The Arizona Cardinals will try to rebound with a favorable matchup in week two against the Indianapolis Colts.
Let’s try this again. The Arizona Cardinals fell flat on their faces in the second half against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, surrendering 26 second-half points en route to a 35-23 defeat in Week 1. The offense looked out of sync from the first series, which fittingly resulted in the first of three Carson Palmer interceptions on the day.
To make matters worse David Johnson, also ineffective in the loss, was put on injured reserve this week with a dislocated wrist. His campaign for 1,000 rushing/1,000 receiving in his third year in the NFL will be put on halt for one more year.
The defensive side of the ball looked great in the first half but faltered when it mattered in the second. Their pass rush which factors to be one of their strongest units this season failed to put consistent pressure on quarterback Matthew Stafford coming away with just one sack.
This coming Sunday will be another test but not because of who they’re playing. The Indianapolis Colts looked even worse — in all phases of the game — falling to the Los Angeles Rams 46-9. Their best unit happened to be their run defense, holding Todd Gurley to just 40 yards on 19 carries.
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Can Arizona turn their luck around in early games on the East coast?
3. Carson Palmer throws for 350+
I just hit on the point regarding the Colts rush defense. While it’s not elite it’s something to keep an eye on. Containing Gurley is no easy task but they found a way to do it on Sunday. And combining that with a questionable Cardinals rushing attack it’ll be up to Arizona’s aerial game to make the difference on offense.
Palmer needs to rebound after a poor performance. If not for a garbage time touchdown to JJ Nelson it would’ve looked even worse than it did. He finished the day going 27-of-48 for 269 yards, the lone touchdown and three interceptions.
We were made well aware of how great head coach Bruce Arians thinks of his receivers room (sarcasm) this preseason. So Palmer isn’t all to blame. But if Jared Goff can put up the second highest QBR in Week 1 against the Colts defense then so can Palmer.