The Arizona Cardinals (3-3) will try and keep pace with the NFC West division-leading Seattle Seahawks (5-1), who they will host on Thursday Night Football.
The NFC West is a lot tougher after years of being the laughingstock of the league that sent a 7-9 team to the playoffs in 2010. The Cardinals are the only team not above .500 and jostling to keep pace with the San Francisco 49ers and the St. Louis Rams.
The Cardinals took a huge step back last week, losing to the 49ers 32-20 at San Francisco, with the Niners converting four Arizona turnovers into 16 points. Cardinal QB Carson Palmer - whom the team traded for during the off-season, went for 298 yards and two touchdowns, including a 75-yard pass to All-Pro WR Larry Fitzgerald, but tossed two interceptions that led to points for the 49ers.
"It was tough, man," said Cardinals LB Daryl Washington. "Once you get your back to the wall, you have to toughen it out. I thought we lost our energy that fourth quarter to end the game. We didn't play like we did the first three quarters and the game got away from us."
The Seahawks, meanwhile, are coming off a 20-13 win over the Tennessee Titans, with RB Marshawn Lynch leading the way for the team rumbling for a pair of touchdowns off 21 carries, rushing for 77 yards and helping the Seahawks stay in unbeaten in their 11 home games.
"I don't know if we'll be able to reach the levels that we saw late last year where we were scoring points at a huge rate," said Seattle head coach Pete Carroll, referring to the Seahawks 2012 final five regular-season games. "That was an enormous run that we had. But that's good to expect that and I'd like to see that too."
The Seattle defense, which ranks second in the NFL in yards allowed per game (290.2 ypg) and points allowed (15.7 points per game), has been a huge part of the Seahawks' success, holding the Titans to 223 yards last week. Seattle's defense is a bit banged up and may be without DE Chris Clemons (elbow) and LB Bobby Wagner (ankle) due to the short week.
The Cardinals defense will also be a bit short on personnel this week, playing without DE Calais Campbell, who was carted off the field late in the fourth quarter against the 49ers when he collided head-to-head with San Francisco RB Frank Gore. Campbell, who has 31 sacks in six seasons, was taken to Stanford for a CT scan and MRI as a precaution measure and came back with positive results, though he will not be able to Thursday due to the short week for the Cardinals.
The short turnaround in the week is also a challenge for the coaching staff, particularly for Carroll, who realizes that Arizona has been through a major makeover replacing their head coach and quarterback during the off-season.
"They're a brand new team to us," said Carroll. "There are things that look similar, but it's not the same. All kinds of stuff has changed, so we have to look at them all over again. It's not like we're just carrying it over, same ol' same ol'. It's not like that."
Live Television Coverage
The Seattle Seahawks - Arizona Cardinals Week 7 Thursday Night Football game can be seen on NFL Network, 8:25 p.m. EST.
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