Cardinals vs. Broncos: What Are Analysts Saying About Denver?

Coming off of an overtime loss before the bye week, the Denver Broncos have a serious challenge in Week 5, with the Arizona Cardinals coming to town. The Cardinals missed the playoffs last year, but a lot of that was just on the strength of their division, the NFC West. They won ten games. They simply couldn't get ahead of the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks.

In fact, winning 10 games in a division that stacked—even St. Louis is a pretty good, scrappy team at times—was pretty impressive in its own right. In most other conferences, the Cardinals would have made the postseason easily. Bruce Arians has really turned the club around in this just his second year as Arizona's head coach.

Arizona also brings Patrick Peterson to the field. Peterson is one of the very best young corners in the game—some would argue that he is the best, though I think he has to prove himself a bit more to get to that level. Regardless, he is a supremely athletic corner who will really be able to play with any of Denver's receivers. The Broncos will have to play the matchup game well to succeed.

However, it doesn't look like Carson Palmer is going to be able to play. While missing a starting quarterback is huge, the Cardinals have gone 3-0 already, playing with Drew Stanton behind center.

So, what do the experts think? A quick look at the picks being made by the top analysts in the industry can show fans exactly what type of show they're going to get come Sunday afternoon.

Josh Weinfuss: Denver Wins a Chess Match

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ESPN's Josh Weinfuss says that Peyton Manning gives Denver the edge in this one because he'll have plenty of time to throw, so he'll be able to pick apart that defense. However, he also points out that the Cardinals coaching staff—Tom Moore and Bruce Arians, specifically—is very familiar with Manning, which is what makes this a chess match.

It's a great point by Weinfuss about the Manning-versus-the-coaches battle, but it won't make a huge difference in the end. The thing about Manning is that he makes such great adjustments on the fly. Knowing that he does it does not mean that you know exactly what he's going to do. The coaches can help the defense prepare, but it's still Manning against those defensive players at the end of the day. If he can beat them, the coach just has to watch it happen from the sideline.

While I agree that it will be a chess match as the two try to outwit each other, the coaches have the disadvantage, because they have to make their adjustments first, and Manning gets to make his on the field.

Pete Prisco: Denver Wins a High-Scoring Battle

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Pete Prisco of CBS Sports thinks this is going to be an offensive shootout in the Mile High City. He's on record as predicting that Denver will take the game by a score of 34-28.

I do think this could become a shootout, but there are two things standing in the way. First of all, Denver's defense really did look pretty two weeks ago on the road against Seattle. The Seahawks put up only 20 points in regulation, and their running game is vastly better than the Cardinals'. If Denver's defense plays like that, I would think Arizona will score somewhere in the 17-20-point range.

That being said, it sort of depends which Denver defense shows up. It looked pretty soft at times in the first two weeks, and if it plays like that, Arizona could get to 28 points. But it looked like they played with fire and resolve in Week 3, so we'll hopefully get that type of product going forward.

On top of that, Denver hasn't looked as potent on offense as it did last year. The team has looked good, no doubt, and it has played very good competition, but I would be surprised if Manning came out and threw five touchdowns. It seems more likely that Denver will be at about 28 points.

If it's going to be a one-score game, 28-21 seems more realistic than 34-28.

Tedy Bruschi: Denver Wins on Defensive Strength

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ESPN NFL analyst Tedy Bruschi knows a thing or two about defense, having played for the great Patriots' defenses that really helped make them into a dynasty ten years ago. As a hard-hitting linebacker, he has looked at the Broncos defense, and he likes what he sees.

He particularly pointed out cornerbacks Chris Harris and Aqib Talib, saying that they would make a big difference in helping Denver win because they could match up with the Cardinals receivers.

Brusch's perspective is one who was clearly impressed by the version of the Bronco defense that showed up against Seattle. It was aggressive and took it to the Seahawks, keeping the team in the game until Manning and the offense could get things going. The previous two weeks, though, as in earlier slides, Denver's defense really looked soft in the second halves of both games, letting Indianapolis and Kansas City back into those contests.

If Denver's defense from the Seattle game shows up, Bruschi will be spot on. The unit can keep the Cardinals offense in check. However, it is very important that the defense plays the entire game against Arizona. If it doesn't, the game could end up closer than it should be, as has happened twice before.

Herm Edwards: Denver Wins Because Arizona Can't Score

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Right now, it appears that starting quarterback Carson Palmer won't be playing for Arizona, and ESPN analyst Herm Edwards thinks that will have a huge impact on the game. Edwards said that Drew Stanton would not be able to get enough points out of the offense to keep up with Denver. He also attributed his picking the Broncos to win to the fact that Denver is playing at home, which could make harder for Stanton and the Arizona offense to produce points.

Losing Palmer is definitely a blow. It looked earlier this week that he was going to be able to go, but it now appears that Stanton will get the start. Stanton is a solid player, but he doesn't have the big-play potential that Palmer brings. This could be an issue for Arizona, especially in Denver.

However, Arizona is 3-0, with Stanton winning both games he started in place of Palmer. The team has shown that it can win without Palmer. On top of that, the veteran QB is absolutely not in his prime. Going with Stanton might not be as detrimental as it appears, especially since he's been winning.

That being said, Denver tends to force teams into shootouts. The Broncos put up just enough points that you have to throw on them to keep pace. Since Stanton probably isn't going to make those huge plays, Edwards is most likely correct in his analysis. If this becomes a game that reaches up toward 30-plus points, Arizona just won't keep up.

Jason LaCanfora: Denver Wins, but Arizona Has More Than a Chance

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CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora technically picked Denver to win the game against Arizona, but his write-up on the game has glowing praise for Arizona.

He cited Denver's up-and-down start as part of the reason why Arizona can stay in the game, but he also talked about Patrick Peterson's dominance, predicting that he'd get to try to shut down Bronco tight end Julius Thomas. He also suggested that the Broncos' vertical game may not be strong, saying that Arizona can force turnovers by jumping short routes.

The Cardinals certainly may put Peterson on Julius Thomas, who has been tearing up the league. La Canfora calls Peterson the best corner in the game. The problem with matching up Peterson on a tight end is that Denver just has so much depth at receiver. Demaryius Thomas has struggled a bit this year, but he still has to be respected. Emmanuel Sanders has looked great, and Wes Welker should be getting back into the flow of things.

Peterson can take away one of those guys, but not all of them. Also, Denver showed at the end of the Seattle game that the vertical offense can work when the plays are called. As long as John Fox isn't too conservative, the Broncos should be able to exploit Arizona downfield; keep in mind that all Seattle was trying to do at that point of the contest was stop long passes, but Manning still was able to go deep. Fox just has to let the offense run it.

This isn't to say that Arizona can't slow Denver down. The Cardinals have a very good defense that is about far more than just Peterson. However, I don't think Denver will be as limited offensively as La Canfora believes. I think the end of the Seattle game gave us a glimpse of what the rest of the season holds.