The Arizona Cardinals go to a familiar place this time of year on Sunday
Here comes Santa Claus and here come the Arizona Cardinals to the land of the Seattle Seahawks once again. For the fourth year in a row, the Cardinals are playing in Seattle in late December.
Also for the fourth year in a row, the Cardinals have nothing to play for but pride and draft positioning. The Cardinals have won 2 of the past 3 games at CenturyLink Field.
Last season the Cardinals came from behind to tie the game at 24 with 1:49 remaining in the game. That was mostly thanks to kicker Zane Gonzalez and his coming out party with the team.
Gonzalez kicked a huge 55-yard field goal to tie the game before Seattle marched down the field and won the game as time expired 27-24. Gonzalez had 3 field goals that afternoon, all coming from 50+ yards.
Now, the Cardinals have been trying to find the end zone more. Gonzalez was kicking a lot of field goals early. However last week the Cardinals scored a season high 5 touchdowns, 4 of them coming from running back Kenyan Drake.
Both guard Justin Pugh and receiver Christian Kirk are questionable to play on Sunday. Kirk has been off and on hurt all season.
As for the Seahawks, they could be without one of their top defenders in Jadeveon Clowney. If you remember it was Clowney who intercepted Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray in the first matchup in Glendale and ran the ball back for a touchdown. Clowney is listed as doubtful.
Its that time of year where there are a lot of banged up players. The Seahawks also lost running back Rahsaad Penny for the season last week. Penny missed the first game in Glendale as well.
The guy the Cardinals will need to be focused on in their backfield is Chris Carson. He had 104-yards rushing in the first matchup.
Gametime on Sunday is set for 2:25 p.m. on Fox. The announcers for the game once again will be Chris Myers and Daryl Johnston.