Cards fan here. Just wanted to check in before the game this Sunday. First off, thanks for beating Seattle. Cards had an amazing opportunity to take over first place in the NFC West with a win over the Dolphins but we choked it away.
I’ll provide some analysis on the Cards.
As I’m sure you are aware, Kyler Murray is an electric qb. He has led the Cards to the #1 offense in the NFL and appears to only be getting better as his sophomore campaign progresses. He is currently on pace for over 4,000 passing yards and over 1,000 rushing yards, a feat that has never been done. He also has 24 total TD’s to 7 INTs thru 8 games. His legs have been the X factor on offense.
Despite actually being ranked #1 on offense, they still have issues on that side of the ball. Last Sunday was the Cards first game without starting RB Drake and Chase Edmonds who is a smaller back only averaged 2.8 YPC on 25 attempts.
Defensively, we have glaring weaknesses. Fans are calling for D Coordinator Vance Joseph’s head on a weekly basis. Outside of our game against Seattle where he dialed up exotic blitzes that effectively confused Russell Wilson, he hasn’t been aggressive. He allowed Tua to get way too comfortable for a rookie appearing in his first ever road game.
This Sunday we are set to get possibly 3 starters back on defense:
- Slot CB Byron Murphy (COVID)
- OLB Devon Kennard (COVID)
- CB Dre Kirkpatrick (injury)
For the Cards sake hopefully all 3 will return as they have no depth on this side of the ball. This past Sunday they fielded practice squad CB’s and it showed. One was cut today after his performance against Miami (Bausby).
I expect both teams to score in the 30’s and this game will most likely come down to whoever wins the turnover battle. If I was a betting man I’d say the Bills are the logical choice. But one thing that has been infuriating about the Cards is their tendency to play down to their competition (0-3 in games they were favored to win), however they have shown up with the energy and physicality in the “big” games (2-0 against favored divisional opponents and 2-0 in prime time games). I expect the Cards will “play up” to their competition and be ready to get rid of the nasty taste that Miami left in their mouth. Should be a great game.
From a distance it’s impressive what the Bills have been building these last couple of years. Josh Allen is a budding superstar. I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect him to ascend this quickly when he was drafted.
