Week Three Preview: Arizona Cardinals at Buffalo Bills
Week three will see the Arizona Cardinals travel to Buffalo to take on the Bills for their first road game of the season; boasting with confidence after a thorough 40-7 demolition of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Sunday.
When Arizona heads to the industrial Buffalo, best known for its blue collar appetites and long harsh winters, they will be looking to get their first win there in 45 years. The last time Arizona won a game in Buffalo was on Halloween of 1971, back when the Cardinals called St. Louis home. They have only played in Buffalo three times since — 1986 (L 17-10), 1990 (L45-15) and 2004 (L 38-14) — but their chances on Sunday look good as four point favorites.
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Game Information
In week three of the regular season, the Arizona Cardinals will travel to Buffalo for a matchup with the Bills at New Era Field this Sunday, September 25th. Kickoff will take place at 11:00 a.m. MST on what should be a beautiful afternoon where it is supposed to be 63 degrees and clear. Those looking to watch the game from the cheap seats at home, will find it televised on FOX stations. Check your local listings.
What to expect
Arizona heads to Buffalo looking to ride on the momentum of their thrashing of Tampa as the Cardinal’s matchup this week does not appear to offer anymore resistance than the Buccaneers did last week. The Bills are ranked in the bottom in terms of both their offense and defense — Buffalo has the 23rd ranked defense and the 30th ranked offense after just two weeks.
Everyone has heard the tired cliche, “this is a must-win game,” when in reality every game is a must-win game. For the Buffalo Bills this week, this is a must-win game. If they do not win this week, they will have put themselves in a three game hole which they might not be able to recover from, only three weeks into the young season. It is especially concerning when considering that they share a division with the New England Patriots. Their postseason could already be at risk as another loss puts the playoffs even further out of reach.
Through two weeks, Arizona remains one of the league’s more disciplined teams, only having committed six penalties for 98 yards. Conversely, Buffalo has committed 14 penalties for 148 yards in only two games. As long as the Cardinals are able to keep their wits about them, the Bills’ lack of discipline will lead to their own self-destruction.
Buffalo appears to be outmatched and outgunned in this week three matchup with the Cardinals. Arizona’s high-powered, high-scoring offense should have little difficulties taking flight against the Bills’ subpar and underperforming defensive squad. On average they are giving up a total of 25 points per game while allowing opposing offenses 316 passing yards and 103 rushing yards per contest. Nothing they have done, proves this week will be any different.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Bills have not been any better and are only averaging 19 points and 285 total yards per game — 209 passing with 76 rushing. Unless Buffalo finds a way to improve and be more productive with the ball, they will be unable to keep up with a high-powered Cardinals’ offense that is averaging nearly 31 points and 400 yards per game.
Not only will the Bills have to keep up with the Cardinals’ offense, but they will have to contend with Arizona’s stout defense that is only allowing 15 points per game. Bills’ fans look to be in for another long afternoon while the Cardinals continue to roll. There is a good chance Drew Stanton sees some more fourth quarter action in this one.
Essentials to win the game
If the Cardinals are going to beat the Bills on Sunday they are going to have to get Michael Floyd and John Brown more involved. Buffalo’s secondary will have all that they can handle in trying to contain Larry Fitzgerald, which should lead to more targets for Floyd and Brown. As of yet, they have to garner the same level of attention from Carson Palmer.
Arizona will also have to do a better job of running the ball. In a game where the Cardinals won 40-7, one would have expected David Johnson to receive more carries. He was even out touched by Chris Johnson 16 to 12. Though David Johnson found success in the passing game, Arizona will have to do a much better job of utilizing the explosive second-year back.
In that game in 1971, the Cardinals managed to hold O.J. Simpson to just 42 yards rushing on 16 carries. They will look to hold LeSean McCoy to similar numbers on Sunday, should he play. It will be key for Arizona to contain Buffalo’s ground game and force Tyrod Taylor to beat them through the air. The Bill’s don’t have a receiving corps that is capable of hanging with the Cardinals’ loaded secondary, who picked off Jameis Winston four times last Sunday. With Sammy Watkins still nursing a lingering foot injury, expect more of the same when Arizona’s defensive backs matchup against Taylor and their lack of receiving talent.
Possible downfalls to avoid
For Arizona their biggest pitfall will be from overconfidence and looking past Buffalo to next week. There are no guarantees in the NFL; any team can win any given week. Letting their guard down and resting on their laurels, could be the Cardinals’ biggest roadblock to victory.
Arizona will also have to avoid Buffalo’s lack of discipline. Their sloppy play and chippiness could rub off on the Cardinals as well as getting involved in foolish extracurriculars after the play. Avoiding playing down to the Bills’ level will be key, though it can be an easy habit to fall into. All the Cardinals need to do is play their game and if they do, they should have little difficulty getting past the Bills in week three.
Players to spotlight
Carson Palmer had a bit of a rough preseason and appears to still be shaking off some of the rust, despite his 308 yard, three touchdown performance last week. Though the numbers look good, he was only able to complete 18 of 31 passes. Palmer will have to be much sharper if the Cardinals are to have similar success moving forward. Not all defenses will be as forgiving as Tampa’s.
After struggling to contain Matt Forte last week, the Bills will have an even greater challenge in trying to slow down the explosive and super talented David Johnson. Even when teams have found a way of slowing him down in the backfield, he makes them pay through the air. Last week Tampa managed to hold the athletic second year-back to only 54 yards on the ground. He hit them back with 98 yards receiving. With Johnson defenses have little choice but to pick their poison.
Larry Fitzgerald should enjoy another week leading the Cardinals wide receiver corps. If the Bills should attempt to keep him in check, look for Palmer to spread the ball around a little more to Michael Floyd and John Brown who have been mostly quiet up to this point. The speedy Jaron Brown is always a homerun threat once he gets behind defenses. Arizona is just too talented through the air for the Bills secondary to manage.
One player the Bills are going to want to keep a keen eye on is Chandler Jones. Jones has a sack in each of the Cardinals’ first two games and has five sacks in eight games versus the Bills. When facing the Bills in week two just a season ago, Jones managed to get to Taylor and brought him down three times. It’s obvious that Jones has the Bills’ number, Buffalo might want to give him a little extra attention. If not, expect Jones to add another notch to his belt.
Arizona has one the most talented and athletic secondaries from top to bottom. After picking off Winston four times last week, they will be hungry for more of the same against Taylor on Sunday. Marcus Cooper led the way against Tampa with two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown. Patrick Peterson and D.J. Swearinger added an interception a piece. This is a talented Cardinals’ backfield that includes the likes of Tyrann Mathieu, Tyvon Branch and Tony Jefferson.
Game projection
The Cardinals come into Sunday’s game as a big four point favorite over the Bills. Arizona should have little trouble moving the ball and putting up points against Buffalo’s bottom ranked defense. On the other side, injuries to Buffalo’s key playmakers, McCoy and Watkins, has limited their productiveness in the Bills’ offense. Their diminished receiving group will find little room to work against Arizona’s vaunted secondary. With McCoy banged up, Buffalo’s ground game figures to struggle as well. In what is shaping up to be another blowout win for the Cardinals, Sunday’s game should be another boost in their sails.
The Cardinals should continue to put together wins as they enter the softer portion of their schedule. The Bills will do their best to make things difficult for the Cardinals, but as long as they keep their head and stick to their game, there is little the Bills can do to slow them down. Buffalo looks to be just another stepping stone in Cardinals march to the Super Bowl.
– Miles Dittberner, is a Managing Editor at cover32 and covers the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings. Like and follow cardinals32 on Facebook and Twitter
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