The Arizona Cardinals (4-4) are awaiting the Seattle Seahawks (5-3) for the Thursday Night Game of Week 10 of the NFL season. Both teams have experienced several ups and downs and are not too consistent. However, a glance at the previous year’s results shows that this NFC-West encounter in particular is full of suspense. The game will be played live on DAZN during the night from 2.25 a. m. on Friday night!
What were those in 2016 for comparisons between the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks. In the first encounter both sides separated after an epic battle with 6:6 after Overtime. Numerous field goal attempts went wrong and nobody seemed to want to win.
In the second game of the season on Christmas Eve, the Cardinals prevailed with the final play of the game, a 34-yard-field-goal, and thus managed to reach a conciliatory conclusion of an otherwise lean season for themselves.
The Seahawks finally failed in the divisional playoff because of the Falcons. This season both teams are now riding roller coasters. The Cardinals won a clear 0:33 at the Rams three weeks ago, then recovered in Bye-Week to win more or less confidently in San Francisco last Sunday.
For the seahawks, however, it went in the other direction. They won five out of six games in the middle of it, but were shocked by Kirk Cousins and the Redskins back home on Sunday. Cousins bridged 70 yards in just 35 seconds.
In this respect, no one can say that he is in much better shape than his opponent. However, in terms of personnel, because while the Seahawks have a number of ailing top performers, including half the Legion of Boom (Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman), the cardinals seem to be more or less complete.
If it weren’t for the Carson Palmer outage, who will have to pass for a long time after his crossbreak. However, Backup Drew Stanton has represented him very well so far. And even though he played only 201 yards (15/30) against the 49ers, he won his last four starts! Against the Seahawks he is even 3-0 and 7-3 as Palmer’s representative. So it could be worse.
However, general fitness needs to be questioned on both sides, as it is a Thursday evening on which this meeting is scheduled. So there is only a three day break between this and the last game of both teams. One of the main focus areas is Adrian Peterson.
The 32-year-old blossoms like a phoenix from the ashes in the desert and, within his first three games, ran in a new guise for 134 and 159 yards. Last Sunday against the Niners he wore the ball 37 times, more than ever before in his entire career. So how will he be able to cope with the shortened regeneration time?
I think the same number as last week,”said Head Coach Bruce Arians, explaining:” It even runs in walkthrough. He’s amazing. I wouldn’t want to challenge him in any way and say,’ You only get 20 carries’, because then I’d have to fight with him on the sidelines.
Arians knows from many years of experience how to deal with aging running backs. Comparisons with Jerome Bettis from his time as Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive coordinator come to mind:”Yes, but I don’t think Jerome ever had 37 carries,”Arians laughed and said,”He would have gone out long ago and we would have brought Willie Parker into the game.”
A fitter Peterson would surely help the Cardinals against the division rivals, who are currently just one game ahead of Arizona. However, even though the Seahawks are statistically mediocre against the run, they have recently shown a marked increase in performance, with the last three games allowing for an average of only 80 yards on the ground – just under 30 under the season average!
The less time you have between games when you’ve had a bad game, the better,”said Kicker Blair Walsh, perhaps the Seahawks’ big scapegoat against Washington. The first thing you want to do after such a game is go out and prove to yourself and your team mates that you’re who they think you are,”Walsh continued.
On the other hand, everything stands and falls aggressively with Russell Wilson, who was the only bright spot for this team at the start of the season. Colleagues are now waking up, but Wilson is the engine behind the offensive and, according to Pro Football Focus, the second-best scored quarterback this season.
And he has to be, when you see how little support he gets. The offensive line is still a big question mark. Wilson’s already bagged 18. Curiously enough, so many cardinals have their own card terminals on the credit side, which is not necessarily a good thing. And there would be more without its enormous mobility. Guard Luke Joeckel is now threatening to fail against the Cardinals, which is certainly not helping.
I don’t think Eddie Lacy, who’s injured on the groin, will help either. The chance for Thomas Rawls to get back to the foreground again. The running back will also play a role in the pass game.
So almost all eyes will be on Wilson once again. Or is it going to be another drama with an extra-length and a draw as usual in Arizona?
Arizona Cardinals (4-4) – Seattle Seahawks (5-3) (Fri, 2:25 a. m. live on DAZN)
The SPOX NFL Predictor, Week 10:
Pascal
De Marco
80-52