The Baltimore Ravens travel to University of Phoenix Stadium Monday night to face the Arizona Cardinals. The Ravens are trying to salvage their season against the Cardinals, as they have lost two straight and are just 1-5 on the season. The Cardinals are looking to rebound after taking their second loss of the season last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Arizona sits in first place in the NFC West and will try to widen the gap with a win against the Ravens Monday night. Head coach Bruce Arians has the Cardinals defense ranked sixth in the league in terms of yards given up per game. The Cardinals secondary is one of the best in football, and players like Deone Bucannon, Tyrann Mathieu, and Patrick Peterson look to make Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco's night miserable.
The Cardinals defense is tied for having the most interceptions in the NFL this season with 11, and will try to get the ball back to their offense through turnovers. Quarterback Carson Palmer leads Arizona's offense, and is having a great year. Palmer has thrown for 1,737 yards this season with 14 touchdowns to five interceptions. He will look to bounce back after his worst performance against the Steelers when he threw a season-high two interceptions.
Arians knows how important Palmer is to the success of Arizona this season, and will protect him with a strong running game. Chris Johnson seems to have found his former self in Arizona, and is off to his best start since he played for the Tennessee Titans. The Cardinals' top running back is averaging 4.8 yards per carry this season, and has 445 rushing yards. They will look to control the clock with Johnson, and keep the ball out of the Ravens hands.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh needs his team to rebound tonight, as the season is slipping away for Baltimore. The Ravens are in last place in the AFC North, and at this point would likely need a wildcard to make the postseason. Flacco will need to turn his season around Monday, as he has struggled with turnovers.
Flacco has seven interceptions to eight touchdowns this season, and will need to be careful against the Cardinals' ball-hawking defense. Flacco will look to top target Steve Smith Sr., to get involved early on Monday night. Despite missing a game for small fractures in his back, Smith is still the team's leading receiver by over 200 yards. He has 510 receiving yards this season with three touchdowns, and Harbaugh will attempt to get the ball to Smith and running back Justin Forsett, as they are the big playmakers for this Ravens offense.
It looks to be an interesting matchup on Monday night, as one team is trying to turn their season around while the other is trying to stay in first place in their division. The game starts at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time, and you can watch the live broadcast here.
To listen to the Cardinals' radio broadcast, click here, and for the Ravens' radio broadcast, go here.