Official Game Day Thread - ARI @ DEN, December 18, 2022
Dec 16, 2022 8:03:57 GMT -7
Cardinals Junkie likes this
Post by End Zone on Dec 16, 2022 8:03:57 GMT -7
Arizona Cardinals @ Denver Broncos, Game Day Thread (GDT), December 18, 2022
Welcome pro football fans to the ARI @ DEN GDT. Today’s GDT is brought to you by PutMeIn, a fill-in writer for FLCF, the usual GDT producer. I think FLCF mentioned a computer battery failure in a post earlier this week. The dead battery likely led to FLCF’s abrupt disappearance from the Forum posts by mid-week. Let’s hope that Santa Claus comes through with that fresh battery for FLCF’s computer in few days!
This is week 15 of the NFL 2022 season. The Arizona Cardinals (4-9, 3rd place NFC West), already confirmed knocked out of the playoffs, travel to the Denver Broncos (3-10, 4th place in AFC West) for an interconference football game that few folks care about except for groups of long-suffering Phoenix and Denver area pro football diehards and a handful of far-flung oddball Cardinals fans scattered around the globe. The game will be played at Empower Field at Mile High, Denver. Kickoff is at 205pm MT, or 405pm ET. Fox Networks in the mountain states and southwest regions will broadcast the game. Chris Myers will do the play-by-play. Robert Smith will do the analysis.
Before the season started, the Cardinals and Broncos were picked by many forecasters as playoff teams and geared to make deep runs. This game is now a showdown of losers. The Broncos have lost 5 games in a row. The team’s last win occurred on October 30th vs. the Jaguars. The Cardinals have lost 3 games in a row. The last Cardinals win occurred on November 13th when McCoy lead his team over the sagging Rams by the score, 27-17. Unless a rare tie game occurs on Sunday, one team is guaranteed to win and break its ugly string of bad games. The other team will have endured another humiliating loss. Arizona’s HC Kliff Kingsbury and HC Denver’s Nathaniel Hackett each are on the hot seat and working to keep their jobs heading into the off-season starting January 9, 2023. Finally, do not look for GM Steve Keim to be sitting in the visiting owner’s skybox next to boss man Mike Bidwill. Keim is on leave of absence for health reasons until further notice. He could be missing from the owner’s skybox seating for a long while. Whatever is his health issue, I hope he gets well soon and then finds a less stressful job outside the Cardinals franchise.
As of Friday, December 16th, the Broncos are getting the nod to win over the Cardinals, 69.0% vs. 30.4%. Chance of a tie game is .03-.04%. Total points estimate is 37, unusually low but consistent with the teams’ putrid offenses. The Broncos have dominated the all-time series against the Cardinals, with a 9-1-1 record that dates back to their first meeting in 1973. The last time these teams played in the regular season, it was in 2018. Prior to QB Murray’s catastrophic knee injury at MNF, the Cardinals were picked to beat the Broncos. That script was flipped after Murray went on IR earlier this week. Denver is now giving -2.5 points at home and the team should earn its 4th win. What do the statistics tell us? First, the bookies always win. Second, Denver’s offense sucks but its defense is good: Points for 191; Points against 238. Arizona’s offense sucks, and its defense sucks even worse: Points for 277; Points against 348. By the way, that 348 points total earns the Cardinals a 32nd ranking and dead last in the NFL.
Who will lead the Cardinals attack? Back-up 36-year-old QB McCoy will start. I estimate that 3rd string journeyman QB Sorley will see some action, perhaps playing the majority of the 2nd half. Who will lead the Broncos attack? That is not yet known as of Friday morning. QB Wilson is going through concussion protocols. If he is not medically cleared to play, QB Rypien will take snaps from Center. The Broncos have not made the playoffs in 7 consecutive years now. The team is struggling to find any consistency on O/D and a winning team formula similar to former Orange Crush.
Gameday weather will be cold and cloudy at outdoor Empower Field Mile High, Denver, Colorado. Temperature at kickoff will be about 32F. Some snow flurries are possible. Expect about 76,000 Broncos fans to attend the game.
I would be a bad Cardinals fan if I did not point out the potential for positive outcomes on Sunday. The Cardinals back-up players can gain extremely valuable game-day experience from live snaps. Some players will earn more pay from contract incentives. More pay is a really good thing for young guys and their families. The team can improve its NFL Draft ranking if a 10th loss occurs. As of December 13th, per ESPN’s analysis, the Cardinals chance of picking #1 is low at 0.6%, picking in the top 5 is fair at 53.0%, and picking in the top 10 is high at 92.2%. Today, the Cardinals are slotted to pick 5th in the 1st round. Cardinals top needs are CB, Edge, and multiple offensive linemen. After Murray’s knee injury at MNF, some fans are more openminded about the Cardinals selecting a QB sometime during the Draft. We are a long way out from April 2023. A lot will happen within the Cardinals organization by springtime. Stay tuned.
Welcome pro football fans to the ARI @ DEN GDT. Today’s GDT is brought to you by PutMeIn, a fill-in writer for FLCF, the usual GDT producer. I think FLCF mentioned a computer battery failure in a post earlier this week. The dead battery likely led to FLCF’s abrupt disappearance from the Forum posts by mid-week. Let’s hope that Santa Claus comes through with that fresh battery for FLCF’s computer in few days!
This is week 15 of the NFL 2022 season. The Arizona Cardinals (4-9, 3rd place NFC West), already confirmed knocked out of the playoffs, travel to the Denver Broncos (3-10, 4th place in AFC West) for an interconference football game that few folks care about except for groups of long-suffering Phoenix and Denver area pro football diehards and a handful of far-flung oddball Cardinals fans scattered around the globe. The game will be played at Empower Field at Mile High, Denver. Kickoff is at 205pm MT, or 405pm ET. Fox Networks in the mountain states and southwest regions will broadcast the game. Chris Myers will do the play-by-play. Robert Smith will do the analysis.
Before the season started, the Cardinals and Broncos were picked by many forecasters as playoff teams and geared to make deep runs. This game is now a showdown of losers. The Broncos have lost 5 games in a row. The team’s last win occurred on October 30th vs. the Jaguars. The Cardinals have lost 3 games in a row. The last Cardinals win occurred on November 13th when McCoy lead his team over the sagging Rams by the score, 27-17. Unless a rare tie game occurs on Sunday, one team is guaranteed to win and break its ugly string of bad games. The other team will have endured another humiliating loss. Arizona’s HC Kliff Kingsbury and HC Denver’s Nathaniel Hackett each are on the hot seat and working to keep their jobs heading into the off-season starting January 9, 2023. Finally, do not look for GM Steve Keim to be sitting in the visiting owner’s skybox next to boss man Mike Bidwill. Keim is on leave of absence for health reasons until further notice. He could be missing from the owner’s skybox seating for a long while. Whatever is his health issue, I hope he gets well soon and then finds a less stressful job outside the Cardinals franchise.
As of Friday, December 16th, the Broncos are getting the nod to win over the Cardinals, 69.0% vs. 30.4%. Chance of a tie game is .03-.04%. Total points estimate is 37, unusually low but consistent with the teams’ putrid offenses. The Broncos have dominated the all-time series against the Cardinals, with a 9-1-1 record that dates back to their first meeting in 1973. The last time these teams played in the regular season, it was in 2018. Prior to QB Murray’s catastrophic knee injury at MNF, the Cardinals were picked to beat the Broncos. That script was flipped after Murray went on IR earlier this week. Denver is now giving -2.5 points at home and the team should earn its 4th win. What do the statistics tell us? First, the bookies always win. Second, Denver’s offense sucks but its defense is good: Points for 191; Points against 238. Arizona’s offense sucks, and its defense sucks even worse: Points for 277; Points against 348. By the way, that 348 points total earns the Cardinals a 32nd ranking and dead last in the NFL.
Who will lead the Cardinals attack? Back-up 36-year-old QB McCoy will start. I estimate that 3rd string journeyman QB Sorley will see some action, perhaps playing the majority of the 2nd half. Who will lead the Broncos attack? That is not yet known as of Friday morning. QB Wilson is going through concussion protocols. If he is not medically cleared to play, QB Rypien will take snaps from Center. The Broncos have not made the playoffs in 7 consecutive years now. The team is struggling to find any consistency on O/D and a winning team formula similar to former Orange Crush.
Gameday weather will be cold and cloudy at outdoor Empower Field Mile High, Denver, Colorado. Temperature at kickoff will be about 32F. Some snow flurries are possible. Expect about 76,000 Broncos fans to attend the game.
I would be a bad Cardinals fan if I did not point out the potential for positive outcomes on Sunday. The Cardinals back-up players can gain extremely valuable game-day experience from live snaps. Some players will earn more pay from contract incentives. More pay is a really good thing for young guys and their families. The team can improve its NFL Draft ranking if a 10th loss occurs. As of December 13th, per ESPN’s analysis, the Cardinals chance of picking #1 is low at 0.6%, picking in the top 5 is fair at 53.0%, and picking in the top 10 is high at 92.2%. Today, the Cardinals are slotted to pick 5th in the 1st round. Cardinals top needs are CB, Edge, and multiple offensive linemen. After Murray’s knee injury at MNF, some fans are more openminded about the Cardinals selecting a QB sometime during the Draft. We are a long way out from April 2023. A lot will happen within the Cardinals organization by springtime. Stay tuned.