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For the second week in a row, the Arizona Cardinals are heading into Sunday without a clear determination on their starting quarterback. Last week, it was against the San Francisco 49ers and they ended up starting their backup quarterback Colt McCoy. This week, at home against a Carolina Panthers team that is fighting to stay in the playoff race, they are hoping to get superstar quarterback Kyler Murray back under center.
Overall, Carolina has dominated the all-time series between the two franchises with thirteen wins to Arizona's two. In fact, The Cardinals have lost five straight to the Panthers and most of those wins came with the best quarterback in Panthers franchise history, Cam Newton. As you may have heard, Newton is back with the Panthers following the injury to starting quarterback Sam Darnold. Newton may not be involved in the game plan this week enough to make this list, but he could still have a small impact if he suits up or from the sidelines as a pseudo coach. For this week, though, here are four bold predictions for the Cardinals' week ten matchup with the Panthers.
Arizona Cardinals Week 10 Predictions
4. Kyler Murray will not play
The Panthers have one of the best pass-rushers in the NFL in Brian Burns and he opens up so many one-on-one opportunities for his teammates. With Derrick Brown and Haason Reddick usually being those beneficiaries, it is easy to see why the Cardinals would want to wait one more week with Murray.
Also, they have a very big division game coming up in week eleven against a Seattle Seahawks team that will have Russell Wilson and possibly Chris Carson back by then. That makes two games before the bye week and if the Cardinals are thinking that Murray can only make it through one of them comfortably, perhaps they choose to go with the divisional matchup instead of bringing him back this week.
3. Eno Benjamin will have more yardage than James Conner
Last week, Conner went ballistic while rumbling for over 173 total yards and three touchdowns. Still, even his backup on the day, Eno Benjamin was able to get himself 39 yards on nine carries. If their roles start to come closer to each other, just like the way Arizona was using Conner and Chase Edmonds–before he got hurt, then we could see Benjamin having some immediate value in real-life and in fantasy football.
For this prediction to come true, most of Benjamin's yardage will have to come through the air, as Conner is expected to receive the lion's share of the carries this week and for the foreseeable future until they feel they can fully trust Benjamin and/or Edmonds comes back.
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2. A.J. Green will find the endzone
With just three touchdowns on the year, Green has taken a back seat to a few other pass-catchers on the year. Also, he has had to deal with his team's running back, James Conner, leading the NFL in total touchdowns. Those are not easy things to have to deal with when you are in the twilight of your career.
It hasn't completely stopped him, however, as he was on an every-other-game TD streak up until his last two games played. When you add in the fact that he was out last week and is returning this week from COVID-19, it has been almost a month since Green found paydirt–simply put…the man is due.
1. The Cardinals will lose the game
In the end, numbers four and three on our list of predictions are going to be a little too much for the Cardinals to overcome. The Cardinals' inability to run the ball will put them into bad down and distance situations, thus putting Carolina into prime position to take advantage of McCoy's weak arm.
Expect a very low-scoring game as Carolina is also playing with a backup quarterback in P.J Walker. By the time the game ends, Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury might be going over to Kyler Murray, asking him “So, you good for next week?”
