GLENDALE, AZ — The return of the Red Sea, the return of Patrick Peterson, and the return of the Arizona Cardinals making me look bad in my predictions. Hand up, I did not see that week one performance coming whatsoever. My biggest question heading into week two though, can the Arizona Cardinals right the wrongs of last season and beat the teams they are supposed to?
Even before they dismantled the Titans, the Cardinals were always supposed to beat the Vikings, at least that's how I saw it ever since the schedule was released. Now they really should.
The Cardinals dominated Tennessee in all facets. The Vikings lost to the lowly Bengals. And now, Minnesota has an injury report longer than a CVS receipt. They will miss potentially two starting linebackers, an edge rusher and depth on the defensive line. That, on top of a secondary that was roasted by Joe Burrow and Cincinnati in week 1. That doesn't bode well against Kyler Murray and the Cardinals offense. Patrick Peterson was rarely targeted last week, but if he's on DeAndre Hopkins most of the game, that's going to change, and it won't be pretty for P2 and the Vikings.
On the other side of the ball, Arizona faces one of the NFL's top running backs for the second consecutive week. The good in that is there are some similarities to slowing down Dalvin Cook as there were to stopping Derrick Henry. I'm certainly not expecting Chandler Jones to have a repeat five-sack performance. In fact, history doesn't bode well for #55. Of the 11 previous five-sack games in NFL history, nobody has had more than one sack the following game.
I do think the juice the Red Sea will bring in the home opener will play a factor in a game that is far closer than last week's thumping of the Titans.
Collin's pick: Cardinals 34, Vikings 27
Watch Craig Fouhy's Keys to Victory in the player below:
