In a week three matchup the Arizona Cardinals head to Buffalo to take on the Bills. The Cardinals come in with a record of 1-1 fresh off their first victory of the young season after taking it to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bills on the contrary are still in search of their first win of 2016 coming in at 0-2 after falling to the New York Jets on primetime Thursday night. The Cardinals will be the first of four games the Bills will play against the NFC West.
The Cardinals and Bills, two teams trending in very different directions. Following a 37-31 loss to the Jets in week two the turmoil that is the Bills began to go into motion, firing offensive coordinator Greg Roman, rumors of head coach Rex Ryan on the hot seat, and numerous Bills injury reports. Sundays contest will be the first look at the offense under Anthony Lynn the newly appointed offensive coordinator. “He’s a tough coach. Demands a lot of respect. He’s really big on the small details. He wants to win. I mean he’s one of the coaches that played the game. You know he brings that attitude of urgency. You know, we’ve got to win and every possession matters,” said Lesean McCoy.
In his first test Lynn will look to pump some life into an offense that is 30th in yards per game and 22nd in points per game so far through the season. Not an easy test in his first game to go up against an Arizona defense that is fifth in the league in points allowed per game. A new look on offense can’t seem to hurt this team so Bills head coach Rex Ryan believes, “I think there would be an advantage though initially because, if you don’t mind a baseball analogy, sometimes these pitchers come in and you don’t necessarily know what you’re getting. There’s no book on them, as you mentioned. So I do think there is an advantage. How long that will last, I’m really not sure.”
Offense has been the least of the Cardinals concerns this season as they are scoring at a rate of 31 points per game while picking up 380 total yards. Carson Palmer and David Johnson have led the charge offensively. Palmer looks to be having another solid season having thrown five touchdowns without an interception with a rating of 114. “I’ve seen Carson Palmer since I was like eight years old, so he’s definitely going to be a challenge. He’s going to find a way to get the ball out to his guys. He has a lot of receivers that are going to go make plays on the ball, go vertical. Larry Fitzgerald is everywhere, they got good running backs, so it’s definitely going to be a challenge but I know our guys are ready to come back after a challenging week,” said Bills linebacker Preston Brown. Johnson meanwhile has over 130 yards receiving as well as rushing so far in the young season.
Three of those Palmer touchdowns this season have gone to the way of Larry Fitzgerald who received high praise from the Bills. “I recognize this guy, he’s in the top three or four receivers in the league and he’s been that way for probably his whole career. The guy’s an amazing player, unselfish player, I mean (he) blocks, he does everything. I mean about as good as it gets. And I’ve met him in person. The guy’s—you think, what’s wrong with this kid? No, he’s a great person too. So, he’s got a heck of a lot going for him obviously,” said head coach Rex Ryan. “You can put all your attention on him, and then the other guys are killing you. That kind of happened to us last week. It’s tough, there’s no doubt about it, and it starts with Carson Palmer and then you got, oh by the way, the great Larry Fitzgerald. Those other kids can run and they got size and that (John) Brown guy, the only one who’s not very big, is explosive, so we’ve got our work cut out for us and we understand that.”
Although they have gotten off to a slow start with a win this week it could be a sign of things to come. Although the numbers would be against them, last season numerous teams were able to come back from 0-2 to make the playoffs, something the Bills hope to accomplish to put an end to their playoff drought.
