Carolina @ Arizona preview
State Farm Stadium
Last Meeting ( Oct 30, 2016 ) Arizona 20, Carolina 30
Cam Newton’s status is up in the air as the Carolina Panthers prepare to make a trip to the desert to face the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Carolina's Ron Rivera walked out of Wednesday's press conference early after repeated questions regarding Newton’s status were asked despite the coach telling reporters he would have an update on Friday and wanted to focus on the Cardinals.
Newton aggravated a foot injury in Carolina’s loss to Tampa Bay last week and had not practiced through Thursday. If Newton is unable to play, second-year backup Kyle Allen will make his second career start in his place. The Cardinals have not been a pushover in their first two games with rookie quarterback Kyler Murray at the helm of first-year coach Kliff Kingsbury’s offense. After tying Detroit in Week 1, they came up just short in a 23-17 loss at Baltimore last week.
TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: Cardinals -2.5. O/U: 44.5
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (0-2): Carolina’s ground game has been consistently excellent in recent years, but the team ranks just 24th in the league in rushing through two games. Newton has not been a factor in the rushing attack and has not yet thrown a touchdown pass while taking six sacks. The secondary has been solid, but stopping the run has been an issue as the Panthers rank 25th against the run.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS (0-1-1): Murray has shown rare poise for a rookie starter, passing for 657 yards with two touchdowns and an interception through two games. Arizona needs to get the running game going with David Johnson after managing just 20 yards on the ground last week. The Cardinals’ defense has struggled to get stops and is dependent on forcing turnovers, which it failed to do against the Ravens.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Arizona WR Larry Fitzgerald has 1,316 career receptions and needs 10 more to pass Tony Gonzalez for second place on the all-time list.
2. Panthers TE Greg Olsen needs seven receiving yards to become the fifth tight end in NFL history with 8,000 in his career.
3. McCaffrey needs one reception to join Reggie Bush as the only running backs in NFL history with 200 catches in their first 35 games.
PREDICTION: Cardinals 20, Panthers 17