Interview with the Enemy: Arizona Cardinals

Our Interview with the Enemy series continues this week with Seth Cox from Revenge of the Birds. Seth joins us to answer a few quick questions before the New Orleans Saints face the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium for Thursday Night Football.

TH: The Cardinals gave up 6 sacks on Sunday against the Seahawks, left guard Justin Pugh suffered a torn ACL and is out for the rest of season so given all the injuries that have plagued the Cardinals’ offensive line lately, how concerned are you about their ability to protect Murray moving forward?

SC: That is the million-dollar question. They were relying on three veterans with lots of snaps under the belts, but that have dealt with injuries in Pugh, center Rodney Hudson and right tackle Kelvin Beachum. Hudson has missed the last couple of games and now Pugh is out for the year and maybe his career. This team invested in backups, who also got hurt. So now they are on third stringers and street free agents. If Cody Ford is back, maybe it will be a little better, he was just designated for return, but it could be a long day for the Cardinals offense once again without two of their starting interior offensive linemen.

TH: The Cardinals just traded for WR Robbie Anderson from the Panthers. Do you think he will play on Thursday and how much of an impact do you think he will make in this game?

SC: Guessing none or little, but Kliff Kingsbury’s offense is super wide receiver friendly so who knows. The Anderson trade was likely made to overcome the six or so weeks the team will miss Marquise Brown with injury, and likely to be able to move on from A.J. Green once Brown is back and healthy.

TH: Is there a Cardinals player who was not on many people’s radars, that has really stood out to you so far this season and why?

SC: Probably Eno Benjamin with James Conner nursing a rib injury. Eno has been tasked with filling the shoes of Conner who turned out to be a pleasant surprise last year. Now, the seventh-round pick is being asked to run behind a makeshift offensive line with little to no relief. It is a tall task, but he had a nice game against the Seahawks for a bad offense. If he can get a little more help, it could open things up a bit more.

TH: What is the biggest obstacle the Cardinals will face in order to defeat the Saints on Thursday night?

SC: Their own terrible play? This isn’t a shot at the Saints by any means. The Saints are a talented team that is dealing with a litany of injuries. This is a realization that the Cardinals may just be a bad team that doesn’t have the ability to miss plays, make mistakes and allow opponents to get up early because they lack any ability to respond. They made one of the worst scoring defenses in the league look like the 2014 Legion of Boom Seahawks. They have been bad. They have to find a way to get out and get going early, or the Saints will make this a long night for the Cardinals.

TH: According to DraftKings Sportsbook, the Saints are currently 1.5-point favorites. Do you think they cover the spread and what is your final score prediction?

SC: Before Sunday, I was taking the Cardinals no matter the line (within reason). Now, I would go the other way. The Saints win and the Cardinals continue to look like a team in disarray. Thank goodness I will be at my kid's football practice and do not have to watch this live.

Thank you again to Seth for taking the time to answer our questions. You can check out his work on Revenge of the Birds.

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