Cardinals Cover 2

Ep. 486 - Better late than never, right? It’s Week 8, and only now are the Cardinals in the national spotlight. They host the Green Bay Packers on Thursday Night Football. The matchup certainly looks great on paper. Two teams with a combined record of 13-1. Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki preview the biggest game of the week. Jurecki gives his three keys to victory plus the X-factor. The Cardinals...

Ep. 485 - The Cardinals did exactly what they were supposed to do on Sunday. They took care of business. They were the better team on paper, and they showed they were the better team on the field. Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki discuss all the good from the 31-5 win over the Houston Texans. The offense got off to a slow start, yet still hit the 30-point mark for the sixth time in seven games. Mean...

Ep. 484 - It will be different. It has to be. And J.J. Watt admitted as much. You don’t spend 10 and seven years with one franchise as Watt and DeAndre Hopkins did, respectively, and not feel something when that team is now your opponent. Welcome to Week 7, and welcome to town the Houston Texans. Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki discuss the matchup—Jurecki gives his three keys to victory—and just wh...

Ep. 483 - The loss of Maxx Williams necessitated a move to reinforce the tight end room. But what kind of move? At 5-0, the Cardinals couldn’t just make any move. They needed to be aggressive. And they were. Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki discuss the addition of Zach Ertz, his fit within in the offense and the message the trade sent to the locker room. Also, it is a Football Friday so the guys loo...

Ep. 482 - OK, so it’s not exactly Woody Hayes’ “three yards and a cloud of dust”, but the Cleveland Browns do run the football very, very well. In fact, no team runs the ball better. That is the challenge this week facing the Cardinals, who have struggled against the run this season. Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki look at how the defense, the defensive line in particular, might handle the running...

Ep. 481 - The Kyler Murray vs. Baker Mayfield rivalry gets renewed this week. They first met two years ago with Murray getting the better of his good friend and former Oklahoma Sooner teammate. Can Murray improve to 2-0 or will Mayfield draw even? Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki discuss the No. 1 storyline heading into Sunday plus what awaits Murray and company with respects to the Cleveland Browns...

Ep. 480 - Sometimes one side of the ball needs to pick up the other side and that’s exactly what happened on Sunday. The defense, behind not one, not two, not even three but four fourth-down stops, helped push the Cardinals past the San Francisco 49ers, 17-10. Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki talked up Vance Joseph’s unit, one that was missing its two starting cornerbacks and still made life difficu...

Ep. 479 - Beat the Rams. Check. Next, the 49ers. The Cardinals can turn the tables on the two teams that ultimately cost them a playoff spot last season, when they dropped back-to-back division games to end the year. The Cardinals can also maintain their position as the league’s only undefeated team. Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki dive into the Week 5 matchup with Jurecki presenting his three keys...

Ep. 478 - As if preparing for one NFL quarterback isn’t already difficult enough, how about two? And the second is a rookie with very little film? That is the challenge ahead of the Cardinals this week. Will they see Jimmy Garoppolo or might it be Trey Lance? It’s the known vs. the unknown. More of a pocket-passer vs. a dual-threat. Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki discuss both options. And if it is...

Ep. 476 - No more do we have to hear the Cardinals are 0-8 against Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams. That’s now in the past. So let’s focus on the present and the future. Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki discuss all the good from Sunday’s 37-20 win, from Kyler Murray and what looks to be an unstoppable offense to Vance Joseph shutting down Matthew Stafford and company. It’s another Victory Monday...

Ep. 475 - Eight straight losses to Sean McVay and the Rams, four straight losses to the NFC West and a four-year run of not having beaten Matthew Stafford. That can, and hopefully will, end this week. Oh yeah, a win would also move the Cardinals into first place in the division all by themselves. Quite a lot on the line. Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki look ahead to Sunday’s showdown at SoFi Stadiu...

Ep. 474 - Six different receivers have caught at least 10 passes from Kyler Murray, and all six have better than 110 receiving yards through three games. It’s the most balanced the passing game has looked in Murray’s three NFL seasons. It’s also a sign Murray isn’t settling. “He’s going where his reads take him,” Kliff Kingsbury said. Also, Craig Grialou (please excuse the voice; he really does fe...

Ep. 473 - “We like to make it interesting.” Yes you do, Coach. Much too interesting. Bottom line, though, Kliff Kingsbury has led the Cardinals to a 3-0 start, which only four other teams can say in 2021. Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki look back at the win in Jacksonville. There was a lot to like including Byron Murphy's first career multi-INT game. There are areas that still need to be addressed,...

Ep. 472 - A year ago the Cardinals opened the season 2-0 only to lose to a team that, on paper, had less talent. This year, once again, the Cardinals are 2-0 and facing a team they should beat. But should and will are two very different things. Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki breakdown the Week 3 matchup against the winless Jaguars with Jurecki giving fans his three keys to victory along with the X...

Ep. 471 - Teammates for two seasons at Clemson, Isaiah Simmons and Trevor Lawrence will find themselves on opposite sides of the field this week. “I always love a good matchup,” Simmons said this week; and said with a big smile on his face. Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki discuss what awaits the Cardinals defense on Sunday. The guys expect a bounce-back performance, especially after hearing from de...

Ep. 470 - Scrambling. Throwing the football back across his body. Kyler Murray is making the difficult seem routine, and he’s doing it on a weekly basis. Murray has become one of the early stars of the 2021 season. The numbers he is putting up are impressive. But it’s more than just the numbers. It’s getting everyone involved. That’s what has really stood out to Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki when...

Ep. 469 - You never apologize for winning in the National Football League. So, while it was far from perfect on Sunday, the Cardinals will take it. They are 2-0 for the second straight season. Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki discuss the good and the bad from the 34-33 victory over the Vikings. For the second straight week the offense reached the 400-yard, 30-point mark; while defensively, it was a...

Ep. 468 - For the first time in two years the Cardinals will play in front of a sold-out State Farm Stadium. It’s Week 2, the home opener against the Minnesota Vikings. Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki break down the matchup with Jurecki giving fans his three keys to victory along with the X-factor. The Cardinals will be looking to go 2-0 for the second straight season. Also, what’s on tap for the r...

Ep. 466 - It would’ve been a big surprise if Chandler Jones wasn't named NFC Defensive Player of the Week. Well deserved, obviously. But what about Kyler Murray? Shouldn’t he have been named the conference’s offensive player of the week? He certainly had a good case. More important than the stats, though, it’s what Murray showed in his continuing development as a quarterback that stood out to both...

Ep. 465 - Well, that was impressive. Maybe the most complete performance under head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who after the 38-13 win at Tennessee told the team in the locker room “everybody is getting a game ball.” Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki discuss all that went right in Week 1, from Chandler Jones’ career-high five sacks to Kyler Murray accounting for five touchdowns. Again, impressive. See om...

Ep. 464 - The anticipation for the start of the regular season is always high. Even more so, perhaps, this season. It’s Year 3 for Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray. There are new faces on offense—A.J. Green, Rodney Hudson and James Conner—while the defense added J.J. Watt and welcomes back a healthy Chandler Jones. Plus, don’t forget about new kicker Matt Prater. Is it enough though? We begin to f...

Ep. 463 - Stopping the run is always the defense’s goal, and this week is no exception. Of course, that’s easier said than done especially when Derrick Henry is running the football. So what will the Cardinals do, or attempt to do, to stop or slow down the game’s best running back? Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki offer some ideas and discuss what defensive coordinator and J.J. Watt had to say about...

Ep. 462 - It’s been talked about a lot: the expectations for Kyler Murray in this his third season as starting quarterback. And make no mistake, the expectations are high. This needs to be the year where Murray takes the next step to stardom. Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki begin to look at what awaits Murray and the Cardinals offense this week in Tennessee. Also, the guys discuss which players wer...

Ep. 461 - Following a four-day break, the Cardinals returned to the practice field with every player present and accounted for, including Robert Alford and Justin Pugh who were just recently activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list. Seeing an entire 53-man roster practicing is great news ahead of Week 1. Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki also discuss the 17 players signed to the practice squad, focus...

Ep. 460 - Time doesn’t stop. You can’t hit pause in life. In other words, if Malcolm Butler is not going to be on the field this season, or ever again, then the Cardinals need to figure out how to move on without him. Craig Grialou and Mike Jurecki discuss the need to add another veteran, the emergence of rookie Marco Wilson and the possibility that Isaiah Simmons may see more playing time than ex...