Arizona Cardinals vs. Buffalo Bills Preview

The Arizona Cardinals head into their Week 6 matchup against the Buffalo Bills with plenty of question marks despite a fast 4-1 start.

For the first time in 2012, Ken Whisenhunt’s squad is coming off a loss and a bad one at that.

Injuries have put a spotlight on depth issues at running back and along the offensive line — two areas the Cardinals will desperately need to improve upon starting Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Quarterbacks:

Kevin Kolb is coming off one of his poorer performances of the season against the St. Louis Rams.

Part of it was his own doing and part of it was the doing off his porous pass protection.

The big number for Kolb over the last two games is 17. That’s the number of times he was sacked by the Dolphins and Rams in Weeks 4 and 5. There has been plenty of criticism directed in Kolb’s direction since coming to Arizona in 2011, but it’s hard to be too critical of a man, who of late, has had barely any time to let go of the ball.

On the positive side, outside of his last performance at home — threw two costly interceptions vs. Miami — Kolb has not turned the ball over through the air. It’s a trend that may continue Sunday against a secondary that has only picked off four passes in five games.

For the Bills, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick’s Valley homecoming has been well-documented over the past few days.

An All-State product out of Highland High School, the Gilbert native returns home to play in front of family and friends for the first time in his career.

But outside of all of the warm and fuzzy sentiments, Fitzpatrick has not quite lived up to the contract extension for six years, $59 million he signed back in October 2011.

Although he has thrown for slightly more yards than Kolb this season, Fitzpatrick ranks No. 25 in the league in passing. He is No. 3 in touchdowns thrown (12), but is also No. 2 in interceptions (8).

His completion percentage is a shade under 60 percent, but with an offensive line that has only surrendered five sacks, that number probably should be even higher.

Offense:

The Cardinals will be without starting running back Ryan Williams, who was told earlier this week that he will need season-ending surgery to repair a shoulder injury he sustained in St. Louis.

Even with Williams, the run game has been atrocious to say the last. Over the last two games, Cardinal tailbacks have combined for 73 yards on 32 carries.

The task won’t get any easier Sunday, as the Redbirds will turn to LaRod Stephens-Howling and William Powell to carry the bulk of the load against the Bills.

Stephens-Howling has not played since Week against the Eagles (eight rushes for -14 yards) and Powell has just three career carries to his name. Neither has ever recorded an NFL start.

Sunday’s game is in many ways a battle of weakness vs. weakness. Offensively the Cardinals’ inexperienced line has been compromised time and time again this season. But they will face an underwhelming Bills’ pass rush, so it’s anyone’s guess which side will have the upper-hand.

For the Bills, Fitzpatrick has done a nice job in the red zone this season and his eight touchdown passes are indicative of that. However, his play between the 20s hasn’t been all that great.

Buffalo’s bread and butter in 2012 is their run game. The team is currently No. 5 in the NFL with 144.2 rushing yards per game. That statistic is somewhat surprising considering Week 1 starter Fred Jackson has been limited by a right knee injury most of the season and C.J. Spiller — who rushed for a combined 292 yards over the first two weeks of the season — has been reduced to single-digit carries each of the past three games.

Both appear to be healthy Sunday, so it will be up to Chan Gailey to give both a healthy dose of carries.

The Bills’ other weapon on offense is wide receiver Steve Johnson, who leads the team in catches (21), receiving yards (234) and touchdowns (3). If there is a must-see matchup in Sunday’s game it’s definitely Johnson vs. Cardinals’ second-year cornerback Patrick Peterson.

Defense:

The hype has died down over the past few weeks for Ray Horton’s group. Despite only allowing seven completions against Sam Bradford, the third-year quarterback made them count — throwing two of them for touchdowns against the Cardinals’ secondary.

But the story of this one is about the Cardinals’ defense, but rather the high-paid, underachieving side in Buffalo. After throwing millions of dollars at free agents Mario Williams and Mark Anderson, the Bills came in 2012 with an expectation that their defense would be one of the more stout units in all of football.

So much for the best laid plans of mice and men. Because through five games, the defense has been the team’s weakness rather than their strength. Ranked No. 30 in the league in total defense, Chan Gailey’s group is allowing close to 450 yards of offense per game.

After last week’s 45-3 drubbing at the hands of the 49ers, the Bills became the first team to allow 1,200 yards of total offense in a two-week span since 1950.

It’s been that bad.

Outlook:

In a game that certainly features weakness vs. weakness, look for the Cardinals’ biggest strength — the defense — to put together one of their more impressive performances of 2012. The Bills’ run game might keep things close, but a non-offensive touchdown by Arizona will give the NFC West leaders some breathing room late.

Prediction: Cardinals 27, Bills 16

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