Zach Smith

With the Arizona Cardinals off a big 41-17 home win over the Buffalo Bills in which they dominated from start to finish, the Cards now do battle with their old nemesis, the Dallas Cowboys.  The Cards last playoff win came over these Cowboys.  Lets not forget, these two teams used to meet twice a year back in the old NFC East days but nowadays they tend to meet once every 2 years.  In their last ten meetings, each team has won five games. 

The Cards will be heading into their bye week after this contest and I fully expect their greatest effort of the season to date.  Arizona is now 9-2 under Ken Wisenhunt at home and since the Cards moved into their new digs, the University of Phoenix Stadium they are a nifty 13-6, much different from their road record over the same course of time.

The Cards defense should get a ton of pressure on QB Tony Romo and do a very effective job of taking away play action, something the Cowboys like to do when their offense is clicking.  Arizona has contained the opposition on the ground very well.  If you make Dallas one-dimensional, their defense will be on the field alot longer than they would like. 

Just quickly, not that the Cowboys needed anymore off the field distractions but news comes out tonight that Adam Jones, formerly known as Pacman was in a fight in a Dallas hotel bathroom.  One mirror was shattered and their was extensive damage done to the bathroom.  Honestly, this guy is a joke!  Ban him for life for crying out loud.  Trouble follows this guy around, or should I say, he causes trouble and brings alot of stuff on himself.

Everyone knows that the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Adam Jones teammates are not happy about this.  To go with the endless Terrell Owens distractions, this one could turn out to be a mess.  It is not yet known if he fought one of his own bodyguars or a bodyguard hired by Jerry Jones as the owner has had someone follow Pacman around to make sure he stays out of trouble.  Sad but true.  Of course, the hotel is not pressing charges as they would be public enemy number one in Dallas as we all know how serious people take their football in Dallas.  Cowboys fans would target the hotel if they did so, even the radio show hosts in Dallas have said this.  All in all, a situation that I am sure Dallas wants no part of.

With all that being said, I see Arizona prevailing on Sunday and heading into the bye week with a record of 4-2. 

Zach

Zach Smith

It has been busy week out in the desert so I apologize for the quick previews.

With Anquan Boldin out for the Arizona Cardinals this weekend when the Buffalo Bills come to town, WR Early Doucet, the rookie out of LSU will see his first action in a starting role.  Safety Adrian Wilson should suit up but DE Bertrand Berry won’t be in uniform with a torn groin. 

As I have stated in the past, this Cardinals team plays lights out at home and I don’t see that stopping as the crowd will be jacked with the 4-0 Bills coming town.  Give props to the Bills for their great start, but they have only one quality win over Jacksonville, while their other wins have come against Oakland, St. Louis and Seattle.  Buffalo has not been a great road team in the past either so I see the Cards winning a tight one in the desert come Sunday afternoon.  Lets make it a 21-17 final in favour of the homeside.

Flipping to the college side of things, the ASU Sun Devils return to Pac-10 action after their bye week.  The Devils are licking their wounds from the trouncing they took at home to Georgia.  ASU has lost their last 2 games and now visit Cal, a tough place to play over the years for Arizona St.  

ASU needs to establish their running game in they have any hope of defeating the Bears.  I am looking for a shootout in this one, Cal wins 31-24.

Be sure to check out Tim Anderson’s blog for a perspective on the Buffalo Bills.

Back on Sunday night with post-game blogs on both of the desert football teams.

Zach

Zach Smith

Some things never change in Arizona when it comes to the almight Cardinals.  Many people thought head coach Ken Wisenhunt was making the right choice by staying out in DC after their game against Washington.  This would provide a mental and physical edge for the team by not having to travel back to the desert and then make the return trip back to the East Coast only 5 days later.  Problem is, this Cards continues to struggle on the road.  We all know how good they are at home, but on the road the misery continues after a pitiful display of football in the 2nd quarter against the NY Jets. 

People want to say the Jets won this game, well they won the 2nd quarter which was good enough to win the game, but overall, it was Arizona that moved the ball far more consistently from start to finish.  Problem was, QB Kurt Warner couldn’t protect the football.  Warner fumbled 4 times, while throwing 3 INT’s.  Terrible numbers for a QB during a few game stretch, let alone stats for one game.  Sure the OL didn’t give Warner the protection he needed, but his forced throws and terrible protection of the ball led to some horrible turnovers by the veteran QB. 

These turnovers led to a short field for the Jets most of the day.  The Jets in turn converted them into points.  Bottom line is, back-up QB Matt Leinhart must be so deep in the doghouse of Wisenhunt to not get a sniff of playing time after Warner played a miserable 2nd quarter.  It would have been very easy for Wisenhunt to insert Leinhart and relieve Warner at QB but that was not the case.  The coach has now gone on record as saying that Warner will be his guy once again this Sunday afternoon when the undefeated Buffalo Bills visit the desert. 

Warner did post impressive stats, 40 of 57 for 472 yards and two touchdowns but the inconsistency in the Cards secondary continues to plague them as well.  Mind you the Jets secondary is extremely average too. 

I could go on and on about the mistakes committed by Arizona but bottom line, the Cards return from the West Coast, winless.  The 2-0 start is now long gone and the Cards sit at .500. 

When you look back at what Arizona has done at home over the past few years, the Bills better be ready to play.  This is not St. Louis, the dome in Glendale is very loud and a tough to place to perform at now. 

Outside of the Buffalo win against Jacksonville, who have the Bills beat?  Seattle, Oakland and St. Louis.  This will be a true test of what this Bills team is all about.

Back later in the week with a preview.  Be sure to check out Tim Anderson’s blog all week long for a Buffalo prespective.

Zach