When the Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals square off Sunday night on NBC, it will be a matchup of Arizona's offense, ranked second in the league, against the Bengals' league-leading defense.
Bengals vs. Cardinals 2015 live stream: Time, TV schedule, radio and how to watch online
The Bengals will try to take advantage of Arizona’s banged-up passing game.
The teams aren’t bad on the other side of the ball, either. Cincinnati is ranked fifth in offense, while the Cardinals have the 11th-ranked defense, so the game will come down to a few big plays on both sides of the ball.
For Arizona, everything begins with veteran quarterback Carson Palmer, who leads the league at 8.2 net yards per attempt (counting sacks), and is second with 23 touchdown passes. He's completing 64 percent of his passes at 14.0 yards per catch, which means he's as accurate in the vertical passing game as anyone in the league.
Palmer's biggest problem Sunday night might be the health of his receivers. His top three targets are all injured, and while Larry Fitzgerald is probable to play with an ankle injury, John Brown and Michael Floyd are questionable with hamstring pulls. The trio has combined for 129 catches and 15 touchdowns, and there isn't a lot of depth behind them.
That’s going to make life even harder for Palmer against Cincinnati’s high-pressure pass defense, which only allows 5.8 net yards per completion. The Bengals don’t intercept a lot of passes -- only nine in nine games -- but they’ve only allowed 11 passing touchdowns.
One area the Bengals aren't as strong is against the run, where teams have been able to average 4.7 yards a carry. That means that Chris Johnson, Andre Ellington and David Johnson will have to provide a bigger percentage of Arizona's offense than they are used to handling.
Like Arizona, the Bengals' offense is built around their quarterback, with Andy Dalton putting up stats that are almost as impressive as Palmer's. He's completing 66.2 percent of his passes at 12.4 yards per completion, and unlike Palmer, his top receivers are healthy. A.J. Green, Marvin Jones and tight end Tyler Eifert have combined for 130 catches and 16 touchdowns, and none of them are on this week's injury report.
Add in Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard, who are rushing for 100.7 yards per game, and the Bengals' offense should be at full strength. Of course, that was also true Monday night, and Cincinnati only managed six points in an ugly loss at home to the Houston Texans.
To have a chance at winning Sunday night, the Cardinals need to match Houston’s effort. They’ve got the talent to do it -- they lead the league with 14 interceptions, and are holding teams to just 4.0 yards per rush. However, they have yet to win a low-scoring game this season, and with their banged-up passing game, that might be what they have to do Sunday against the Bengals.
Although both teams should comfortably win their divisions regardless of the outcome, they each need a win to protect their shots at first-round byes.
How to watch
When: 8:30 p.m. ET
Where: University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz.
Network: NBC
Announcers: Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michele Tafoya
Online: NBC Sports Extra
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