Tag: Cardinals vs. Colts

Cardinals at Colts: Kickoff, TV, how to watch, listen, stream

All the info you need to watch, stream or listen to the Cardinals take on the Colts.

The Arizona Cardinals continue their preseason schedule on Saturday with their second game. They face the Indianapolis Colts on the road, a team they held a pair of joint practices with in the week leading up to the game.

The starters for the Cardinals are not expected to play and the Colts will not play their starters. There are some things to watch in this game for the Cardinals and some rookies to pay attention to.

As they are on the road for this game, you surely will want to tune in.

Here is the info you will need to do that.

Colts at Cardinals schedule, kickoff

  • What: Arizona Cardinals at Indianapolis Colts
  • Where: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN
  • When: Saturday, August 17, 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. Arizona time)

How to watch Cardinals at Colts on TV

The game is not nationally televised. It will air in Arizona on Arizona’s Family (CBS 5). The Cardinals’ normal radio crew of Dave Pasch on play-by-play and analyst Ron Wolfley will be the TV crew for this game, while Dani Surek will report from the sideline.

Local TV coverage for the Colts in their home market will air on CBS 4. Greg Rakestraw and Rick Venturi will all the game with Lara Overton reporting from the sideline.

Streaming options for Cardinals at Colts

You can stream the game on Fubo TV (try for free).

How to listen to Cardinals at Colts on the radio

The Cardinals’ home broadcast will be on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. Paul Calvisi and Jay Feely will call the game.

The Cardinals’ Spanish broadcast will be on FUEGO 106.7 FM with Luis Hernandez and Irving Villanueva calling the game.

The Colts’ local radio broadcast in their home area will be on WFNI and WLHK with Matt Taylor and Joe Reitz calling the game and Jeffrey Gorman as the sideline reporter.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

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7 Cardinals rookies to watch in preseason game vs. Colts

The Cardinals’ rookies will be on display on Saturday as no starters are expected to play.

The Arizona Cardinals’ second preseason contest is Saturday evening at 7 p.m. ET. They face the Indianapolis Colts on the road following their two joint practices this week.

The Cardinals’ starters are not expected to play, just as was the case last week in their preseason opener against the New Orleans Saints, a 16-14 last-second loss.

The Colts’ starters and also backup quarterback Joe Flacco will sit this game out.

As is always the case in the preseason, individual player performances matter more than the actual final score, and the rookies will be on display in partciular

Heading into this game, who are the Cardinals rookies to watch?

CB Max Melton

Melton missed the preseason opener as he was just coming back from an injury. The second-round pick needs game reps and, if he is going to potentially win a starting job over Starling Thomas, he will need to play well. Thomas has been an offseason standout.

DL Darius Robinson

Robinson got early limited playing time against the Saints’ starters and looked good. A follow-up performance in his second game action will go a long way.

OL Isaiah Adams

Adams had a couple of really bad looks last week but looked pretty good in the run game. Check out to see whether he has any glaring mistakes in Indy.

RB Trey Benson

Benson run behind a line of backups against the Saints’ starters and it was evident. See if he can find any space and make plays in open space.

WR Tejhaun Palmer

Palmer had a bad game last week. He dropped a couple of passes. Will Game 2 be better?

OLB Xavier Thomas

Thomas was a bright spot last week. At a position that needs some pass-rushing juice, we will see if he can bring it again.

S Dadriono Taylor-Demerson

Didn’t “Rabbit” look like Budda Baker a couple of times with the closing speed from a distance to make a tackle? We will see if he looks as impactful again.

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.

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Cardinals-Colts: Avoiding overreactions and what to watch

Howard Balzer reminds us to consider player matchups and which Cardinals players to watch on Saturday.

The Arizona Cardinals play their second preseason game this weekend against the Indianapolis Colts following a pair of joint practices against them. The Cardinals’ starters will not play again and neither will the Colts’.

This audio update for the podcast by Howard Balzer focuses on what was seen and heard during the week in Indy and what is coming in the game.

He speaks of the need to consider context when players perform well or not well in joint practices and preseason games because the players they are facing matter.

He also gives a few players to watch for the Cardinals in the preseason matchup on Saturday.

Have a listen and enjoy this edition of 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!

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Cardinals player to watch vs. Colts: Edge rusher Xavier Thomas

Thomas stood out in the preseason opener. Can he follow it up with another strong performance?

Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Nick Rallis had a feeling that good things were on the horizon for rookie edge rusher Xavier Thomas.

Prior to the first preseason game against the Saints, Rallis said, “He’s really started to rip lately, which he’s got a skillset to do so. That’s one thing I really loved about him coming out. It’s like you could see the speed with this guy off the edge and he’s shown that he’s got to continue to improve with everything. Really hone in on those pass-rush skills, his cover drops in the run game, so I want to see the complete game. I wanna see a continual progression of improving in every aspect of his game.”

He did just that.

In 34 snaps (49 percent), the fifth-round pick had the Cardinals’ only sack of the game while having two quarterback hits. Thomas also had three tackles (two) that included a tackle for loss.

Could Thomas be one of the antidotes after the loss of edge rusher BJ Ojulari for the season and possibly quiet the panic that exists among fans that advocate for paying Haason Reddick as much as $25 million a year?

Only time will tell, but it’s clear the organization’s philosophy for building the roster is mostly through the draft.

Admitting that “my legs were shaking on that first play” against New Orleans, Thomas said, “Regardless of BJ going down or not, I knew I was going to come in here and make it a competitive level in regards to our room. I know the (talent) I have. I’m just comin’ in, growing each day and learning by the minute.”

While head coach Jonathan Gannon acknowledged that Thomas “jumped off the tape,” he emphasized how important it is for coaches to be patient when players arrive in the offseason after a long 10 months that includes the final college season, playing in an All-Star game, preparing for the combine and pro day, waiting for the draft to learn there they will live and play and then figure out how to be a pro while learning a new scheme and what coaches expect.

Gannon amplified that this week when we said, “My thing in OTAs, you gotta talk to people because you never know what’s going through somebody’s head unless you ask them. Sometimes you don’t get the truth all the time either. I just felt like he was, early in OTAs and maybe even earlier in camp, trying to just figure it out a little bit. When you’re trying to figure it out on the fly when the ball snaps, sometimes your physical traits don’t show up.”

Noting the things that “jumped off the tape,” Gannon said, “What I was impressed about with him is … Let it rip, cut it loose, whatever that means. I thought he did that. So that tells me that he’s comfortable. He’s not thinking. And now it shows what he can do physically and I think that jumped off the tape to me. Also what jumped off the tape about him is he’s doing what he’s coached to do, which for a rookie sometimes is hard. There are guys that are making some good plays, hanging in with technique and then, all of a sudden, you throw on the tape and say, ‘What are you doing? I mean, we don’t coach that.’

“And that’s just part about being a young guy. ‘I’m gonna try something new.’ No, you don’t do that. Just keep doing what you’re doing. And he did what he was being coached to do by (outside linebackers coach) Rob (Rodriguez). Rob’s done a good job with him to own it and here’s what you gotta do. Here’s what you need to execute. Mentally, I think, he’s taking steps and the physical toolset, rush ability, edge setting, I thought showed up in the game.”

Now, they hope he will carry it forward Saturday against the Colts.

Gannon concluded, “The challenge to him will be, the couple mistakes that he made, clean those up because we can control that and then, production, and do the same thing that you just did and see what happens then. But I was enthused about him.”

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 player to watch vs. Colts: LB Owen Pappoe

Pappoe had a good game in the preseason opener. See if he can follow that up with a second straight solid game.

A constant theme of the Arizona Cardinals offseason has been the jump players are expected to take in Year 2 after their rookie season.

This, of course, is nothing new. In the NFL, it’s been widely known for years that’s where players make the biggest improvement in their careers, especially when there is consistency in the offensive or defensive schemes.

Front and center this year for the Cardinals is linebacker Owen Pappoe, a fifth-round pick in 2023. He had three tackles (two solo) in 34 snaps (49 percent) against the Saints and then had an interception returned for a touchdown off Colts quarterback Joe Flacco in Wednesday’s joint practice.

Pappoe told reporters following practice that after the 2023 season ended, head coach Jonathan Gannon and the staff challenged all the rookies to focus on making that second-year growth.

Asked if Pappoe has done that, Gannon said, “Absolutely. He’s playing good football right now. I think that he’s a guy that stands out that was ascending throughout the entire year and then he got some clock later in the year. Continued to get better in practice and then in games. And I really feel like there was no dropoff when we got back here. He picked up where he left off, which was a better level than he was playing at. And I think he’s risen that level up too.

“I’m sure he’d want some plays back (from Week 1), but I think his level of understanding of what (defensive coordinator) Nick (Rallis) and (linebacker coach) Sam (Siefkes) are asking the details of playing that position for us; what that looks like. Just fundamentals and technique, being in the right spot. Obviously, the skillset’s there. He looks good, he’s running around making plays, he’s in the right spot and he’s got high motor and high violence, so it’s good to see him go.”

Pappoe said, “Being with the same staff, it’s just like recall. Feel way faster on the field. A lot more improved because speed is a big part my game, but I was thinking a lot last year so it made me play slow at certain points. Being second time going through the system, I’m able to show my speed even more. Got a year of experience learning from my guys like K(yzir)White and Krys Barnes and it’s showing on the field.”

As for the interception, Pappoe said, “Tried to bait him a little bit. Didn’t even see me coming and had a really good break and I took it to the crib. Felt really good.”

He further explained, “I’ve been working with my trainer. We’ve worked on that exact way, the same drill that we worked on all the time. I’ve got to send him the clip so he’s going to be real happy about that one. It just feels real great seeing the hard work pay off.”

Now, we’ll see if he can build on that in Saturday’s game.

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.

 

4 things to watch in Cardinals’ preseason matchup with Colts

The Cardinals and Colts play on Saturday. Here are a few things to watch for.

The Arizona Cardinals have their second preseason contest Saturday against the Indianapolis Colts on the road at Lucas Oil Stadium. The two teams held a pair of joint practices leading up to the game on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Cardinals’ starters, who did not play last week in the preseason opener, are not expected to play in this game.

The Colts will not play their starters or backup quarterback Joe Flacco.

With no starters for either team, we won’t be able to tell much about the teams. That said, what should Cardinals fans watch for in the game?

QB rotation and play

Head coach Jonathan Gannon has said that Desmond Ridder and Clayton Tune are competing for the backup job behind Kyler Murray. Ridder was outplayed by Tune last week in the preseason opener, although Ridder did play with backups against the Saints’ starters, while Tune played with backups against backups.

Will Ridder do a better job this week?

We can also know a bit more about how close the competition is, based on the playing rotation.

If Ridder starts again and Tune plays in the second half with the third stringers, that competition might not be that close.

How much the first-round picks play

Marvin Harrison Jr. played only three snaps in the opener, although that wasn’t necessarily the plan. Darius Robinson played a little more but not much. Check out how much action they get against the Colts.

The pass rush from the OLBs

Zaven Collins and Dennis Gardeck will be the starters at outside linebacker once the season begins. But who ends up making the roster among the other guys in the room — Victor Dimukeje, Cam Thomas, Xavier Thomas, Tyreke Smith and Jesse Luketa — is very much uncertain.

How the long snapping is split

Last week, Aaron Brewer handled the snaps for extra points. We can assume that would have been the case for field goals, had the Cardinals attempted any. Rookie Joe Shimko handled snaps for punts. Will they switch roles? Will one play more than the other?

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.

 

Behind enemy lines: Cardinals-Colts preseason Q&A preview with Colts Wire

Colts Wire’s Paul Bretl gives Cardinals some insight into the Cardinals’ preseason opponent on Saturday.

The Arizona Cardinals, following a pair of joint practices against them, will take on the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday on the road. They will not face them in the regular season and the game will likely feature none of either team’s starters.

In preparation for this Saturday matchup, Colts Wire managing editor Paul Bretl answers a few questions about the Colts and takes us “behind enemy lines”.

Below are my questions and his answers.

Who is expected to play and not play this weekend for Indy?

Following Thursday’s joint practice, Colts head coach Shane Steichen announced that the team’s starters and backup quarterback Joe Flacco would not be playing in Saturday’s game. This is the same approach that the team took during Week 2 of the 2023 preseason. Joint practices can provide a lot of value, and in some ways, more so than the preseason, with fewer vanilla looks and the key starters from both teams participating.

How has QB Anthony Richardson looked coming back from his injury?

There have still been some growing pains, which is to be expected from a quarterback with 98 career dropbacks, but overall, I would categorize this training camp as a success for Richardson. Now in his second season in Shane Steichen’s offense, you can see Richardson’s added comfort through his command and execution on the field. This is also a Colts’ offense that is stout in the trenches and has several playmakers around Richardson at the skill positions, so it’s not as if he has to do all of the heavy lifting either.

What are the biggest roster/position competitions to watch on the Colts?

The biggest question marks for the Colts lie at cornerback and safety. The secondary last season, in short, gave up too many big plays while not making enough plays on the football. This offseason, the Colts are banking heavily on the internal development of some young players to help raise the overall play of this unit. The position battles at cornerback safety seem to be taking shape, with JuJu Brents and Jaylon Jones on the boundary and Nick Cross as Julian Blackmon’s running mate. However, the unknowns around the consistency of this unit still remain. With the starters not playing, it will be a good opportunity for CB Dallis Flowers and S Rodney Thomas to get some valuable reps.
Other positional battles include the third running back spot, playing time at tight end, backup middle linebacker, and swing tackle.

Who are some back-of-the roster guys you anticipate making an impact on this game?

On offense, rookie fourth-round receiver Anthony Gould has continued to flash his big play ability in the passing game at practice. He also brings some juice to the Colts’ return units as well. With Jonathan Taylor not playing and Trey Sermon sidelined with a hamstring injury, Evan Hull and Tyler Goodson should see their share of opportunities at running back. Along the defensive front, Adetomiwa Adebawore and Isaiah Land are both coming off impressive performances in Week 1, as is rookie nickel cornerback Micah Abraham, who forced a fumble that he then returned for a touchdown against Denver.

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.

 

Jonathan Gannon-Shane Steichen relationship fueled joint practice sessions

Having worked before made it easy for the Cardinals to have joint practices with the Colts.

Relationships are the essence of life and certainly in the sports world. It’s surely the case that the Arizona Cardinals’ joint practices in Indianapolis are more comfortable for head coach Jonathan Gannon because of the presence of Colts head coach Shane Steichen.

Gannon and Steichen were the coordinators with the Philadelphia Eagles for two seasons (2021-22) and both became head coaches with their current teams in 2023.

Gannon revealed Wednesday that upon arrival the day before, he had dinner with Steichen Tuesday night.

Gannon said, “As soon as we all packed in that restaurant, he put up a Power Point. ‘This is where we’re going, this is what we’re doing.’ He’s very detailed. I’m like, ‘Whoa, let me get a notebook.’ He just goes about his business and goes to work. I had to learn more detail to keep up.”

Getting to know Steichen the way he did made this week a no-brainer.

“He’s as good as they come,” Gannon said prior to Wednesday’s practice. “I know one of the downfalls of it. You see a lot of the fighting at joint practices. I’m very confident that we’re gonna get good work in and not have those distractions because I know how he runs his team. I know how we practice, how they practice. It just meshed up. Really good football team, so it’s good for us to come get some good work in.”

Noting how Steichen is a great communicator and great teacher, Gannon added, “I learned a lot of ball in two years from Shane. Just how he thinks about the game. The relationship he has with the players, how he thinks about the staff. We worked for a really good boss with Coach (Nick) Sirianni, and we were kinda in the foxhole together.

“Just learned a lot about him. But you could tell, he’s got the ‘it’ factor.”

When asked the Cardinals approach to the practices and saying, “Do what you’re coached to do. Play with great enthusiasm, effort vs. a really good defense that plays very different than we do,” Gannon then morphed into an explanation of what makes the Colts a good team to practice against.

He said, “That was one of the reasons this was a perfect team to come joint against because they play different on offense and they play different on defense than us and we’re gonna play teams that play like this.

“So it would be good to put our staples and our stuff against different people and different schematics too, so excited about that. (Offensive coordinator) Gus Bradley does a really good job with how they teach and how they coach; how everything ties together with the front that they play. So I’m looking forward to it.”

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.

 

LOOK: Photos from Cardinals’ first joint practice with Colts

Check out some of the images from Wednesday’s joint practice the Cardinals had with the Colts.

The Arizona Cardinals held the first of two joint practices against the Indianapolis Colts on Wednesday in Indianapolis. It gave them the opportunity to get competitive practice reps against someone else other than their own teammates.

They practice with and against each other again on Thursday before they play a preseason tilt at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday.

In Wednesday’s practice, photographers got a few shots of the Cardinals in action. Check them out below.

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 set for 2 days of joint practices with Colts

Jonathan Gannon: “It’s gonna be a good two days of work.”

The Arizona Cardinals contingent departed Tuesday for two days of joint practices with the Indianapolis Colts that will be followed by the second preseason game for both teams on Saturday.

The Cardinals are one of 20 NFL teams participating in joint practices this week, a number that was scheduled to be 22 until the 49ers called off their work with the Saints because of a large number of injuries.

Head coach Jonathan Gannon is confident the work will be good thanks in part to his relationship with Colts head coach Shane Steichen, who was the offensive coordinator with the Eagles when Gannon was the defensive coordinator.

Asked Monday if there is a different approach when there are practices against another team, Gannon said, “They’re going to practice the exact same way they’ve been practicing. That’s how Shane and I are going to do it. Just got off the phone with him this morning. It’s gonna be a good two days of work.”

Gannon said what he hopes is accomplished in this practice setting is “a little uptick. I like where our mode of play was in the (New Orleans) game, but the things that we need to get better and uptick is technique against different people. And I would say execution of just schematic things within each group.”

He expanded on the technique angle by saying, “It’s not technique going against Cards vs. Cards; now it’s technique going against somebody that maybe they haven’t studied like they would going into a game. There’s going to be different guys coming in and out of the lineup on both sides that like all of a sudden, I’m running a route against (cornerback) Kenny Moore and then I’m running a route the next play vs. somebody different.

“That wouldn’t be like a game. I want to see technique show up against different opponents. I think that’s a good barometer for where we’re at. Can we do what we’re coached to do consistently?”

Gannon said how he decides to divvy up playing time on Saturday will “depend on what happens Wednesday and Thursday.”

However, he also acknowledged the players might approach things a tad differently than normal.

“You should see the practice faces.” He said, “Like it’s going to be a souped-up two days,” a term he used a couple more times.

“Players right now are prepping for, ‘Hey, we’re going to Indy for two very intense, hard, long practices that are both gonna be souped-up.’ That’s what you normally say when you talk about a car, a souped-up car.”

Thanks for that, coach.

He concluded, “There’s gonna be a mock game and we’re gonna play. That’s their mind-frame as they’re getting on the plane.”

The practices are late in the day from 6-8 pm Wednesday and 6-7:20 Thursday Eastern time.

When asked if there will be any team building around town, Gannon said, “They’ll team-build naturally being in that hotel for a good amount of time. We have night practices and I’m not gonna wear them out before they’re gonna go out on the field, meeting wise and stuff. Let ‘em sleep in, have some meetings, get ‘em off their feet, give ‘em a couple hours and then go practice.”

On the normal day before a game, there will be a mock game, meetings and time off in the afternoon.

Gannon likes the time away with players spending a lot of time together.

“We’re gonna fill the time not off site to do anything,” he said. “We have some things in the hotel that they are very competitive about against each other. They like to connect and hang out with their teammates, go out to dinner.

“One of the positives about going somewhere is they get to hang out with each other. They value that time, too.”

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.