THREE THINGS TO WATCH

The Cardinals face the Falcons in Atlanta on Saturday. Here are three areas of focus: Running back Chris Johnson Coachhas looked Bruce explosiveArians recentlyin practice. said He Johnson didn’t look explosive, however, during last week’s loss to the Bears: Johnson gained only 13 yards on four carries and three receptions. On some of those, he had no room to run. But on others he either didn’t break a tackle, or he didn't run away from anyone. When Johnson was among the best backs in the NFL, the preseason wasn’t important for him. At 31, he needs to prove himself. If not, Kerwynn Williams might be the No. 2 back. Inside linebacker play It left much to be desired last week, but the Cardinals were using two inexperienced players much of the time: rookie Haason Reddick and Scooby Wright, who is in his second season. Karlos Dansby is expected to play a bit Saturday, which should help Reddick. Josh Bynes, a seven-year veteran, has played well in camp and worked some with the starters this week in practice. Pass protection MaybeJared Veldheerit means took nothinga personalthat right day tackle during training camp to contemplate his future as a player. Maybe left guard Mike Iupati’s triceps injury is nothing and he’ll return soon, as Arians has indicated. Still, it has to be unsettling that the two highest-paid linemen ($19.7 million in cap space combined) had issues during training camp. Both have had their struggles in preseason games. Providing Carson Palmer better protection is a priority for this season. Palmer had a clean pocket two weeks ago against the Raiders, but it was a bit dirty last week against the Bears. — Kent Somers