Cardinals at Falcons
The Arizona Cardinals were supposed to take the next step forward this season and challenge for a Super Bowl spot out of the NFC, but nothing in 2016 seems to be going according to plan. The Cardinals just hope their coach is healthy enough to join them on the sidelines when they try to avoid a third loss in four games as they visit the NFC South-leading Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
Arizona coach Bruce Arians was taken to the hospital with chest pains but released on Monday night and returned to the team facility the following day with the expectation that he will lead practices all week and coach the game on Sunday. "There is a trend here, I think," veteran wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald told reporters. “It is stressful when we’re playing bad. We were 13-3 last year and (Arians) was feeling good, so as a player, you feel probably responsible for what’s happening and the stress and him not feeling well. I think a lot of that falls on our shoulders, and we don’t feel good about it." The Falcons will put a struggling Cardinals defense to the test with the top-scoring offense in the NFL (32 points), although they went into the bye week off their lowest-scoring performance of the campaign in a 24-15 loss at Philadelphia. Atlanta sits one game ahead of surging Tampa Bay in the division and will play four of its remaining six games at home.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: Falcons -4. O/U: 50.5
ABOUT THE CARDINALS (4-5-1): Arizona began the season in a 1-3 hole and can't quite seem to dig its way out as mistakes continue to pile up. "Just taking turns making mistakes, and that's frustrating," Fitzgerald told reporters. "Six games left in the regular season at this point and we have no room for error moving forward. None." Plenty of those mistakes are coming from quarterback Carson Palmer, who recorded five of his 10 interceptions in the last three games and managed a season-low 198 passing yards in a 30-24 loss at Minnesota last week.
ABOUT THE FALCONS (6-4): Matt Ryan is second in the NFL in passing yards (3,247) and has thrown for 24 touchdowns with five interceptions in the best season of his strong career. Ryan is in line to get more help from the running game with the return of Tevin Coleman, who sat out the last three games with a hamstring injury but looked fast at practice this week. "That's what we were checking to see with Tevin," coach Dan Quinn told reporters. "Would he have the speed to get in and out of his breaks that make him such a unique player? So we saw the speed with him."
EXTRA POINTS
1. The Falcons signed RT Ryan Schraeder to a five-year contract extension reportedly worth $33 million.
2. Arizona RB David Johnson recorded his fourth 100-yard performance of the season with 103 last week and is third in the NFL with 863 rushing yards.
3. Atlanta TE Jacob Tamme was placed on injured reserve and underwent shoulder surgery during the bye.