Last-Minute Prediction for Arizona Cardinals Week 1 Matchup – 2022
By Sion Fawkes
The Arizona Cardinals square off with the Kansas City Chiefs in less than 24 hours. Here is one last-second prediction for the game.
The Arizona Cardinals could look to the college football ranks for inspiration before today’s game against the Chiefs. Yesterday, the Appalachian State Mountaineers, a team known for upending Top 10 programs, upset the favored #6 team in the nation, the Texas A&M Aggies.
Earlier in the day, the Marshall Thundering Herd handed the Notre Dame Fighting Irish their second loss of the season. So while the rest of the NFL universe may consider the Cards-Chiefs matchup a wash, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.
Sure, the Cardinals are banged up, but that doesn’t mean they won’t hang around with or even upset the Chiefs. Again, yesterday’s college football action proved that point. Lucas Strozinsky of Arrowhead Addict also seems to agree.
One final prediction for the Arizona Cardinals-Kansas City Chiefs matchup…
Earlier in the week, I wrote my bold predictions piece, outlining three realistic, but lofty outcomes for the contest. One of those predictions involved J.J. Watt getting to Patrick Mahomes twice. However, a recent report from Arizona Sports tells us the 32-year-old veteran is likely a no-go for Sunday’s matchup.
Instead of Watt getting to Mahomes twice, let’s go with Zach Allen. Allen, who recorded four sacks in 2021, has just six in his career, but he improved statistically since his rookie season in 2019. Allen produced a respectable 14 quarterback hits and four sacks in 2021, and is poised to build on those numbers this season.
Further, with depleted corners, look for the likes of Allen and edge rushers Markus Golden and Dennis Gardeck to play with a heightened sense of urgency. One way to stop Patrick Mahomes is to bring outside pressure and to flush him out of the pocket while dropping seven and at times, eight defenders into coverage.
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This will give Allen a few more chances to locate Mahomes in this contest. Especially if Watt is unable to go when game time rolls around.
(Statistics provided by Pro-Football-Reference)