Tag: Cardinals vs

Cardinals’ second-half turnaround shocking on both offense and defense

The Cardinals looked lost on both sides of the ball in the first half against the Raiders. They flipped the switch after halftime.

The Arizona Cardinals trailed the Las Vegas Raiders 20-0 and looked like they were on their way to a second consecutive blowout loss. There were fears of what this team was going to be this season after an 0-2 start.

They looked bad both on offense and on defense, and then suddenly things changed.

After being unable to move the ball or get stops, they were able to do both.

Then, they made clutch big plays, forced overtime and then got the game-winning defensive touchdown to complete the comeback and win the game.

The numbers were crazy.

First-half vs. second-half offensive numbers

In the first half, the Cardinals ran 19 offensive plays and had 86 total yards of offense. They had five first downs.

Quarterback Kyler Murray was 6-for-9 passing for 53 yards and an interception.

They went 1-for-4 on third down.

In the second half, it was like a switch flipped.

After halftime and up until regulation, they had 284 yards of offense on 51 offensive plays. They rushed for 96 yards. Murray went 20-for-34 passing for 188 yards and a touchdown pass.

Then, in overtime, they added another 43 yards.

After an 86-yard first half, they rolled up 327 yards of offense between the second half and overtime. Murray had 224 passing yards, 28 rushing yards, a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown. He threw for a two-point conversion and ran for another.

But the turnaround wasn’t just on offense.

First-half vs. second-half defensive numbers

In the first half, the defense allowed 258 yards and 20 points. The Raiders had 15 first downs and were 5-of-6 on third down. They did not punt.

In the second half in regulation, they held the Raiders to 48 yards and three points. The Raiders did not convert on a third down. They had only 18 offensive plays from halftime to overtime.

In overtime, they allowed 18 yards and a third-down conversion but then took the ball away.

From 258 yards and 20 points allowed in the first half to 66 yards and three points in the second half and overtime, the defense finally clicked.

If both the offense and defense can look something similar to that starting at the beginning of a game, then the Cardinals will be back on track to doing what they expected to do.

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

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Dueling expert picks for Cardinals-Raiders in Week 2

Cards Wire’s Jess Root and Raiders Wire’s Marcus Mosher make their expert picks and predictions for the Week 2 battle between the Cards and Raiders.

The Arizona Cardinals seek to avoid an 0-2 start as they travel to take on the Las Vegas Raiders on the road. The Raiders also want to avoid an 0-2 start.

Arizona was blown out 44-21 by the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1, allowing Patrick Mahomes to throw five touchdown passes and the Kansas City offense to roll up 488 total yards.

The Raiders lost 24-19 to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1. Quarterback Derek Carr was sacked six times and intercepted three times.

With both teams hoping to bounce back, how will the game play out?

Raiders Wire managing editor Marcus Mosher and I give our expert picks for the game this weekend.

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

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3 player connections between Cardinals, Titans

The Cardinals have one former Titan, while Tennessee has a pair of former Cardinals.

The Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans face each other Saturday for their final preseason contest. While some opponents have several player connections, between the two teams and their 80-man rosters currently, there are only three player connections.

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

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Cardinals, Titans to hold only one joint practice this week

Both teams are concerned about their health heading into the preseason finale.

The Arizona Cardinals will face the Tennessee Titans in their final preseason game this Saturday. They were set to hold two joint practices Wednesday and Thursday leading up to that matchup.

For the Cardinals, it was going to be the only competitive football work the regular starters were going to get against another team.

Plans have changed.

Titans head coach Mike Vrabel told reporters in Tennessee that the two teams will still hold a joint practice but it will only be one day. Instead of Wednesday and Thursday, it will only be Wednesday.

Vrabel said, “just from a health standpoint, Kliff and I decided that was best for our football teams.”

Both team want to make sure they don’t get any key players hurt in a competitive practice less than three weeks from the start of the season.

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

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Cardinals’ defensive snap counts and observations vs. Bengals

Have a look how the defense’s 67 snaps were divided up in the preseason opener.

In the Arizona Cardinals’ 36-23 preseason win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Friday the defense played 67 snaps. How was that playing time divided up?

Below, we go through each position group and break down the numbers and give any observations there might be.

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

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3 expected starters unimpressive in Cardinals’ preseason win

We needed to see more from Zaven Collins, Marco Wilson and Matt Prater.

The Arizona Cardinals had a lot of good things happen in their 36-23 preseason win over the Cincinnati Bengals Friday night. Several young players and hopefuls for the roster stood out and made great impressions.

However, not everyone stood out. In fact, three players expected to be starters this coming season fell short of expectations.

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

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PODCAST: Previewing the Cardinals’ 2nd-place games – Eagles, Vikings, Patriots

Check out the sixth and final installment of the podcast series previewing the Cardinals’ 2022 opponents.

We have the final of the six opponent preview shows live and ready for your listening pleasure. After five shows that focused on the Arizona Cardinals’ opponents in the NFC West, AFC and NFC South, the final show previews their three second-place games, the opponents who were in second place in their divisions last year like the Cardinals.

Those teams are the Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings and New England Patriots.

I spoke with Eagles Wire managing editor Glenn Erby, Vikings Wire managing editor Jordy McElroy and Patriots Wire managing editor Henry McKenna to discuss the teams they cover and specifically the 2021 season, this offseason and the outlook for those teams in 2022.

It’s a super-sized show with the three guests. Enjoy!

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

Here are the approximate timestamps for each team preview:

(1:00) The Eagles’ 2021 season, recent offseason moves and outlook for 2022 with Eagles Wire managing editor Glenn Erby

(29:53) The Vikings’ 2021 season, recent offseason moves and outlook for 2022 with Vikings Wire managing editor Jordy McElroy

(1:03:02) (1:00) The Patriots’ 2021 season, recent offseason moves and outlook for 2022 with Patriots Wire managing editor Henry McKenna

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11 Seahawks do not practice on Wednesday

The Seahawks’ initial injury report of the week is 17 players long.

The Seattle Seahawks are banged up as they enter their final game of the season, a road game in Week 18 against the Arizona Cardinals. Their initial injury report of the week on Wednesday was 17 players long, 11 of whom were unable to practice.

Check out the details below.

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

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Kyler Murray: ‘I don’t think anybody on this team is panicking’

The Cardinals feel like they will be fine if they just stop hurting themselves in games.

The Arizona Cardinals have had their toughest stretch of the season. They have lost three games in a row and are 3-5 after a 7-0 start to the year.

They have clinched a playoff berth but lost their lead in the NFC West with two games remaining in the regular season.

Looking at social media and what Cardinals fans are saying and how they are reacting, one might think this was the 2018 season. Many are ready to fire everyone.

That, of course, is extreme, but there is certainly a panicked feeling among the fanbase after seeing 7-0 and Super Bowl aspirations turn into 10-5 and potentially seeing five straight losses to end the season and a sixth as they bumped from the playoffs in the wild card round.

However, the team is not panicking and they shouldn’t be.

The reality is they are a playoff team for the first time since 2015. They can still win the division and finish the regular season with as many as 12 wins, the second-most wins in a season in franchise history.

Quarterback Kyler Murray spoke about it on Wednesday.

“We’re 10-5, we’re in the playoffs, but the only thing that matters is this next game,” he said. “If you go back and look everybody has been through this. This is not something that teams that have won Super Bowls haven’t gone through. It’s the NFL.”

The rough patch has come because of mistakes mostly. They are getting penalized more than they have before. They are not scoring touchdowns in the red zone. The theme has consistently been that they are beating themselves.

“You lose when you don’t do things right,” he said. “If you make it hard on yourself, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing, you’re going to get beat. When you’re playing well, and it feels like everything is going right for you, that’s just what happens.”

He isn’t worried and doesn’t think there is any real panic setting.

“Me personally, I’m not panicking. I don’t think anybody on this team is panicking,” he said, and noted they are far from the first team heading to the playoffs having suffered three straight losses. “Yes, we’ve lost three in a row. The Rams lost three in a row. Everybody was counting them out. It’s not a thing where it doesn’t happen. This is the NFL, it’s not easy.”

The Rams lost three in a row and figured things out. Now, they have won four in a row and suddenly look like they could roll all the way to the Super Bowl.

It starts this week against the Dallas Cowboys. They have to get back to not beating themselves.

“When you do things right and you don’t hurt yourself, you don’t beat yourself,” he said. “I like us in those situations if we just put our best foot forward and play clean football. If you play clean football, you have a chance at the end of the day.”

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

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RB Marlon Mack among Colts’ inactives in Week 16

The Colts announce who will not dress for them against the Cardinals.

The Indianapolis Colts had a number of players land on the COVID list. Three more were added Saturday afternoon. As such, their inactive list is short.

The announced the deactivation of these four players:

  • RB Marlon Mack
  • C Ryan Kelly
  • S Andrew Sendejo
  • WR Mike Strachan

Kelly (personal) and Sendejo (concussion) were ruled out on Thursday on the final injury report of the week.

They will also be missing CB Rock Ya-Sin, G Quenton Nelson, G Mark Glowinski, LB Darius Leonard, S Khari Willis and WR Zach Pascal. All were added to the COVID list this week.

Kickoff is 6:15 p.m. Arizona time at State Farm Stadium.

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

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