Birds Fly South

By: Mike Rifkin

The Cardinals have started this season 2-0. This week they travel to Jacksonville to play the winless Jaguars. The Cardinals are coming off a 34-33 victory over the Vikings after Greg Joseph missed a game winning field goal. The Cardinals were in the same position in 2020 and lost in week 3 to the Lions.  This could be considered a trap game for the Cardinals after they played a tough game against the Vikings and next week they get into the meat of their schedule with their first meeting with the Rams. 

Kyler Murray has had a strong start to his season by completing 73.5 percent of his passes for 689 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions. Murray has added two rushing touchdowns. Murray is averaging 10.1 yards per completion. One of the bigger questions for the Cardinals this season was can someone opposite Deandre Hopkins step up? The answer through two games is yes, in week 1 Christain Kirk had two touchdowns and last week was a coming out party for rookie Rondale Moore who had 7 catches for 114 yards and a touchdown. The offense will try to continue it’s great start on Sunday.  The Cards defense struggled a little bit against Minnesota, expect them to rebound against the Jags especially the pass rush. 

The Jaguars are coming off a 23-13 loss against the Denver Broncos. In that game Trevor Lawrence the first overall pick was 14-33 for 118 yards a touchdown and two interceptions. Through two games   Lawrence has completed 50 percent  of his passes for 450 yards, 4 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. The Jaguars went in a similar direction this past offseason as the Cardinals did by hiring a head coach out of college and taking a quarterback first in the draft so there are going to be growing pains in Jacksonville. Last season undrafted running back James Robinson ran for 1,070 yards and seven touchdowns. Through two games this season Robinson only has a total of 16 carries and as a team the Jaguars have only rushed for 151, the Cardinals on the other side have run for 239 yards.  Receiver Marvin Jones Jr. leads the Jaguars with 11 catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns. 

The Cardinals can’t afford to look past the Jags Sunday. Last season the Cards started 2-0 and lost to the Lions at home.  After this game the Cardinals schedule gets difficult with games against the Rams, 49ers, and Browns coming up so they have to get the win this week.