Before the NFL season began you’d have written off the Arizona Cardinals if you heard they’d be without quarterback Carson Palmer for three weeks. Yet here they are, hitting the road for a 4:05 EST game against the Denver Broncos with a 3-0 record and atop the NFC West. The 2-1 Broncos will be looking to fix some elements while giving one of the league’s two remaining undefeated teams its first loss.
Cardinals coach Bruce Arians announced Friday that QB Drew Stanton will start his third straight game in the Broncos game today at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Stanton has played well in the Cardinals’ wins over the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers, completing 51.6% percent of his passes and averaging 205.6 passing yards per game.
Receiver Michael Floyd has largely been the beneficiary, catching 11 passes this season for 252 yards, though Arizona running back Andre Ellington could have a solid day against Denver’s 12th-ranked rushing defense.
With both teams coming off a Week 4 bye, it’ll be interesting to watch today’s Cardinals Broncos game live free and see how they respond. Denver was already hoping to kick off some rust on the ground. But while Peyton Manning has the NFL’s top QBR, he’s not putting up the big stats he did last year.
Manning’s passed for 814 yards and eight TDs this season. The Cardinals defense is allowing 244 yards per game, but they’re fifth in the league overall and have two coaches who know Manning from his days with the Colts. Although we won’t likely see a lot of blitzes, we should see the Cardinals play Manning better than most defenses have this season.
Kickoff is scheduled for 4:05pm EST / 1:05pm PST on FOX. You can also watch Arizona Cardinals at Denver Broncos game online free live stream Week 5 using the FOX Sports video website or DirecTV’s website. The latter requires you to have an NFL Sunday Ticket with MAX subscription, but all subscribers can watch the game online free using a smartphone, tablet or PC.