Five things to know about the Chiefs’ next opponent: Arizona Cardinals
A few people wondered if the Chiefs-Browns contest on Sunday was a trap game for Kansas City given the big difference in their records.
But this week’s game may be more dangerous as the Arizona Cardinals visit Arrowhead Stadium this coming Sunday.
The Chiefs have opened as an astonishing 17-point favorite against the 2-6 Cardinals, and the next team on Kansas City’s schedule is the one-loss Rams. Will the Chiefs be caught looking ahead? Expect there to be some chatter about that possibility this week.
Sunday’s Chiefs-Cardinals will kick off at noon and it will be broadcast on CBS (Ch. 5).
Each week, I take an early look at the Chiefs’ next opponent, and here are five things to know about the Cardinals.
1. Anemic offense
Here is where the Cardinals rank in four key offensive statistics:
Points: 31st (13.8 per game)
Yards per game: 32nd (233.2)
Passing yards per game: 31st (165.8)
Rushing yards per game: 32nd (67.5)
That’s about as bad as it gets, right? The Cardinals realized it, too, and fired offensive coordinator Mike McCoy on Oct. 19 after their 45-10 loss to the Denver Broncos.
Arizona, which is coming off a bye, won its first game with Byron Leftwich calling the plays, but it wasn’t pretty. The Cardinals scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns and beat the 49ers 18-15.
It should be no surprise to hear that running back David Johnson is having a tough time. He has rushed for just 394 yards in 122 carries (3.2 yards per carry).
Arizona is also dead last in the NFL in third-down conversions at 26.1 percent. By comparison, the Chiefs have converted 48.4 percent of their third-down attempts. That ranks third in the NFL behind the Falcons and Colts.
2. Another rookie quarterback
Rookie Josh Rosen replaced Sam Bradford during a Week 3 loss to the Bears and he’s been the starting quarterback since.
In his first six NFL games, Rosen has completed 94-of-169 passes for 1,072 yards, five touchdowns and six interceptions. Heading into the weekend, Rosen was the second-highest rated rookie quarterback, according to Pro Football Focus.
Leftwich told the Arizona Republic that the team’s bye week will help Rosen prepare for the Chiefs.
“(It) gives us time to self-scout, rep some things that Josh needs to get better at, and have him see things that’s coming up in the future that maybe he hasn’t seen in the past,” Leftwich told Katherine Fitzgerald.
”It’s a lot of time to just look at those things, between self scouting, paying attention to what we do, and just giving Josh situations that’s going to come up in the next couple weeks, trying to get him prepared for it now.”
Rosen showed promise by leading the fourth-quarter comeback against San Francisco. This was the winning touchdown:
It’s Rosen’s show now as the Cardinals released Bradford on Saturday.
3. Larry Legend
Rosen has a reliable target in receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald, now in his 15th season, leads the Cardinals in receptions (34) and is tied for the most touchdown catches (two).
He is coming off his best game of the season: eight catches for 102 yards and a touchdown. That score was the 112th of his career, breaking a tie for seventh with former Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez.
Fitzgerald has 1,268 career receptions for 15,902 yards.
4. Rushing defense problems
While the Cardinals’ passing defense has performed well (it ranked eighth in the NFL entering the weekend), it’s ability to stop the defense is another story.
The Cardinals are ranked 31st, allowing 143.1 yards per game. Also, they had allowed the third-most first downs via rushing in the first eight weeks of the season (64), trailing the Chiefs and Browns by one.
Just a guess here that Kareem Hunt gets quite a few touches against the Cardinals.
5. The special teams
Kicker Phil Dawson has attempted just six field goals this season and has missed two, but he’s converted all 12 extra-point attempts.
Arizona is tied for ninth in the NFL with a net average of 41.0 yards per punt. Andy Lee is gross averaging 48.1 yards a punt.
Christian Kirk has returned 10 punts for an average of 7.8 yards per return with a long of 44 yards. Brandon Williams has 10 kickoff returns and is averaging 19.2 yards.