After a period of two straight losses, the Cardinals found themselves in a good position with the defeat of the 49ers on Thursday Night Football last week. Getting their second win of the season kept Arizona alive for another week as they took a long period of time off between games. From playing the first game of the week on Thursday just last week, the Cardinals now prepare to put the curtain down on week 6 of the NFL season against the New York Jets.
Attacking Deep
The Jets defensive backfield has been a shell of what it was just a few years ago. Darrelle Revis has not been able to regain his footing as perhaps the best corner in football with a long stretch of games where he was surrendering deep passes every week. Last week he was out with an injury as his team struggled against the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road. Even if Revis’ hamstring is good enough to suit up, there is no telling which version of Revis shows up to play the game against Arizona. The team gives up 303 passing yards a game this year, which is 31st in the league and going up against a wide receiver corp headed up by future hall of famer Larry Fitzgerald will be a tough matchup. With the added bonus of getting Carson Palmer back on the field after his concussion protocol came to an end this week the deep ball will be ready for the Cardinals playbook after Drew Stanton struggled to get the ball down the field last week. The Jets may try to blitz heavily to throw Palmer off his timing though, as there have been multiple injuries that have decimated the offensive line.
Protecting the Franchise
Going off the last topic, the Jets cannot trust their corners and safeties to hold their own against a stacked group of wide receivers like what the Cardinals bring into their Monday night game. The best way to combat that is to send a blitz and try to provide enough pressure to keep Palmer from letting the play develop. As of right now, the Cardinals could be without their two guards on the offensive line against a team that has one of the deepest rotations at the defensive line in football today. Evan Mathis, the former Bronco who joined the Cardinals in the offseason, will be out for the remainder of the season potentially with an ankle injury while Mike Iupati is listed as doubtful with his own ankle injury. The two former Pro Bowlers are a very important piece in the running game but their added footwork on the pass blocking side would have been crucial in helping prevent the huge Jets defensive line from getting an initial push off the block. The Jets will have to rely on those linemen to get the initial pressure and try to raise their minimal sack total of 12, 2 of which come from the nose guard Steve McLendon.
Making the Beard Feel Fear
Ryan Fitzpatrick dominated opposing defenses last season like he dominated the press in the offseason coming into this year with all the talk about his contract dispute with the Jets after setting a franchise record for touchdown passes in a single season. As the quarterback starved franchise that the Jets have been over the decades since the departure of Joe Namath, they decided to give Fitzpatrick a very lucrative deal to bring him back under center. To say there has been buyer’s remorse would be mild if you asked Jets fans. Fitzpatrick has twice as many interceptions to touchdowns and he has been sacked nine times this season. With the loss of his number two receiver Eric Decker due to injury it now falls more heavily on Fitzpatrick to manage the game and try to spread the ball around as best as he can. Brandon Marshall will likely get a bulk of the attention that Patrick Peterson can spare during the contest and after that the next best option for the Jets might be Quincy Enunwa who already has 27 catches on the year. Considering how many times Fitzpatrick has forced a ball into a bad spot this season however, look to see the long time journeyman and Gilbert, AZ native to throw a few rocket balls into tight coverage in his return to the Grand Canyon State.
Prediction: Jets 18 – Cardinals 30
The game will be played at University of Phoenix Stadium this Monday at 5:30 PM on ESPN.