The Arizona Cardinals started the season with three huge wins, hanging 31 points on the New Orleans Saints, 48 points on the Chicago Bears and 47 points on the San Francisco 49ers. But their unbeaten streak came to an end when they were upset by the NFC West rival St. Louis Rams in Week 4, and they also lost their most recent game to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 6.
Ravens vs. Cardinals 2015 live stream: Time, TV schedule and how to watch online
Carson Palmer and Joe Flacco will duel under the bright lights of ‘Monday Night Football’ in Week 7.
Between those two losses, Carson Palmer and the Cardinals managed to put up 42 points against the Detroit Lions.
There are some concerns, the biggest of which is the fact that the two losses came against the two teams that are obviously the best they’ve faced this season, while teams like the Lions, 49ers and Bears appear to be in the running for the worst team in the league at this stage.
The Cardinals have beaten the teams they were expected to beat, but as a team that needs to hold onto a tough NFC West against the surging Seattle Seahawks, they have to start clearing out other opponents. Fortunately for the Cardinals, their next two opponents fall firmly in the category of teams that are not expected to be able to hang with them.
Up first: Joe Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens.
While Arizona has a 4-2 record, the Ravens have won just one game, and are coming off a loss to the aforementioned 49ers. The one thing going for the Ravens right now is they own a win over the Steelers, who beat the Cardinals last week. The Ravens will need to look closely at what they did to beat the Steelers and at what the Steelers did to beat the Cardinals.
What Pittsburgh was able to do against the Cardinals was force Palmer into making big mistakes. Palmer was sacked once and hit multiple times, and though he tossed a touchdown and threw for 421 yards, he also had two interceptions and unknown backup Landry Jones burned the Cardinals for a pair of touchdowns.
But the Ravens are out to the franchise's worst ever start. The West Coast has not been kind to the Ravens, either -- they hold losses against the Oakland Raiders, 49ers and Denver Broncos. This game will be played in Arizona as well, and the travel has to be getting to the Ravens at this stage.
If there is one thing going for the Ravens, it’s the fact that their losses have been so close. They were within a single score in every game they lost this year, losing five games by a total of 24 points. Even their win was a narrow three-point victory over the Steelers.
Baltimore ranks 25th in the league in total defense, and ninth in the league in total offense. They're putting up yardage, with Flacco completing 62.3 percent of his passes for 1,605 yards and eight touchdowns, but he has also thrown seven interceptions. Justin Forsett is running well with 457 yards and a touchdown, but he's not getting much help from the guys behind him.
How to watch
When: 8:35 p.m. ET
Where: University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz.
TV: ESPN
Commentators: Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Lisa Salters
Online: WatchESPN, Verizon NFL Mobile
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