The Arizona Cardinals are back in action on Sunday as they face the Houston Texans on the road
The Arizona Cardinals (4-5) have had some time to think about their last game, a Thursday Night Football debacle that saw them lose to the Seattle Seahawks 22-16. It was a game in which the Cardinals lost three more players for the season.
Now they must face an equally depleted team, if not more so, in the Houston Texans (3-6). They are coming off a 33-7 loss last Sunday to the Los Angeles Rams.
Both teams are facing each other with starting quarterbacks that just a month ago looked like wouldn’t see the field at all this season. Things change quickly.
The Cardinals have moved to Blaine Gabbert to start on Sunday while the Houston Texans will start Tom Savage. This will be Gabbert’s first start for Arizona.
TV/Radio
TV: Fox 10 (Kenny Albert, Ronde Barber)
Date/Time: Sunday November 19th 11:00 a.m. Arizona time, 1:00 p.m. ET
Radio: Arizona Sports 98.7 FM (Dave Pasch, Ron Wolfley, Paul Calvisi);
Cardinals radio broadcast network:
KATO, 1230 AM, Thatcher
KAZM, 780 AM, Sedona
KNTR, 980 AM, Lake Havasu
KDDL/KQNA, 94.3 FM, Prescott Valley
KVNA, 600 AM, Flagstaff
KZUA, 92.1 FM, Holbrook
KBLU, 560 AM, Yuma
KRVZ, 1400 AM, Springerville
KIKO, 1340 AM, Miami
KCUB, 1290 AM, Tucson
KGMN,100.1 FM, Kingman
Key matchups/players
The Cardinals lost Drew Stanton at quarterback due to an injury. Now they are on to their third string quarterback in Gabbert. Gabbert’s last start was for the San Francisco 49ers.
On the other side, Savage replaces Deshaun Watson. He was on his way to being rookie of the year before tearing his ACL in practice a couple of weeks ago.
Both teams will need help from their running games. The Cardinals have had a hot and cold Adrian Peterson. The Seahawks shut him down last Thursday. The Texans rely on Lamar Miller on the ground.
Savage has two touchdowns and two interceptions this season. Both interceptions came last week against the Rams. The Cardinals have to force him into dangerous passing situations.
It won’t be easy with the defensive line the Texans have. Of course they are without J.J. Watt who is out for the season. The Cardinals will still have to try to contain Jadeveon Clowney though. Easier said than done. He has six sacks so far on the season.