo Bills learned about defensive tackle Jordan Phillips during his tenure in Orchard Park, it’s how he feels about his former teams.
A second-round pick of the Dolphins, Miami cut Phillips in 2018 and the Bills claimed him. Phillips had some issues with their coaching staff at the time and whenever the Bills and Dolphins faced off after that, Phillips played with an extra gear.
Having seen that first hand, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott on Wednesday admitted that he plans to get the best of the 28-year-old in Week 10 when the Bills visit the Arizona Cardinals.
“Very, very talented player. We were sorry to see him go,” McDermott said. “Nice to see things work out for a player that came here and was able to go and make things for his family and life better.”
“A lot of respect and appreciation for Jordan. He’s going to play… he always preforms great against his former teams, I’m sure he’ll be highly motivated. He’ll be a big challenge for us as well.” McDermott added.
But that’s if Phillips plays, too. As of Wednesday afternoon, the defender was not practicing with his team. He did play in Week 9, but previously had a hamstring issue. It remains to be seen how he progresses throughout this week.
Assuming Phillips does get on the field, by comparison, he actually doesn’t have the type of “bad blood” toward the Bills like he does toward the Dolphins. A bit of a positive for the Bills this week.
After his half season start with Buffalo in 2018, Phillips re-signed with the Bills via a one-year deal. He bet on himself in Buffalo and cashed in on that this offseason, signing a three-year, $30 million deal in Arizona.
Sure, Phillips could be motivated to show he was worth that, but there’s no hate. At last season’s locker cleanout day, Phillips said he was open to coming back to the Bills, but of course, there’s the business side which led him to the Cards.
After signing with the Cardinals, he even tipped his cap to the Bills, too.
“I had a lot of opportunities to get more sacks and be more productive. Buffalo did a real good job of utilizing my talents and they reaped the benefits of it last year,” Phillips said in April. “Arizona was somewhere if it didn’t work out with Buffalo that… Arizona would be a place to be. They’re a young, talented team, kind of how Buffalo was.”
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Buffalo Bills, Arizona Cardinals injury reports from Wednesday ahead of Week 10.
Here are the first full injury reports for the Buffalo Bills and Arizona Cardinals on Wednesday ahead of their Week 10 meeting at State Farm Stadium:
Morse did not play in Week 9. … White, Winters and Ford were injured last week. … Feliciano did not miss any playing time last week but was listed with an injury.
Drake and Kirkpatrick did not play in Week 9. … Phillips did play last week but missed the game prior with the hamstring issue. … Baker is a new addition to Arizona’s injury list.
Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Mitch Morse injury update via Sean McDermott.
The Buffalo Bills are trending toward having their healthiest offensive line this week out in the desert as the team travels to Arizona to face the Cardinals in Week 10.
Throughout the early parts of the season, the Bills were without Jon Feliciano (pectoral) for an extended period. More recently, Cody Ford (knee/ ankle) and Mitch Morse (concussion) have also been sidelined. But now, there’s some positive updates starting with the latter.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott said on Wednesday via video conference that Morse has cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol and will practice as the team starts their prep for the Cardinals this week. Morse did not play in Week 9’s 44-34 win over the Seattle Seahawks after he sustained that injury in Week 8 against the New England Patriots.
In addition, McDermott said on Monday that all of the injuries the Bills suffered against the Seahawks were considered “day-to-day.” That includes Ford, who was carted off with an ankle injury. Ford was later spotted on Buffalo’s sideline in his gear but he did not return to the game.
If both guys can play against Arizona, Buffalo’s offensive line, from left to right, will likely be: Dion Dawkins, Ford, Morse, Feliciano and Daryl Williams. It would be the first time this season that the Bills had all of their No. 1, starting players, out there on the offensive line.
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