ARIZONA CARDINALS

So you’re saying the Cardinals have a chance against the Steelers

Oct 20, 2011, 9:15 PM | Updated: 11:26 pm

The Pittsburgh Steelers are 4-2, the Arizona Cardinals 1-
4.

The visitors come into the game 3.5 point favorites, with
most expecting the Cardinals’ losing streak to continue.

But maybe not.

“They absolutely have a chance,” ESPN NFL analyst Ron
Jaworski told Arizona Sports 620’s Burns and Gambo.

Jaworski said the tricky thing is predicting how the team
will come out after their bye week, since that has led to
struggles across the NFL so far this season.

However, he says the Steelers, “They’ve been kind of
schizophrenic all season long on the offensive side of the
ball.”

Jaworski points to the team’s struggles in pass protection
as reason for optimism if you’re a Cardinals fan. Big Ben
has been sacked the third most amount of times in the NFL
and has been hit on countless other pass attempts.

Then again, the Steelers aren’t really about their
offense, anyway.

“But we all know the one thing that carries the Steelers,
it’s their defense,” Jaworski said. “You’ve got to be able
to manage that 3-4 defense, you’ve got to be physical
against them.

“When you look at the offense for the Arizona Cardinals
they’ve got to get after them in the running game; they’ve
got to be a physical football team up front.”

That may be a bit easier with stars Casey Hampton, James
Harrison and Aaron Smith out, but Jaworski warns that the
absences won’t transform the Steelers defense into, well,
one comparable with Arizona’s.

“[Defensive coordinator] Dick Lebeau is the kind of guy,
he knows the players that fit his profile and he plugs
them in,” Jaworski said with regards to the team’s depth.
“They’ve been doing this for about 20 years now in
Pittsburgh and they know how it works.”

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So you’re saying the Cardinals have a chance against the Steelers