Saints @ Cards

[Vin+ 3,121]

http://hosted.stats.com/fb/preview.asp?g=20161218022&home=22&vis=18

 

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- When the NFL schedule was first released, Sunday's game against the Arizona Cardinals and the New Orleans Saints figured to be a Week 15 classic NFC matchup with plenty on the line for both franchises as the playoffs approached.

 

Now?

 

With each team out of the running -- the Cardinals limping along at 5-8-1 and the Saints at 5-8 in danger of their third straight losing season -- there isn't a whole lot on the line when the two clubs collide at University of Phoenix Stadium.

 

It holds about as much drama as one of those throw-in bowl games in college football, the ones with the funky names and below-average teams.

 

Unless, of course, you factor in this underlying little factoid: It will be a matchup of the NFL's top-ranked defense of the Cardinals, who are allowing just 285.5 yards per game, against the league's No. 1-rated offense of the Saints, who are averaging 418.3 yards per game.

 

"I guess that's kind of exciting, isn't it?" Saints quarterback Drew Brees said sarcastically.

 

"No, it will be a great challenge for us in a lot of different areas, our ability to execute. We look at the statistical categories of this defense, and they're tops in the league in just about every category.

 

"When you look at that, you say, 'Wow, it's a big challenge for us to run the football, it's a big challenge for us to protect, to get open and to make plays and get points.' At the end of the day, it's our team against their team, but our offense against their defense just poses a great challenge for us."

 

The Cardinals, NFC West champions a year ago when they went 13-3, have only won two of their last seven games (2-5-1) and not only have they been besieged by injuries to key personnel across the board but they also cut No. 2 wide receiver Michael Floyd this week, just two days after his arrest on suspicion of DUI.

 

Floyd's departure puts that much more pressure on veteran Larry Fitzgerald, who ranks second in the league with 91 receptions. It also means the Cardinals need more from J.J. Nelson and John Brown, the latter of whom has dealt with leg cramping issues most of the season brought on by complications from sickle-cell trait.

 

"We're not going to change," quarterback Carson Palmer said. "We're not putting in new plays, taking out plays. We're running our stuff."

 

So will the Saints, although it hasn't worked very well the past two weeks in back-to-back losses to the Lions and Buccaneers. Brees had zero touchdown and three interceptions in each of those games.

 

Stafford last went two straight games without a touchdown in 2008 and never before in his career had he been intercepted three times in consecutive games. He did have two potential touchdown passes dropped during the loss to Tampa Bay, and the Saints were flagged 13 times for 104 yards.

 

"It was just like one thing after another," Brees said. "All the bad things that could have happened, happened. I'm a confident guy. I know how to correct things when they occur. A lot of it's just with my process and how to prepare, and then how I take that to game day. I know I've got to be better in certain ways. I'll do that."

 

Saints head coach Sean Payton has no doubts about that. He knows his star quarterback, who turns 38 next month, will bounce back.

 

"I think he's one of those guys that's extremely competitive," Payton said. "Just like we do as coaches, when you watch the tape, you feel like there are things that certainly we could do better and put him in better positions. It angers you. It frustrates you.

 

"To be at this stage of the season, you always want to be playing for something. I think that those are the things that drive the guys like him, and I think you'll see that."

 

Arizona's defense will be playing short-handed, as starting inside linebacker Deone Bucannon (ankle) and safety Tyvon Branch (groin) have both been placed on season-ending injured reserve. Safety Tyrann Mathieu, however, will play after missing four of the last five games because of a nagging shoulder injury.

 

Still, the Cardinals know they'll have their hands full against Brees and a pass rush that could expose Arizona's patchwork offensive line, which seems to change from week to week.

 

A loss would guarantee the Cardinals their first losing season in head coach Bruce Arians' four years in Arizona. All the adversity his team has faced this year would seem to be a full plate for any coach, but Arians brushed it off.

 

"No, there are guys that have it a whole lot worse than I do," Arians said. "It's just part of the job. You embrace it and you go on. Injuries or whatever it is, you have to get a game plan and go until the season is over."

 

One of the consistent positives in the Cardinals' disappointing season has been the continued production and versatility of running back David Johnson, who stands a chance to become only the third player in NFL history to finish with more than 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards.

 

Johnson already has 1,085 rushing yards and he's 255 receiving yards from 1,000 with three games to play. Marshall Faulk (1999) and Roger Craig (1985) are the only players to accomplish the feat.