Cardinals vs. Saints: Time, how to watch, live streaming, key matchups, pick for ‘Thursday Night Football’
For this week’s edition of Thursday Night Football we have two NFC teams with disappointing 2-4 starts.
The Arizona Cardinals host the New Orleans Saints in Week 7 as Kyler Murray and co. try to get back on track after star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins returns. The Saints have yet to name a starting quarterback for this contest and they’re grappling with a hell of a number of injuries at the moment. Will they be able to overcome, or will they succumb?
Which of these two teams will fall to within a .500 game, and which will see yet another drop in the standings? We’ll find out soon enough. In the meantime, you can follow Thursday night’s game as follows.
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Date: Thursday 20 Oct | Time: 8:20 p.m. ET
Location: State Farm Stadium (Glendale, Arizona)
Streaming: Amazon Prime Video
Consequences: CBS Sports App
opportunities: Cardinals -2, O/U 44 (Courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook)
When the Saints have the ball
The name of the game here is injuries. The Saints will be without wide receivers Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry, tight end Adam Trautman and guard Andrus Peat, and that’s in addition to wideout Deonte Harty, who joins Trevor Penning on injured reserve.
Both Jameis Winston and Andy Dalton are not carrying injury designations for the game, but Dennis Allen declined to name a starting quarterback, saying Wednesday it would be a game-time decision. The expectation is that Dalton will be under center, but it’s entirely possible that Winston will get the job back, or even that both players just can’t leave and the Saints roll with Taysom Hill.
Because there is so much uncertainty, it’s difficult to see exactly what’s going to happen on that side of the ball. We know Alvin Kamara will be heavily involved. We know that Mark Ingram II will interfere on the spot. We know Chris Olave, who is due back from the concussion that kept him out of the week six game in New Orleans, will get all the work he can handle in the passing game – especially with Winston out there. Beyond that, though, it’s anyone’s guess—at least from the perspective of the saints.
But we also know that the Cardinals’ defenses were vulnerable to pretty much everything opposing attacks threw at them, but especially pass. The Cardinals check in at Football Outsiders 24th in pass defense DVOA, 28th in midfield throws, 29th in short passes, and 32nd in passes to running backs. All of this points to a potentially big reception game for Kamara, who has six catches in each of the last two competitions after catching just five in his first two games combined.
When the Cardinals have the ball
Arizona’s offense is very fluid right now.
Marquise Brown has been Kyler Murray’s main target this season, but he is now out for an extended period after sustaining a foot injury in a meaningless game in last week’s game. Center Rodney Hudson is out and guard Justin Pugh is now on injured reserve. Running back James Conner is listed as questionable but hasn’t trained all week and Darrel Williams is out.
DeAndre Hopkins is back from his suspension but has also not been at the facility since preseason. The Cardinals traded for Robbie Anderson earlier this week, but it’s highly unlikely he’s already up to speed on offense. Eno Benjamin looks likely to lead the backfield again, and both Rondale Moore and Zach Ertz appear heavily involved as close-in targets for Murray — who may need to target those areas more frequently due to the various issues along the offensive line.
The Cardinals have been a definite disappointment on offense so far this season. Part of that is due to Hopkins’ absence. Part of that is down to the injuries the team has been dealing with. But a lot boils down to the team’s offensive plan, which either doesn’t exist or all too often just says, “Kyler, do something.” Kliff Kingsbury had shown in the past his ability to set up an efficient running game by spreading the field and turning his back north and south, but even that has fallen by the wayside this year. In the meantime, the passing game has gotten out of hand all year. With the exception of the tracks where Murray just creates magic, things were ugly.
New Orleans’ defense wasn’t as overwhelming as Arizona’s offense, but it certainly didn’t live up to the high expectations. The Saints rank only 18th in defensive DVOA, 21st against pass and 14th against run. They are 19th in yards per game, 20th in yards per drive and 15th in EPA per game. This team needs defense to be an elite unit and it has only been average so far.
Losing Marcus Williams in the backend didn’t help, but that’s just an older unit now, too. Guys like Cameron Jordan, Demario Davis, Tyrann Mathieu and others are still good starters, but not quite as good as they have been in recent seasons. (And Mathieu hasn’t been very good at times this year.) That little slip is important when the margin for error is as small as it is for the Saints at the moment. You need to increase the pressure rate against Murray while not allowing him to breach containment to have defensive success in this matchup.
Featured Game | Arizona Cardinals vs. New Orleans Saints
Prediction: Cardinals 23, Saints 17