Arizona

Panic Meter: Should Packers’ Stars Worry Cardinals?

Published

1 year ago

October 12, 2024

Panic Meter: Should Packers’ Stars Worry Cardinals?

The Arizona Cardinals managed a huge win a week ago against the 49ers in San Francisco. Does Arizona have what it takes to pull off consecutive wins on the road against NFC title contenders?

The Cards are out in Green Bay to play the Packers, whose offense is dynamic both through the air and on the ground, coupled with a defense that is playing better than many would give them credit for.

I’m not sure if they’re better than the Niners, but they’re just as big a challenge for the Cardinals.

At 2-3, the Cardinals can smell a .500 record, but they need to beware of several factors as they prepare for this battle. These are the three areas that have the panic meter ticking.

Oct 6, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) drops back to pass against the Los Angeles Rams during the first half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Love has been volatile this season. After suffering a knee injury in week one against the Eagles in Brazil, one that we all thought would be season-ending, he’s returned to play the last two games.

In three total games played, Love has 873 passing yards with eight touchdowns with five picks and just a 56.1 completion percentage. He’s failed to complete 60% or better in all three games and has at least one pick in each game.

The Cardinals’ defense has to be excited over the potential to get some turnovers, but Love has made some insane plays this year. In each game, he has at least one completion of over 40-yards and has made guys like Jayden Reed and Tucker Kraft into borderline household names. He’s dangerous.

This game is likely to be a shootout (stop me if you’ve heard that before), and Love’s gunslinger mentality this year gives Green Bay an edge. The Cardinals will need several turnovers in this game, but I’m truly unsure how you can stop him from the big plays. In fact, I don’t think you’ll be able to…

Panic meter: 8/10

Sep 15, 2024; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney (29) celebrates a first half interception against Indianapolis Colts at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images / Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

McKinney has had an interception in all five games this season and has recorded a pick in six-straight games. That leaves the 26-year-old one pick away from an NFL record for consecutive games with a pick.

Since being a second round pick by the Giants in 2020, McKinney has steadily gotten better each year and cashed out big with Green Bay this offseason. He’s earned every penny as a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year candidate and has been undeniably the best defensive back in the league this year.

Kyler Murray has only tossed two interceptions on 138 attempts this season (~0.014%), so taking care of the football is far from an issue for him. However, McKinney is unlike any DB that the Cards have faced this year and if Murray is forced to throw the ball he is more subject than ever this year to make a mistake. And with how historic McKinney has been playing and an NFL record on the line, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him play his best game of the year.

I’m not sure if Murray will throw a pick with how safe he’s been, but he needs to be on red-alert and locate #29 before every snap.

Panic meter: 9.5/10

Oct 6, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) stiff arms Los Angeles Rams linebacker Troy Reeder (51) during the third quarter at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

Did you know the Packers own the number three rushing offense in the NFL? I certainly did not until I started prepping for this game. It makes sense when you consider they went all in on Josh Jacobs, whose 402 rushing yards are the fourth-most in the league.

The Packers are averaging 164.8 rushing yards per game this year with 5.2 yards per carry to go along with it. Green Bay is also creative in their approach to running the ball, as they don’t mind getting receiver Jayden Reed involved (eight carries for 110 yards). It’s a run game that has plenty of contributors that leave opposing defenses guessing.

I already said that the Cardinals panic meter is high on Jordan Love and the passing game, but they can’t overlook the ground game here, and I think we’re looking at an even split for which to worry about more. On the road, Arizona’s 28th ranked run defense is in for a busy day if the Packers get an early lead. Hopefully, the Cards can force a shootout through the air. Otherwise, Green Bay could play some good ole fashion ground and pound football.

Panic meter: 8/10

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Arizona

Jordan Burks’ clutch plays enable UCF to edge Arizona State

Published

12 hours ago

January 27, 2026

Press Room

Jordan Burks’ clutch plays enable UCF to edge Arizona State

January 28 – Jordan Burks hit a go-ahead 3-pointer and forced a turnover in the final 34 seconds as UCF rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit to pull off a 79-76 Big 12 win over Arizona State on Tuesday night in Orlando, Fla.

Riley Kugel paced the Knights (16-4, 4-3 Big 12) with 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Burks added 15 points and three steals while Jamichael Stillwell posted 14 points.

Maurice Odum produced 18 points and six assists for the Sun Devils (11-10, 2-6), who never trailed in the second half until 1:11 to go. Anthony Johnson added 12 points and Bryce Ford had 11.

UCF took its first lead of the second half on Carmelo Pacheco’s 3-pointer with 1:11 to go. Odum answered with a pair of free throws to regain a 1-point edge.

Burks then took a diagonal feed from Kugel and canned the wide-open 3-pointer for a 78-76 lead. After Burks swiped an Odum pass, Themus Fulks tacked on a free throw. Ford’s deep ball at the buzzer was errant to give the Knights the comeback victory.

UCF shot 45% from the floor and held a 40-28 advantage in rebounding. The Sun Devils hit 47% from the field and made 10 of 23 (43%) from deep.

UCF sprinted to a 9-2 lead behind Bol’s layup and dunk, but the Sun Devils battled back and grabbed a 12-11 lead on Johnson’s 27-footer three minutes later.

Nearing the 10-minute mark, Kugel faked a defender, drove to his right and threw down a vicious dunk for a 16-14 lead to bring the UCF crowd to life as part of a 7-0 run.

Allen Mukeba’s tomahawk dunk on a 3-point play put the Sun Devils up 24-22 at the 6:13 mark. Odom’s deep ball at 5:34 gave the visitors their largest lead at 27-22 on the way to a 39-35 lead at the break.

The second half was played tightly over the first eight minutes, with the Sun Devils holding a slim lead that extended to five, 52-47, on Andrija Grbovic’s trey at 11:22.

Grbovic stroked another 3-pointer and Noah Meeusen converted three free throws. Odum’s 3-pointer with 8:26 capped a 9-0 run that pushed the lead to 61-51.

With 6:09 remaining, the lead grew to 70-58 on Massamba Diop’s two freebies — Arizona State’s largest advantage — but the Knights mounted a charge and tied it with 2:39 left on Fulks’ pair of free throws that wrapped an 11-0 run.

–Field Level Media

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Arizona

Data centers are good for Arizona. Here’s why | Opinion

Published

24 hours ago

January 27, 2026

Press Room

Data centers are good for Arizona. Here’s why | Opinion

Data centers have gotten a bad rap lately, but here’s why we think they are actually good for Arizona. It starts with jobs.

Stephen Richer and Josh Heywood
| For The Republic

Arizona data centers have generated a lot of political heat in recent weeks.

At her State of the State address, Gov. Katie Hobbs questioned the social benefit of data centers and signaled an interest in reinstating a sales tax on data center equipment purchases. Neal Carter, a Republican state legislator, agrees with Hobbs. So too might Republican state legislator Leo Biasiucci.

A month ago, the Chandler City Council unanimously rejected a proposed data center despite the lobbying efforts of former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. Hundreds of Chandler residents filled the auditorium for the vote, and 256 residents submitted online comments opposing the data center.

In Tucson, the city council unanimously rejected connecting a large data center (Project Blue) to the city’s water system. Attorney General Kris Mayes is now looking deeper into Project Blue, Tucson Electric Power and the Arizona Corporation Commission.

Here at The Arizona Republic, the opinion section published an editorial on Jan. 20 (Arizona data centers bring hidden water risks), and the news section printed an article on Jan. 18 (Gas power plant for data center project stirs concerns in Surprise), both of which cast data centers in a less-than-flattering light.

And earlier this week, handfuls of speakers at the Corporation Commission blamed data centers for proposed APS rate hikes.

Each situation has its own complexities and justifications (and I’ll get into some of them in future weeks). Some opposition is more factually substantiated than others. But they’re all rooted in a suspicion that these large warehouses of computer servers that power the modern world are no longer great things for Arizona.

Arizona data center benefits starts with jobs

If we may be so bold, and to set the stage for future articles here at the Republic, here are a few reasons why Arizona should celebrate our position as a top 10 state for data centers:

Jobs. It’s not just the people employed by data centers (many of which are high-paying jobs), but the ancillary jobs needed by data centers: contracted electricians, carpenters, pipefitters, HVAC technicians, etc. PricewaterhouseCoopers (“PwC”) found that data centers accounted for 81,000 jobs in Arizona as of 2023.
Taxes. It’s the start of the state legislative season and, sadly, this is going to be one of those years in which we hear lots about the things we can’t afford. But data centers help that equation. According to the same PwC report, data centers generated $2.3 billion in state and local tax revenue from 2017 to 2021. That means money for schools and roads. Or lower state income taxes (as happened).
Tech center. It’s a truism that tech begets other tech. We’ve said this as we’ve celebrated the massive expansions of TSMC and Intel. It’s also true of data centers. And if proprietors of data centers – companies like Amazon and Microsoft – are happy with Arizona as a data center home, they’ll likely consider Arizona a home for other tech investments.
Buying unwanted power. Normal businesses use power during the day (8 am-5 pm). Homes use power during the evening (5-11 pm). But few users demand power overnight (11 pm-8 am). This means we often have to dump unsold power. But data centers need power around the clock, and they can buy that overnight power, generating revenue for Arizona utility companies that then doesn’t have to be generated from Arizona households.

Those are the benefits.

Detractors focus on power, water and land. They’re all important, but solvable.

On power, public utilities can, and should, ensure data centers pay for all the power they use–not the public. The Salt River Project (SRP) website states this explicitly on its website. APS announced a proposed 45% increase on data center electricity costs to “make sure that (data centers) will continue to pay their fair share.” The recent agreement between Tucson Electric Power and Project Blue intends to do the same. And some data centers are even looking at generating their own power.

Data centers aren’t our biggest water worry

Regarding water, data centers have gotten so efficient at water use that, in some cases, they would use less water than vacant warehouses (of which there are, sadly, many). The Project Blue data center before Tucson City Council promised to be water-positive for the city, and other cities, such as Chandler have proposed caps on water usage by data centers. These caps are the same that apply to other businesses; data centers don’t get a special water deal. And, really, if you’re looking to pin water woes on any industry, it’s not chip-manufacturing, and it’s not data centers. It’s farming (over 70% of Arizona’s water supply goes to agriculture).

Lastly, regarding land, of course people don’t want to have neighborhoods disrupted by massive warehouses. And nobody should feel like they got into a bidding war with a data center for a home in a cute, quiet neighborhood. That’s why we have noise ordinances and zoning laws. Arizona still has plenty of space. The smart people in city planning can figure it out. And unlike big box stores, data centers don’t have 18-wheelers constantly delivering supplies.

Arizona is a state known for growth. We’ve grown massively in residents. We’ve grown massively in housing (and need to do more). We’ve grown massively in tourism. We’ve grown massively in healthcare. We’ve grown massively in education. And we’ve recently grown massively in semiconductors.

There’s no reason we can’t keep growing in data centers.

Stephen Richer is the CEO of Republic Affairs, a fellow at the Cato Institute, and a former Maricopa County Recorder. Josh Heywood is operations manager at Republic Affairs.

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