Broncos at Cardinals Preview: Denver's Defense Has a Feast Waiting in the Desert

Broncos Country, this is the kind of road game good teams simply win. Denver brings a 4-2 record into State Farm Stadium. Arizona carries a 2-4 record, has dropped four of its last five, and will be without its rookie lead back. The setup is right there for the Broncos. Now they have to go take it.

Denver Broncos at Arizona Cardinals | Sunday, Oct. 25 | Kickoff 2:05 PM MT | CBS | State Farm Stadium

Our Take: Denver's defense has a feast waiting in the desert, and it should control this game. Arizona has been giving up nearly 30 points a game, and the Broncos have won four of their last five, including back-to-back wins over Jacksonville and the Rams. If Bo Nix avoids giveaways, this should be a comfortable afternoon.

## Expected lineup and depth notes

Bo Nix starts at quarterback: 114 of 189 for 1,049 yards, 6 touchdowns and 3 interceptions, per ESPN's season leaders. J.K. Dobbins leads the run game with 270 yards and 2 touchdowns. Behind him, Tyler Badie is out (thumb) and Jonah Coleman is questionable (ankle), so the backfield is thin and Dobbins could see a heavy workload. Jaylen Waddle leads the receivers with 22 catches for 228 yards.

Defensively, Zach Allen leads Denver with 4.5 sacks and Alex Singleton leads with 68 tackles. The big question is Pat Surtain II, who is questionable with an ankle injury. Safety Talanoa Hufanga (ankle) and linebacker Jonah Elliss (ankle) are out.

For Arizona, Jacoby Brissett has been the starter: 156 of 234 for 1,328 yards, 9 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Trey McBride is his top target with 49 catches for 361 yards. Jeremiyah Love leads the team in rushing with 245 yards, but he is out for this one with an ankle injury. Budda Baker has 3.5 sacks and is questionable with groin and illness issues.

## Injury report (official game designations, NFL.com Week 7 report)

Broncos: RB Tyler Badie (thumb) out; LB Jonah Elliss (ankle) out; S Talanoa Hufanga (ankle) out; RB Jonah Coleman (ankle) questionable; CB Pat Surtain II (ankle) questionable.

Cardinals: G Jon Gaines II out; RB Jeremiyah Love (ankle) out; DT Walter Nolen out; S Andrew Wingard out; S Budda Baker (groin/illness) questionable; QB Carson Beck (back) questionable; CB Max Melton (knee) questionable; DT Darius Robinson (back) questionable.

Note: ESPN's injury page does not show Love as out, but the official NFL.com report does. We are going with the official designation. Inactives come out about 90 minutes before kickoff, and we will update this Take if anything changes.

## How they stack up (ESPN team stats)

- Scoring: Cardinals 21.0 points per game, Broncos 19.0.
- Points allowed: Broncos 20.8, Cardinals 29.7.
- Total offense: Cardinals 318.8 yards per game, Broncos 259.0.
- Yards allowed: Cardinals 368.2, Broncos 369.8.
- Form: Denver has won four of its last five. Arizona's only win in its last five came at the Rams.

The yardage is close, but the nearly nine-point gap in points allowed is the whole story. Arizona has given up 31 to Seattle, 36 to San Francisco, 36 to the Giants and 45 to Detroit in its last five games.

## Key storylines

1. Surtain vs. McBride's supporting cast. Arizona's passing game runs through McBride, a tight end. If Surtain plays, Denver can take away the outside and focus attention on McBride over the middle.

2. No Love, no balance. Without their leading rusher, the Cardinals will lean even harder on Brissett. That plays into a Broncos pass rush led by Allen.

3. Dobbins carrying the load. With Badie out and Coleman questionable, expect Dobbins to get a lot of touches against a defense that has struggled to get stops.

4. Nix's ball security. Nix has 3 interceptions on the year. Arizona's Brissett has 6. The team that wins the turnover battle probably wins the game.

5. Thin secondary on both sides. Denver is without Hufanga, and Arizona is without Wingard with Baker questionable. Big plays are available for both offenses.

## Our pick

Denver is the better team, playing a defense that has been leaking points, against an offense missing its top runner. The Broncos have been winning close games all month. This one should be less stressful.

Our pick (prediction, not a result): Broncos win by ten, 27 to 17.

Sources: ESPN game page · NFL.com Week 7 injury report · NFL.com Week 7 schedule