Arizona Cardinals THREATS To The Houston Texans: Cardinals vs. Texans Preview

Arizona Cardinals THREATS To The Houston Texans: Cardinals vs. Texans Preview

Hey, I’m in uh Buffalo. Don’t be too jealous because I’ve got a pretty lengthy flight delay as you can tell by the issue behind me here. But I recorded a preview this morning. Going to let this run and then uh take some questions, have some comments to whatever idiocy that I said this morning. I know I’m not going to be happy with 50% of it. Look, I I’m almost angry on behalf of Arizona Cardinals fans because I couldn’t find information on the Cardinals this week because the media is ignoring them. But like any NFL team with a bad record, there are plenty of threats on their roster. First and foremost, Trey McBride, the tight end. The Texans have done a really good job versus premier tight ends. They shut down Travis Kelce last week. They had a really good game versus Tyler Warren and against Colts a couple weeks ago. McBride’s McBride’s a little bit of a different beast because this guy just does not quit fighting. And here is Matt Burke on Trey McBride. Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke. I was there when we drafted Trey. Uh he’s a special talent. I mean, I told our guys, I mean, you look at his numbers. I mean, he’s up there with the top receivers in the league in terms of targets, you know, catches. I think he’s first in the NFL in catches right now. Yards after catch, touchdowns. I mean, he’s top three receivers, you know, so it’s not he’s good for a tight end. He’s a really good player. And uh they’ve got a lot of explosive talent out uh as pass catchers in particular. So, uh I think that’s uh that’s pretty evident on tape. if if you saw him fighting there on that last one. Note that the score is 45 to7 in the fourth quarter at that time. So McBride’s not backing down. He’s going to keep fighting. They’ve got multiple guys on the team that do that. And as we know, Jacobe Brassette is 5 and one as a starter versus the Texans. He’s beat the Texans with three different teams. Did it with his legs largely his rookie year. Did it with his arms a couple years ago. But De Mo is not sleeping on Jacobe Verette or anybody else on the Cardinals. Here is De Mo on the Cardinals. They are not what their record says. Like this is a really good football team, well coached team. Quarterback is playing at a high level. I think he’s, you know, probably one of the better quarterbacks that we’ll see all year. Like when you talk about decision making like where he can place the football, he doesn’t make bad decisions. He’s not forcing the ball. It’s not there. He’s taking his check down. He’s tough in the pocket. Uh really great versus the blitz. So you try to blitz him. He’s made plays. he’s shown to, you know, drop some dimes on the sideline. So, I mean, I’m impressed with Jacobe and what he’s been able to do and also with their defense, the way they fly around, the way they um attack the football. It’s impressive to watch. Buddha Baker, he plays with his hair on fire. He’s all over the field, aligning everywhere. But it’s like, man, does anybody in the league play harder than Buddha Baker? I don’t know. It’s hard to say. I mean, he has an unmatched energy, right? and he’s a really great football player. They do a lot of great things defensively when it comes to the pressure packages that they have. It’s a lot of different looks, a lot of unique looks that we have to have our eyes up. We have to be aware on our offensive side of the football. Yeah. And look, you could see with those two interceptions, two of those three interceptions, you could see where they do a good job of lurking of baiting a quarterback and thinking he’s seeing one thing and then seeing another. And this is something that the Texans struggled with last week. Obviously, blitz pickup. Here’s CJ Strad uh talking about the blitz issues they had versus the Chiefs, especially in the third quarter. I left all the third quarter blitzes that the Texans faced last week. It’s not pretty. Um yeah, I think we, you know, talked about some things on the sideline and try to, you know, um find a way to calm the storm and I thought, uh we did a good job at that. Um, I think, you know, teams are going to, you know, try to pressure us some more just because, you know, we showed it on tape. So, just got to be ready for it and, you know, have plans and, um, you know, just be, you know, good on what we’re doing, you know, and be calm in the chaos cuz I mean, every game, you know, no teams keep letting you do the same things. They’re going to adjust and then you have to adjust. So, just part of the chess match of football, you know. And CJ made some great plays on third down in the second half there to to keep the chains moving and the clock winding down. I know there’s been a lot of talk about the pre- snap operation and getting out of the huddle up to the line of scrimmage. Some of the issues they had versus the Blitz last week was when the the ball was snapped with 15 seconds left on the play clock. I think the environment not to make excuses was definitely a factor. They’re not going to have that issue at home in NRG Stadium. And I think these next two weeks at home versus teams, well, especially versus the the Cardinals who are going to do their best to try to confuse CJ Strad and the offensive lineman, the environment is going to be conducive to those guys operating smoothly and they need to make ground in some of those respects over these next couple weeks in this home environment. And if if you look at some of the close games that the Cardinals have played this year, most specifically a few weeks ago against AFC South Division leader, the Jacksonville Jaguars, Trevor Lawrence turned the ball over four times, three of them interceptions. And this is where pass protection, CJ making the right decisions, which he does. CJ’s smarter with the football than Trevor Lawrence is. I don’t think CJ would have made honestly any of the interceptions that Trevor Lawrence threw in that game. But the Cardinals, as much as they’ve struggled on defense, they’ve done a pretty good job of taking the ball away. Montes Sweat is tied for the second most caused fumbles, they’re in the top half of the league in interceptions. And and as it is, whenever a team is a 9 and a half point favorite, if they lose, turnovers usually play a big part in the game. The other thing to keep an eye on is just the running back situation. Woody Marks is banged up. He did end up practicing this week, but I don’t think you want to get him 26 touches every single game. Cody Schrader who comes by way of Jacksonville but first with the Rams. So Nick Kaye and he have some familiarity and he’s got a lot of Woody Marks traits to him. He’s a smaller guy but he can lower his pads and deliver some pop. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him this week. But the Texans and trying to play the way that they need to play and have done a pretty good job of doing of ball security, running the ball if not explosively or impressively at least credibly running the ball. they’re going versus a bad run defense in the Arizona Cardinals. So again, pleasant home environment. There’s there’s no excuses really. Even if Woody Marx has to share some carries this week, even if Nick Chub can’t play with his rib injury, they got to control the time of possession, control all of these things by just playing good, sound football this week. Look, it’s hard to cover a nine and a half point spread, but I actually feel pretty good about the Texans ability to do that because I think the the Texans defense is going to force some turnovers, and that’s where things could get lopsided. Cardinals fans, brought here via the algorithm, which I’m sure you will be because uh because no, there’s no Cardinals content out there that’s not coming out of Arizona, I feel your pain. You know how this NFL is. just from one year to the next. Who the hell knows who’s going to the Bears being as competitive as they are this year. You can’t predict these things. We’ve all we’ve all been there. And uh it’ll it’ll turn around. It’s just not this Sunday. There we go. Am I back? Is my microphone on? Just want to be sure we get this right while I’m on the on the road in Buffalo. Uh one of you brought up a very good point. Um, and I I think I know British Brooks converted a running back for us, but is he not an option to run the ball? Um, the with British Brooks, Daria Gumbo, Nick Chub, any of those guys, there’s um there’s not the same speed and receiving threat, I think, that you have with Woody Marks. And I think that’s where you get Cody Schrader perhaps as an option. That’s what I’m I don’t know if he’ll play. I don’t know if he’ll even be active this week. I think that’s just the difference. It’s just in sheer type of athlete that they are. And you still have that one two punch. If it’s a Goomba and Cody Schrader, you have that similar athletic dynamic, the offsetting athletic types, body sizes, and all of that. Um, obviously a Gumbbo and Cody Schrader wouldn’t be ideal, but it gives you some, you know, rough faximile, a copy of a copy of a copy of that first thing. And, um, let’s see. We can hear you, but you’re quiet. I don’t know if this is going to work at all. It might just be that I’m speaking quietly. So, let’s call it a day on that. and I’ll try to get you when I get back to Houston. I’ll uh see if I have time after multiple more flight delays, I’m sure.

Former Houston Texans player Seth Payne previews the Cardinals vs. Texans game in Week 15 of the NFL season