The Arizona Cardinals host the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday Night Football on NBC at 6:30 p.m. Sunday evening
The Cincinnati Bengals visit Arizona in the regular season for the first time since 2003. This is the first matchup overall between the two teams since the Bengals defeated the Cardinals 23-16 on Christmas Eve in 2011 in Cincinnati.
I was able to get together with Connor Howe, editor of Stripe Hype, FanSided’s Cincinnati Bengals site. He took the time to answer some of my questions ahead of Sunday night’s game in Glendale.
Carson Palmer plays his first game against his former team in the Cincinnati Bengals this Sunday since joining the Arizona Cardinals. Some stories have been published that some players feel that Palmer quit on them. What is your take?
"It’s tough for any fanbase to have a player quit on its franchise, especially when the player is a franchise quarterback. Personally, I wasn’t a fan of Palmer making such demands. He was the face of a rebuilding franchise and knew that; in my eyes. standing up to the owner and demanding a trade was selfish. Judging by my interactions with Bengals fans, I’d say that about half of our fanbase is over it by now and half is still bitter–the bitter fans being very adamant about their hatred towards Palmer. In retrospective, the trade worked out for basically all involved, so I’m not very bitter. But it would still be nice to see Cincinnati take down Palmer on Sunday night."
It appears that Adam Jones is not going to play on Sunday night. How is his absence going to affect the Bengals game plan?
"Adam Jones has been huge for Cincy. He’s having a Pro Bowl-caliber season as both a corner and a returner, and he’s been able to shut down opposing receivers fairly well. Dre Kirkpatrick has been inconsistent, and Darqueze Dennard is very inexperienced, so it will be interesting to see what the Bengals do to compensate for Jones’ loss. Luckily, Cincinnati’s safety duo is one of the best in the league and rarely gives up the deep pass. I don’t think Michael Floyd or John Brown will burn the Bengals deep more than once, but the Cardinals could force-feed Larry Fitzgerald all game long with Jones sidelined."
Many people here locally try to keep tabs on LB Vontaze Burfict. I know he’s battled injuries but how valuable is he to the Bengals and can he keep himself out of trouble when healthy?
"Burfict is easily the second-best player on the Bengals’ defense. As soon as he returned to the lineup against the Steelers, the Bengals were immediately re-energized on that side of the ball; his presence is really felt in the run game. Aside from a play in which he ran into a cameraman and took the cameraman out, Burfict has had a relatively quiet season in terms of issues that are not playing-related, which is what Bengals fans like to see."
Cincinnati as we know lost their first game of the season last Monday to the Texans. Was it due to matchup issues or is there something deeper going on with the Bengals that signals maybe the Bengals are starting to head in the wrong direction?
"I don’t think Monday night’s loss was a result of either. The Bengals have really struggled against the Texans and the Texans’ current quarterbacks in the past; Brian Hoyer and T.J. Yates are undefeated against the Bengals, and Andy Dalton has only beaten the Texans once–when Ryan Mallett was at the helm for Houston. People may overreact to the Bengals’ loss, and they’ll certainly overreact if Cincy loses this Sunday, but I have no doubt that this team is for real. The Bengals were an A.J. Green fumble away from winning on Monday night despite playing their worst game of the season, and Tyler Eifert doesn’t drop three passes every week. I just think it was a fluke–bad games happen every once in a while."
Finally, what is your prediction for this game with final score?
"At 8-1, I’ve got to stick with the Bengals here–plus, I’m going to be in attendance on Sunday night, so I really want a win. Andy Dalton makes a statement after a tough loss and guides his team to a 31-16 victory."