5 Questions Cardinals Must Answer vs Bills

ARIZONA – – We are hours away from Arizona Cardinals football… let that sink in for a second.

It’s been a long offseason and fans are excited to see the progress of this team from year one to year two under Gannon. The Cardinals added several solid-to-great players through the draft and free agency and the roster looks to be more competitive this year… well, besides the defense.

Regardless, fans are only hoping this team is fun to watch this season and they have quite the challenge ahead of them as they travel to take on Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills.

Despite it being a game that heavily favors the Bills, we still have a few questions we’d like to get answered even in week one of the new year.

Here are five burning questions we hope to see answered:

We all know how real the hype is for the fourth overall pick. The generational prospect has been compared to former All-Pro A.J. Green, making the expectations through the roof. However, he has that “generational” tag for a reason, and he should be able to show off why early in his career.

The question is how early.

The Bills secondary is… well, unproven I suppose. Technically, MHJ is also unproven, but this is a mismatch with the edge going to Harrison. Buffalo will need to double and bracket cover him all day to limit the big play ability… but will it be enough?

I’ve already said that Harrison is gonna go bonkers in this game. Here’s hoping he adjusts to, and dominates the NFL from day one.

Speaking of Cardinals wide receivers…

The second-year man from Stanford showed some serious upside as a rookie, posting 565 yards on 38 catches plus three touchdowns in 13 games. He also managed this with three different quarterbacks.

Wilson looked like the Cards’ best receiver at times last season, but he’ll be relegated to WR2 after MHJ. But this could be a very good thing for Arizona.

With Harrison commanding the attention of the defense, Wilson will get lots of one-on-one looks. With his size and playmaking ability, he could be huge this year. Think 2015 Michael Floyd.

How soon will Floyd establish himself as WR2? This Sunday is a GREAT opportunity against a rebuilding secondary with MHJ commanding the attention of it anyways.

The Bills recorded 54 sacks last season with five players posting five-or-more sacks individually. The team returns Ed Oliver, who is establishing himself as a top-10 defensive tackle who has gotten better each year in the league.

Although the leading sack artist, Leonard Floyd is gone, all the other key contributors are back and Buffalo loves to blitz.

With a mostly returning offensive line plus the addition of Jonah Williams at right tackle, are the Cardinals up to the task of slowing down this pass rush?

It;s a great test for a group that hopes to improve off last season last year, but talk about a difficult test out the gate.

How many sacks will the Cardinals grab in 2024? The team nailed 33 last season, which isn;t horrible, however the Cards have no true standout pass rusher and BJ Ojulari, who was projected to be the top guy, is out for the season. First round pick Darius Robinson is also out to start the year.

The group takes on the Bills, who host a more than quality group including three-time Pro Bowler Dion Dawkins. Along with Josh Allen at quarterback, who’s one of the hardest guys to sack in all of football, Arizona’s pass rush is outmatched to put it lightly.

The good news is Jonathan Gannon and Nick Rallis won’t be afraid to get creative and dial up unique blitz packages, but will they be enough? Heck, will they even work?

Arizona’s cornerbacks are basically brand new compared to last season. Veteran Sean Murphy-Bunting was signed this offseason to be the number one guy. He is quality. Across from him is Starling Thomas V with Garrett Williams set to play inside at nickel. Rookie Max Melton will likely see significant time this year, as well.

With starting safeties Budda Baker and Jalen Thompson returning, the team at least has great guys on the back end.

The Bills are rolling out Curtis Samuel, Khalil Shakir, and Mack Hollins as their starting wide receivers with none of them likely to break out now that Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis are gone. That leaves potential for the Cardinals to match up with that group and have a good game.

It won’t be easy with Allen tossing the ball around and making throws other QBs can’t, but sticky coverage from the corners will go a long ways in building the confidence of the fans and most importantly for the team.

The expectations are low for the secondary, but if they come out and have a good game it may give them the motivation they need to exceed expectations this seasonn.

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