Let’s get ready for week two!
On Sunday, September 17th, the Arizona Cardinals will travel to Indianapolis to play the Colts. My original instinct looking at the schedule before the season started was that the Cardinals were bound to win this one by a landslide.
Indianapolis has been trying to deal without Andrew Luck, as he has still yet to get healthy enough to play in 2017 after offseason shoulder surgery.
Week one showed how much that hurts them as Scott Tolzien only completed nine passes, two while also throwing two interceptions. Tolzien wasn’t the only problem, even if he was the biggest as their offense fumbled three times as well.
Obviously, they cannot start Tolzien on Sunday, enter Jacoby Brissett. In his rookie year, he was the backup for the New England Patriots, until he was forced into starting because of injuries and then was promptly injured and placed on injured reserve.
While Indianapolis isn’t looking so hot, after week one, neither are the Arizona Cardinals.
Carson Palmer threw three interceptions, and that’s just the beginning of the problems. The offensive line was not able to protect him whatsoever and lost two starters, and now we all know they lost star RB David Johnson as well. So, what’s Bruce Arians’ gameplan?
Honestly, the best bet is to go to the air.
Last week against the Los Angeles Rams, the Colts didn’t allow the Rams to do a whole lot from the ground, as they gained only 63 rushing yards, but they let Jared Goff… Yes, that Jared Goff throw for 306 yards. Even though Palmer has not looked like the QB we all want, he has to find more success this week, right?
Conversely the defense is going to want to focus on their efforts on the running game.
The Colts know that their quarterbacks are not going to be the game-changers, so they’re going to rely heavily on Frank Gore and rookie Marlon Mack. That plays into the Cardinals strength defensively so far, as the Cardinals held the Lions to 82 yards on 27 carries, just over 3 yards per carry.
What do the Cardinals have to do to improve coming into week two?
Carson Palmer needs to get more comfortable in the pocket, and not freak when he gets in remotely any danger. The offensive line needs to protect Palmer more in order to allow for the passing game to be effective.
I know I say this a lot, but this one is a toss up for me (sort of). I want to say that the Cardinals will destroy the Colts, but I honestly don’t know. The Colts are looking awful, but so are the Cardinals on offense, so this game is going to be an interesting one. If the Cardinals win this one, it will show that they’re going to be at least somewhat competent going forward. If they lose, the Cardinals are showing that they are unable to perform even against one of the lower ranked teams in the NFL.
No matter the outcome, it’s going to be a fun game, so stay tuned to Revenge of the Birds for more content throughout the next few days!