The Cincinnati Bengals travel to University of Phoenix Stadium to face the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday Night Football. The Bengals are coming off their first loss of the season last week against the Houston Texans, and head coach Marvin Lewis will look for his team to bounce back after the tough loss. The Cardinals are on a three-game winning streak, and quarterback Carson Palmer will try to get a win over his former team Sunday night.
Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians will look to put Palmer in great positions on Sunday night, and the Arizona quarterback is having a tremendous season. Palmer has thrown for 2,749 yards on the season and has 23 touchdown passes to seven interceptions. Arians will look to get their ground game going early, as that will open up holes in the passing game for Palmer.
Running backs Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington will get plenty of touches Sunday night, as they lead the team in rushing yards this season. Johnson has resurrected his career in Arizona and is averaging 4.4 yards per carry and leads the team with 734 rushing yards. Ellington is coming off a big game against the Seattle Seahawks last week, as he rushed for 61 yards and a touchdown on just five carries. Ellington is a dual threat coming out of the backfield, and has over 100 receiving yards on the season.
Cardinals wide receiver John Brown is reportedly expected to play Sunday, but wide out Michael Floyd is less optimistic to play. Palmer will look to target Larry Fitzgerald against Cincinnati's defense and has already caught seven touchdown passes from Palmer this season. The Bengals will likely be missing two key pieces on defense in Pacman Jones and Michael Johnson, as the two are officially listed as doubtful.
While Jones and Johnson are unlikely to play, star defensive tackle Geno Atkins will look to get after Palmer all night on Sunday. Atkins creates havoc for opposing quarterbacks and currently has six sacks and a forced fumble this season. The Bengals defensive front continually disrupts offensive game plans this season, and players like Atkins and defensive end Carlos Dunlap can be impact players in this matchup.
The Bengals offense is led by quarterback Andy Dalton, who is having his best NFL season yet. Dalton has over 2,400 passing yards on the season and has thrown 18 touchdowns to five interceptions. The Bengals quarterback is coming off his worst performance of the season, as he had a 57.9 completion percentage against the Texans and threw an interception with no touchdowns. Lewis will look to establish a ground game with running backs Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill, as a strong running game will alleviate pressure on Dalton.
This game looks to be a matchup of two playoff bound teams, and both coaches know that this game can be used as a measuring stick to see where they are against the NFL's best competition. 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 Bengals' radio broadcast, go here.
