There will be plenty to commiserate about between the Arizona Cardinals and Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, even with a limited history between the teams.
Two rookie head coaches still in search of their first victories are sure to relate to one another. The Cardinals hit the road with an 0-3-1 record, while the Bengals are 0-4.
The Cardinals’ Kliff Kingsbury at least has that tie to his credit when his team was able to play even with the Detroit Lions in Week 1. The Bengals’ Zac Taylor, on the other hand, saw his team lose by a one point in Week 1 to the Seattle Seahawks, only to see Cincinnati get further away from a victory as the schedule has progressed.
Kingsbury’s Cardinals are expected to lean on the passing game behind rookie quarterback Kyler Murray, who is already poised to make franchise history. Murray has a pair of 300-yard passing games and could be the first Cardinals quarterback with three of them in his rookie season.
One blow to the Arizona passing game is the loss of wide receiver Christian Kirk to an ankle injury that probably will keep him out of Sunday’s game but is not as bad as originally feared. His timetable for a return still is not known, but he is expected to be back this season.
The Cardinals signed wide receiver Pharoh Cooper this week to replace Kirk.
“We’re a work in progress offensively as a unit,” said Kingsbury, whose team will be playing after the death of 88-year-old franchise owner Bill Bidwill on Wednesday. “We need all the (repetitions) we can get, particularly with that rookie quarterback. So those guys will play and play it out. We’ll try to gain as much experience as we can as a group.”
The Cardinals are just 21st in the NFL in passing offense at 234.2 yards per game. The Bengals are 13th in the league in passing with 257 yards per game, but Cincinnati’s five touchdown passes are just one more than Arizona’s total.
Veteran Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton is sixth in the NFL in passing yards (1,150) while Murray is 13th (1,071).
“It’s definitely been tough,” Dalton said. “But with where we’re at right now, we just have to understand that every game is important. We’ve got to figure out who we are.”
Dalton will be missing at least one key weapon on Sunday, as wide receiver John Ross landed on injured reserve Wednesday due to a shoulder injury. In addition, top receiver A.J. Green (ankle) is unlikely to play. Left tackle Cordy Glenn (concussion) will sit out, too.
Defense is where the biggest issues reside for both teams. The Bengals are 24th in the NFL at 386.2 yards allowed per game, and 28th with 110 points allowed. The Cardinals are next to last with 417.5 yards allowed per game and 29th with 115 points allowed.
Sunday will be just the 12th meeting all time between the teams. The Bengals hold a 6-5 all-time lead. The Cardinals posted the only road win in the series when they earned a 35-27 victory at Paul Brown Stadium in 2007.
The Cardinals are dealing with a number of injuries. Other than Kirk, players who did not practice Wednesday included defensive lineman Zach Allen (neck), wide receiver Damiere Byrd (hamstring), punter Andy Lee (hip) and offensive lineman Justin Pugh (shoulder).
