Cards vs. Falcons has extra flavoring
Starters to play 1st half in new venue
ATLANTA – Like tofu, NFL preseason games lack taste and texture and need to be mixed with something else if reasonable people are to consume them.
The Cardinals’ preseason game Saturday against the Falcons might have those necessary ingredients. It will be the first game in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. That alone should create some buzz, especially since it’s a Saturday and the Chick-fil-A in the stadium will be open.
“There’s going to be a lot of energy,” quarterback Carson Palmer said, “kind of a regular-season feel because of the excitement with the new stadium and all that.”
For the Cardinals, there are also reasons to watch. Most of the starters will play at least a half – their last action of the preseason – and the team gameplanned throughout the week, an unusual occurrence in the preseason.
That means they worked against scout teams giving them Falcons’ “looks.” The working theory is that is one more step toward successfully preparing for the season opener in Detroit on Sept. 10.
“The way we prepared for this game was different,” Palmer said last Wednesday. “Every other week, you’re going against your own defense. It’s not a complete game-plan week, but it’s as close as you can get to a game-plan week.”
That’s not to say the Cardinals will empty the offensive playbook against the Falcons, who won last year’s game in the regular season 38-19. The idea isn’t to show the Falcons anything new, but to give base plays the best chances to work.
“We’ve got a lot of stuff we’ve been working on that it’s just not time to show,” Palmer said. “We’ve spent different segments of camp working on different things, different schemes, different plays. We’ve gone through camp and seen a ton of different looks for a couple of days … sometimes with different fronts and different protection issues that come with those fronts.
“We’ve seen a ton from our defense, and I think we’re in a good place.”
The Cardinals have 89 players on their roster and don’t have to cut to 53 until next week, after the final preseason game.
On Thursday, coach Bruce Arians estimated he and his staff have a good idea who the top 45 or so players are.
What remains unsettled is exactly what roles some of those 45 might play.
“Not as much starters, but the next four or five guys on both sides of the ball,” Arians said.
“There’s still a lot of competition for those last few spots in playing positions, not just roster positions. Who’s the next guy going in to rush the passer? Who’s the next going in at nickel? Who’s the other corner going in? Who’s the other wide receiver going in when we go four wide receivers? Same thing at running back.”
That’s why this game is important for veterans and youngsters alike. Running back Chris Johnson, 31, needs to show some explosiveness to secure his job as David Johnson’s backup.
Cornerback Tramon Williams, 34, is trying to be the primary backup to Patrick Peterson and Justin Bethel.
And inside linebacker Josh Bynes, 28, is trying to find a spot at inside linebacker behind Karlos Dansby, Deone Bucannon and Haason Reddick.