Relatively healthy Arizona Cardinals ready for Pittsburgh

It is the most important game of the season, only because it is the next game on the schedule, according to Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians.

Arians spent five years as the Steelers’ offensive coordinator and his return to Pittsburgh, where he spent eight seasons total and won two Super Bowls — one at the Cardinals’ expense — is no big deal.

“I’m more worried about (Larry) Foote and (Brentson) Buckner and Levon Kirkland and LaMarr Woodley and A.Q. Shipley, all those guys from Pittsburgh than me,” Arians said on Friday. “It’s all about the players on the field.”

We’ll see about that.

What we won’t see here in Week 6 are the following inactive players: quarterback Matt Barkley, wide receiver J.J. Nelson, linebacker Shaq Riddick, linebacker Alex Okafor, tackle D.J. Humphries, offensive lineman Earl Watford and nose tackle Xavier Williams.

Okafor is expected is miss up to a month with a calf injury.

The rest of the bunch are healthy scratches. It’s the first scratch for Watford, which means Ted Larsen dresses.

Meanwhile, guard Mike Iupati (back), safety Rashad Johnson (thigh/hip) and linebacker LaMarr Woodley (chest) are healthy to play despite being listed as questionable on Friday’s final injury report.

“His back just tightened up,” Arians said, referring to Iupati not practicing Thursday. “He wanted a day off.”

For the Steelers (3-2), quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (knee), plus defensive starters safety Will Allen (ankle) and linebacker Ryan Shazier (shoulder), are inactive. They were ruled out on Friday.

Others sitting include linebacker Jarvis Jones, guard Chris Hubbard and tight end Jesse James.

The Cardinals (4-1) will be looking for their second straight road win, having beaten the Lions in Detroit last week.

“It’s hard to win back-to-back games on the road in this league, and it would be a good accomplishment for us to get it done,” Arians said.

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