All hope of a victory was seemingly lost on Halloween night with the Arizona Cardinals offense pinned down behind their own ten-yard line, down 11 points against arguably the best defense in the NFL. The roaring away crowd of Bay Area fans were then silenced after Kyler Murray made an incredible throw to the near sideline to rookie WR Andy Isabella, who then made Richard Sherman and company look silly as he dashed around the entire 49ers secondary for an 88-yard touchdown.
The Cardinals defense ultimately was unable to get off the field and give Kyler Murray one last shot to pull off an improbable comeback on national television, but the point still stands that the team has shown flashes of being very good. In fact, the 49ers defense had not allowed anything like the outing we saw from Kyler Murray and the offense. They had harassed every opposing offense they faced, but not the Cardinals.
The team will look to continue to prove their abilities against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this Sunday.
Here is your Week 10 preview.
A Reunion: Bruce Arians and his (former) Arizona Cardinals
The great Bruce Arians will stand on the sidelines for yet another Cardinals game, but this time he will be making calls for another team.
Arians tried being a game analyst for CBS in his retirement, but the iconic coaching figure just didn’t feel right in doing so. An opportunity to return to the football field came when Bucs GM Jason Licht offered Arians a head coaching job.
Many Cardinals fans weren’t too pleased with Arians retiring from Arizona football, only to join another ball club the following year. The truth is, however, Arians truly meant to retire following his 2017 season with the Cardinals. The opportunity to coach near his beloved Georgia home was too good to pass up.
The Cardinals and their fans should be forever grateful to the Bruce Arians era in Arizona, as it was some of the best years in the team’s history. This week, players like Larry Fitzgerald, Patrick Peterson, and David Johnson will have to game plan against their longtime friend Uncle Bruce in hopes of another victory.
Let’s take a look at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Offense:
Tampa Bay’s offense is no pushover. They currently have two receivers who are top-five in the league’s receiving yards. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are among the best receiving duos in the league, both with over 750 yards on the year already. Bruce Arians’ “no risk it, no biscuit” style of passing offense is working very well for the Bucs.
Last week, the Bucs played a great game against the playoff-bound Seattle Seahawks, forcing Russell Wilson into overtime. They would ultimately lose the game, but the talent on their team is certainly there.
For the Cardinals, containing Mike Evans will be the biggest challenge. Patrick Peterson is coming off a very poor performance against Emmanuel Sanders last Thursday night. He didn’t shy away from owning up to it though. On Thursday, Peterson stated he cost the Cardinals a victory. Whether he’s right or not, the team will need him to have a great game on Sunday. He’s had success against Evans in the past. Most notably, Evans went without a catch with Peterson on him in their 2017 matchup.
Chris Godwin is the perfect complement to Evans. He’ll likely be trailed by rookie Byron Murphy, who’s made some great plays in recent weeks.
Quarterback Jameis Winston has had his ups and downs with the Bucs. He tends to have lots of passing yards, but has been prone to turnovers throughout his career. So far, he’s thrown 16 touchdown passes, but has also had 12 passes picked off. There’s a lot of hot and cold with Winston, so the Cardinals need to keep him cold for four quarters.
Pass protection has not been kind to Winston. He’s been sacked 30 times in eight games and hit another 27. That has to be music to the ears of Chandler Jones.
The Defense:
The Buccaneers are the best team in the league when it comes to limiting opposing running backs. They’re only allowing a league-low 78.1 rushing yards on average. The front will certainly challenge Kenyan Drake and David Johnson, which looks to be one of the better backfields in football.
As a whole, the defense for the Bucs has not been very good. The run defense has been great, but the secondary has been abysmal. They’re averaging nearly 300 yards per game in the air given up at 293.5. On top of that, they’re giving up an average of 31.5 points per game. Coming off a great performance against one of the league’s best defenses in the 49ers, Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray have to be excited for Sunday.
On the edge, Shaquil Barrett has been a free agency steal. Barrett has 10.5 sacks on the year. He started the year with nine sacks through just four games, so he’s certainly cooled down a bit. Still, he’s a threat to Murray and the offense. LT D.J. Humphries will have another chance to prove himself in his contract year against Barrett.
All in all, the Bucs defense has surrendered loads of points to opposing offenses. Kliff Kingsbury’s crew must take advantage of this opportunity and score early and often.
Final Thoughts:
Plain and simple: Patrick Peterson and the Cardinals secondary have to contain Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. If they can do that, they’ll be in a great position to win this game. The Bucs running game hasn’t been spectacular and the defense has been carved up all season. If they can take Evans out of the game early, they can potentially run up the score and keep the game out of reach. If the defense plays like they did on Thursday Night Football though, the Cardinals may have to win in another shootout.
Winning Sunday puts the Cards at 4-5-1. It’s a respectable record, especially given how bad the team was last year. If this happens, the Cards will have the chance to get back to .500 with a much-anticipated rematch with the 49ers.
See you all next week.
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