Arizona Cardinals: Winning in trenches, keys to victory vs. Broncos in Week 7

The Arizona Cardinals are looking to defeat the Denver Broncos as they square off for Thursday Night Football in Week 7. Here are three keys to victory.

The Arizona Cardinals host the Denver Broncos on Thursday Night Football in Week 7. They are looking to win their first home game.  The Cardinals have struggled throughout the season to play a complete game. Steve Wilks made the change at quarterback to spark the offense. Third quarter woes have been a factor in a few games.

Arizona’s offense has been horrific on third down this season. They have converted only 14 of 64 third down attempts. Last week in Minnesota, they failed 10 times to convert and failed an additional two times on fourth down.

That brings us to the first key to victory for the Cardinals in their matchup with the Broncos.

The first key to winning is to keep from having third and long. Arizona has struggled to find their offensive identity. Initially, the Cardinals wanted to utilize David Johnson as the primary focal point of the offense.

However, Johnson is averaging 3.2 yards per rush through six games. He faces a stacked eight man front 31.52 percent of the time, according to NFL.com’s Next Gen Stats. Cardinals offensive coordinator Mike McCoy must find a way to spread the opposing defense, creating favorable matchups, on first and second downs.

MUST READ: NFL picks, score predictions for Week 7

The second key to winning is stopping the Broncos rushing game. Denver ranks as the 10th best rushing team in the NFL through six weeks, averaging 124.2 yards per game. Most of all, they have to stop rookie Phillip Lindsay.

Lindsay is averaging 5.7 yards per carry. Arizona has given up an average of 151.2 yards per game to rank as the next to worst rushing defense. They give up 10 yards per game less than Denver’s 161.3.

Finally, but just as importantly, the Cardinals have to own the trenches. Offensively, the Redbirds line must protect Josh Rosen from the Denver pass rush. Denver’s Von Miller is a one man wrecking crew that can cause a turnover on any given play. Conversely, the Cardinals defense must pressure Case Keenum early and often. They have recorded 18 sacks through six games. Chandler Jones has 5.5 sacks this season.

This is a very winnable game at home. Arizona must control the game tempo and impose their will on the Broncos. At 1-5, expect the Cardinals to play aggressively to win and turn their season around.