The Cardinals will be without starting WR Steve Breaston until at least week #7 due to surgery to repair a torn meniscus in one of his knees.  Breaston has played in 3 games for the Cardinals so far this year and he has caught 14 passes for 183 yards (13.1 avg) with 1 TD grab.  The Cardinals will go with a pair of undrafted rookies as the #2 and #3 WRs until Breason is ready to return to action.  Stephen Williams out of Toledo will start opposite of Larry Fitzgerald starting this Sunday against the Chargers.  Williams has caught 3 passes for 37 yards (12.3 avg) so far this year for the Cardinals.  Max Komar out of Idaho will be the new #3 WR for the Cardinals.  He has caught 3 passes for 36 yards (12.0 avg) so far this year for the Cardinals.  The Cardinals are going to miss Breaston big time unless the kids step up.

32-year old linebacker Paris Lenon is off to a good start for the Arizona Cardinals this year.  He has played in all 3 of the Cardinals games so far this year and he has 27 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 2 passes defensed and 1 interception.  The Cardinals have had issues stopping the run but it’s hard to peg Lenon for that problem because he is playing well. 

The Cardinals got outplayed badly in this game but they still won it.  The game started out well for the Cardinals as LaRod Stephens-Howling returned the opening kickoff 102 yards for a TD for the Cardinals.  But the game came down to Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski missing a 32-yard field goal as time expired which gave the Cardinals another win. 

Derek Anderson was again so-so in this game for the Cardinals as he completed 12 of 26 passes for 122 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 INT.  Beanie Wells got his first action of the year for the Cardinals and he responded with 14 carries for 75 yards (5.4 ypc).  Tim Hightower pitched in with 40 yards rushing on 11 carries (3.6 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for 0 yards.  WRs Steve Breaston (4 rec, 41 yards, TD) and Larry Fitzgerald (2 rec, 26 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Cardinals yesterday.  The Cardinals finished up with 119 yards rushing on 26 carries (4.6 ypc) and they also completed 12 of 26 passes for 108 yards.

The defense didn’t play that well for the Cardinals yesterday either.  Safety Kerry Rhodes led the way for the Cards’ D with 10 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 3 passes defensed and 1 QB hit.  Linebacker Paris Lenon also had a solid game with 8 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 1 pass defensed, 1 interception and 1 QB hit.  DT Darnell Dockett pitched in with 7 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss and 2 QB hits against the Raiders.  The Raiders finished up with 133 yards rushing on 33 carries (4.0 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 34 passes for 231 yards.  The Cardinals are now the luckiest 2-1 team in the NFL right now.

The Cardinals and Raiders both have had 1 blowout loss and a close win over the Rams this year.  That means the Cardinals are going to have to fight hard this Sunday if they want to prevail.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Cardinals have the ball:  The Raiders give up 140.0 yards rushing per game and 4.7 ypc so the Cardinals should run the ball more than usual in this game.  Tim Hightower has been outstanding so far this year and Beanie Wells is back so look for the Cardinals to pound the rock on Sunday.  When the Cardinals go to the air they should look for Steve Breaston more than Larry Fitzgerald.  That’s because the Raiders are going to have CB Nnamdi Asomugha shadowing Fitzgerald all day long.  The Cardinals shouldn’t feel too lucky with the matchup especially with Derek Anderson throwing the ball.

When the Raiders have the ball:  The Raiders are going to attack the Cardinals’ run defense with Darren McFadden who is off to a blazing start.  The Cardinals’ run D has given up 153.0 yards per game and 4.4 ypc this year and that won’t get it done.  The Raiders will throw the ball downfield to their receivers and Bruce Gradkowski will also use Darren McFadden out of the backfield and TE Zach Miller on the short stuff.

PREDICTION:  RAIDERS 21, CARDINALS 17

With Beanie Wells out of action the first two weeks of the year, Tim Hightower has been the featured back in the Cardinals’ offense and he has been outstanding!  Hightower has carried the ball 24 times for 169 yards (7.0 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he has also caught 6 passes for 49 yards (8.2 avg) so far this year.  I think it would be hard to bump Hightower back to the bench when Wells returns to action as he is really running the ball well for the Cardinals so far this year.

The Cardinals have signed 25-year old outside linebacker Alex Hall.  Hall played in 14 games (0 starts) for the Browns last season and he had 10 tackles.  He has now played in 30 games (2 starts) in 2 years in the NFL and he has made 38 tackles, he forced 2 fumbles and he has 3 sacks.  Hall has a nice upside as a pass rusher if he gets some P.T. for the Cardinals so I like this signing for them.

UPDATE:  (11/3/2010) – The Cardinals have released Alex Hall who never got on the field for them.  He was quickly claimed off waivers by the Giants.

The Cardinals pretty much sucked all the way around in this game as the Falcons demolished them!  Derek Anderson was awful in this game as he completed 17 of 31 passes for 161 yards with 0 TD passes and 2 INTs.  Undrafted rookie Max Hall replaced Anderson late in the game and he completed 1 of 2 passes for 3 yards with a INT.  Tim Hightower was one of the only players who came to play for the Cardinals yesterday.  He carried the ball 11 times for 115 yards (10.5 ypc) with a 80-yard TD run.  Hightower also caught 2 passes for 9 yards yesterday.  Larry Fitzgerald pitched in with 7 receptions for 83 yards (11.9 avg) in this game.  The Cardinals finished up with 118 yards rushing on 13 carries (9.1 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 33 passes for 149 yards as they only had possession of the ball for 20:47.

The defense was really awful against both the run and the pass for the Cardinals yesterday.  LB Paris Lenon (11 tackles, 1 pass defensed), LB Daryl Washington (10 tackles) and CB Greg Toler (8 tackles and a fumble recovery) led the way for the Cards’ D in this game.  The Falcons finished up with 221 yards rushing on 45 carries (4.9 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 32 passes for 223 yards.  The Cardinals are now 1-1 on the year.

The Cardinals have lost #WR Early Doucet for the next 3-6 weeks due to sports hernia surgery.  Doucet played in the season opener against the Rams last week and he caught 3 passes for 37 yards (12.3 avg).  Look for the Cardinals to give undrafted rookie WR Stephen Williams out of Toledo the first shot at Doucet’s old job while he is on the shelf.

The Cardinals are 1-0 on the year while the Falcons lost a tough 15-9 game in O.T. at Pittsburgh.  The Cardinals are going to be really tested this week against a Falcons’ team in a angry mood in their home opener.  Here is a look at the match-ups in this game:

When the Cardinals have the ball:  The Falcons gave up 143 yards rushing on 31 carries (4.6 ypc) last week against the Steelers which means the Cardinals should run on them, right?  Nope.  A 50-yard TD run in O.T. scewed the fact that the Falcons’ run D was solid for the first four quarters of this football game.  Make no mistake, the Cardinals do need to balance the offense more and that will be easier with Beanie Wells back in action.  If the Cardinals give Derek Anderson some time to throw the ball he could have some success throwing to Steve Breaston, Larry Fitzgerald and Tim Hightower out of the backfield.

When the Falcons have the ball:  The Falcons are going to be balanced against the Cardinals.  The Cardinals front seven is going to have to be on their game to stop Michael Turner who will be motivated to have a big game after a tough opener against the Steelers.  Cardinals’ safeties Adrian Wilson and Kerry Rhodes will have to be on their game to deal with Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez.  It’s imperative that the Cardinals get to Matt Ryan this week.

PREDICTION:  FALCONS 23, CARDINALS 17

Sure, the Cardinals beat the Rams last weekend 17-13 but they expect more out of the offense.  That all starts with the QB, so Derek Anderson needs to play better than he did last week.  Anderson completed 22 of 41 passes (53.7%) for 297 yards passing with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs (85.1 QB Rating).  Anderson certainly looks the part when warming up before the game as he has a big time arm and he’s a big guy.  But he should have thrown multiple interceptions against the Rams and he needs to start throwing the ball away more rather than trying to force the ball into tight spots.  He will likely be the starting QB as long as he’s playing decent though because the Cardinals only have two untested rookies behind him.