Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield will meet for the third time when the Cardinals travel to Charlotte to take on the Panthers this Sunday.
Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals have a crucial game ahead of them this Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.
The Panthers’ starting quarterback, of course, is Baker Mayfield. Mayfield and Murray were teammates at Oklahoma, both won the Heisman Trophy and both were drafted No. 1 overall.
Murray and the Cards played Mayfield twice when was with the Cleveland Browns. Both times, the Cards defense had their way with Baker and Murray got the bragging rights, winning both games.
In their first meeting, Murray was a rookie in 2019 nearing the end of his first season. Mayfield and the Browns were not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs but weren’t going to make it that year.
This game was in Arizona and the Cards won 38-24. The highlight of this game was former Cardinal Kenyan Drake’s four rushing touchdown performance that crushed any remaining playoff hopes the Browns had.
Murray and Mayfield both had solid outings, but Murray was more efficient on the day moving the ball.
The second time these two teams met was last season. The Cardinals were struck with a COVID bug and were missing Kliff Kingsbury and Chandler Jones. Kyler Murray put on a clinic with four passing touchdowns and the Cards won 37-14.
Mayfield had a hail mary at the end of the half but was injured late in the game on a sack by J.J. Watt. The Cardinals were in full control of the game by the fourth quarter.
While the Panthers have certainly had the Cardinals’ number, having not lost to them since 2013, the Cards have had plenty of success against Mayfield. Something’s got to give.
How have the Cardinals fared against the Panthers the last three outings?
The Arizona Cardinals travel to Charlotte this Sunday in what is a pivotal game against the Carolina Panthers. The Cards have playoff hopes and losing in Carolina would make them appear unlikely.
If they can win, they’re right back at .500 and have a chance to stay afloat in the NFC West race.
The Cardinals have struggled against the Panthers.
Including 3 postseason matchups, this will be the 20th time the two teams have played. The Panthers have dominated this series 14-5 and have won the last 6 meetings, including twice in the playoffs.
The Cardinals have not beaten the Panthers since 2013.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the previous three matchups between these two teams. Most Cardinals fans know it hasn’t been pretty against Carolina, which has many nervous for this game.
The Cardinals cannot afford to lose in Carolina with a tough upcoming schedule and competitive division.
It isn’t often that a Week 4 game feels like a must-win, but that’s exactly where we are with the Arizona Cardinals.
Aside from a miraculous comeback win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 2, the Cardinals have not looked like a playoff team. It’s to the point where they are underdogs against the lowly Panthers this Sunday.
Carolina is not a good team. They did manage to beat the Saints last week, but it was an uninspiring effort. Their other two games are losses to the Browns and Giants.
The Cardinals are lacking star power on defense and are missing many key skill position players on offense. Perhaps some of the defensive woes can be mitigated as we approach the trade deadline, but the Cardinals must first accomplish one goal.
The Cardinals must be no worse than 3-3 when DeAndre Hopkins returns from suspension.
Around that time is the projected return of Rondale Moore, where the Cardinals offense will be complete. The receiving corps of Hopkins, Hollywood Brown, Rondale Moore and Greg Dortch is very, very promising.
A loss to Carolina, however, and the Cardinals find themselves at 1-3, with their next game against the red-hot Philadelphia Eagles. If they cannot beat the Panthers, they give no reason to inspire confidence in beating Philadelphia.
The primary concern for Cardinals fans is how much Carolina has dominated the Cards in recent memory. The Panthers have not lost to the Cardinals since 2013.
If the Cardinals can break that streak and beat the Panthers, they have some room to work with. They’ll just need to win one of their next two games (Eagles, Seahawks) and they’ll be 3-3 for the return of Hopkins.
While Hopkins isn’t going to play edge rusher or inside linebacker like the team so desperately needs, getting him back at .500 is a major boost. General Manager Steve Keim has made an impact trade before the deadline each of the past three seasons, giving reason to believe he’ll do so again.
If the Cardinals can reach .500 and get back their best wideout and add some defensive reinforcements, they could be in good shape. If not, there is little optimism for improvement.
Take a look at how the Panthers are different since these two teams last met in November of 2021.
The Carolina Panthers have been a complete mess during the Matt Rhule era, yet have continued their dominance over the Cardinals.
Last season, the Panthers killed the Cards 34-10 at State Farm Stadium. The previous year, the Panthers beat the Cards 31-21 in Carolina.
This offseason, the Panthers acquired former No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield from the Browns with hopes to finally end their quarterback carousel.
To this point, Mayfield has been shaky outside of a near-comeback against his former team in Week 1. His highest passing yardage total is 234, although he has limited the interceptions, only throwing one to this point.
The Panthers did not make many splash moves in free agency outside of Mayfield, but made an effort to re-sign many of their own and bring in solid starters.
One of the few they let go, surprisingly, was former Cardinal Haason Reddick. Reddick had 11 sacks for the Panthers last season, yet Carolina opted to let him walk.
They also allowed Stephon Gilmore to walk in free agency after trading for him before the deadline in October. Gilmore, who had been connected to the Cardinals on numerous occasions, eventually signed with the Indianapolis Colts.
The Panthers added a few starters in Xavier Woods, Austin Corbett, Matt Ioannidis and Johnny Hekker. All are solid contributors and certainly make the team better.
The Panthers’ clear goal of the offseason was a belief in their core players to be elevated by quarterback stability. They have a solid offensive core running back Christian McCaffrey and receivers D.J. Moore and Robbie Anderson, but they have yet to put up tons of points.
Defensively, their young group continues to improve, highlighted by Jeremy Chinn, Brian Burns, Jaycee Horn and Yetur Gross-Matos. That unit will be facing a decimated Cardinals offense this Sunday.
Here’s a more detailed list of the Panthers’ offseason moves:
The Arizona Cardinals may be in panic-mode following an embarrassing loss to the Carolina Panthers. The team has fallen to 2-2 on the year.
Arizona Cardinals fans were on cloud nine following the team’s impressive 2-0 start. They had gone into Levi’s Stadium and taken down the defending NFC champion 49ers (before their entire defense went on injured reserve). Following that victory, they killed Washington in their home opener.
Two weeks later, the Cardinals are back at .500 after losing to two mediocre teams. Had the Cards played to their potential to this point, they would likely be 4-0.
Their loss to the Detroit Lions was supposed to be a wake-up call. It was a close game that came down to a few turnovers by Kyler Murray. Those were supposed to be cleaned up, and the team needed to learn from that loss.
Instead, they were embarrassed by the Carolina Panthers led by Matt Rhule, who was coaching his fourth NFL game.
What was most concerning about Sunday’s loss? Everything.
Arizona wasn’t effective in any phase. The offense, which features Kyler Murray, DeAndre Hopkins, Larry Fitzgerald and Christian Kirk, failed to get going against a bad Panthers secondary.
First off, what is going on with the offense? The first two games felt as if they were ready to explode into a top-five unit in the league. The talent is certainly there, and they showed flashes to start the year. Even against Detroit, the team could move the ball. The game just came down to a few mistakes by Murray.
Kliff Kingsbury’s game plan was interesting to say the least. There was no attacking the ball downfield, outside of missed first-quarter opportunities to Larry Fitzgerald and Andy Isabella. After being labeled an MVP candidate, Murray looks off. It is quite concerning, given that we know Murray has the potential and talent to be an elite NFL quarterback. Kingsbury, on the other hand, showed his ability to adjust and scheme his players open last season. Both of them are plenty capable, so what is happening here?
Secondly, the defense was picked apart by Teddy Bridgewater in the short passing game. Carolina, who featured two backup offensive linemen, completely shut out Arizona’s pass rush. The Cardinals had three pressures on the day and zero sacks. Outside of Devon Kennard’s absence, the defensive line was intact.
Where is Chandler Jones? Where is Jordan Phillips?
Vance Joseph seemingly gave the Panthers first downs at will, playing ten yards off-the-ball soft zone coverage. The concerning part here is Carolina’s offense thrives off the short and intermediate passing game. So why are they playing so far off the ball? There were no adjustments made all day.
I understand that having two starting safeties out makes it difficult to play press man-to-man, especially given the way Curtis Riley played yesterday. There’s no reason to be angry with the soft coverage game plan going into the game. But, if you’re still being picked apart at halftime, change something.
Isaiah Simmons, the 2019 Dick Butkus Award, hasn’t seen the field on a struggling defense. How is that plausible?
At this pace, the Arizona Cardinals are free-falling in the league’s best division. Even if they turn things around, these two losses will come back to bite them unless they can make up for it by beating two of the very good teams on the latter part of their schedule.
