The Cardinals rebounded strong against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a 33 point victory that saw the defense dismantle Jameis Winston by forcing five turnovers by the quarterback with four picks and a fumble. Now they take their first road game to Buffalo to face off against a team that has had almost two weeks to get used to their new offensive coordinator.
Cleaning Up The Pocket
Last week Carson Palmer stayed relatively clean during the contest against the Bucs as he only was sacked one time. Tampa Bay’s defense is not like Rex Ryan’s. Rex and his brother Rob love to send complicated blitz packaged with corners and linebackers to try and disrupt the play of their opponents. The big problem will be seeing which of those players is coming in first and which gap they choose to blitz. Palmer has had difficulty at times setting up the protection against teams that are heavy on the blitz so this may be a week where Palmer decides to go to quick throws to avoid a serious hit in the pocket. The offensive line will have to be prepared to do a lot of sliding and quick push blocks just to get a clearer picture of what the Bills are coming with in a play by play basis. If they can stave off the initial wave defenders, they should be able to frustrate the Bills defense.
Getting Michael Floyd Going
Michael Floyd was a dark horse in the NFC for a Pro Bowl bid after another solid 2015 where he caught six touchdowns and had over 800 receiving yards each of the past two seasons. This year has not been that good to Floyd however as he only has five catches this year through two games for 69 yards. The big reason for that is because Palmer seems to be more willing to go to his check down throws in David Johnson who already has over 100 receiving yards in the season. Fitzgerald is going to get his catches, that much is a given. But Floyd is a special kind of receiver being 6′ 2” and being able to have speed that kills corners in the league. If he can get off to a strong start against the Bills it could propel him to finally setting up the kind of campaign he was expected to have. With Fitzgerald likely to get the attention of Stephon Gilmore, Ronald Darby would likely be the man to pull full duty on Floyd. That three inch advantage is something I’m sure Palmer would love to exploit in the second year player.
Containing Tyrod Taylor
Many thought the Bills went a little bit too far with the kind of money they sent out to Tyrod Taylor on his extension. While the deal does protect the franchise to a point, it was still a quick reaction to a single season as the full time starter. Now in his second year in Buffalo as the main man under center, he’ll already have to learn his second offense with the Bills firing their coordinator just last week after a tough game against the Jets. While Greg Roman took the major fall for the 0 – 2 start, Taylor still has a lot to improve on this year as he really hasn’t shown the kind of efficiency that he displayed just last season. While he is completing around 64% of his passes, he is only getting around 8 yards per his completions. With only three touchdowns so far on the year, two of those being plays of over 70 yards, Taylor needs to be willing to take bigger shots down the field. He will be without his biggest target in Sammy Watkins this week, but he has the wide receivers that can change the game on a single throw. The minute Taylor starts taking deep shots again and forcing the safeties to play deep, LeSean McCoy can look to capitalize on draw plays. Arizona will have to keep the receivers in front of them this week to avoid giving the Bills that kind of confidence.
Prediction: Cardinals 31 – Bills 13
The game will be played in New Era Field in Orchard Park, NY at 10:00 AM on FOX.