2024 Week 10: Jets 6, Cardinals 31
The Jets got smoked. This game was never close, Arizona scored three touchdowns and a field goal to get them a 24-6 lead going into the half, then came out of the half with an 88-yard touchdown drive. 4 of their first 5 drives were touchdowns, and the only two drives they didn’t score were the last two, a punt, and the game-ending drive that finished with Kyler Murray kneeing the ball.
Arizona (6-4) is on a really nice run right now, their defense has become so dominant alongside their run game, and then Kyler comes out and has two incompletions against what was the best defense in the league just one year ago. Arizona, LA, and SF are going to be in a fight for the division, but it might ultimately go to the Cardinals, they already have wins over the Rams and Niners.
A lot of people want to know what’s wrong with the Jets (3-7), and I wish I could tell you. Their offense hasn’t developed at all this season and the defense has regressed week after week. The Cardinals just straight-up beat them, no other way around it. This was not a Jets loss, it was a Cardinals victory.
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QB Report:
- Kyler Murray (22/24 for 266 yards, 1 TD; 3 rushes for 21 yards, 2 TDs) played out of his shoes, with only two incompletions on the day, and his first pass was one of them, so a 22/23 run. Incredibly impressive. The Cardinals O-line has really shored up over the last few weeks and become one of the best in the league, and PFF says the same, though I don’t often see eye-to-eye with their rankings. PFF has Arizona as a top-4 offensive line.
- As always, Kyler’s fantasy scoring depends on how many touchdowns he can run in, and he found himself scurrying across the goalline twice so he was one of the top FF QBs this week. The Cardinals gameplan was stellar, throw it at DJ Reed, and it worked to perfection (or near-perfection I suppose).
- Aaron Rodgers (22/35 for 151 yards) might be best friends with Davante Adams (6-31-0/13) but it hasn’t translated onto the football field. Rodgers just isn’t what he used to be, and the Jets line is not very good which makes it harder on the almost 41-year-old QB. Adams and Garrett Wilson (5-41-0/6) still work for fantasy, they’ll both put up decent numbers in PPR, but they both need a touchdown to be a WR1 any given week, like so many others out there.
Cardinals WR/TE Report:
We already talked about the Jets so just ARI for this section.
- I will continue to shout this from the rooftops, teams do not respect Marvin Harrison Jr. (5-54-1/5). If they did, Sauce Garnder would have covered him more. I went through every play Kyler did something, so if it was a drop back, designed run, or scramble. There were 28 plays that fit that criteria, and on just 3 of those 28 snaps was Sauce Gardner lined up on Marvin Harrison. Two plays were man-coverage, and one was zone that MHJ motioned away from Sauce and he wound up catching the ball. On the opposite side of the field. What I did notice was any time there was another option than MHJ, Sauce was on them. DJ Reed (4 tackles) has been such a massive liability at Corner lately that if Marv was good, Sauce would be on him. Instead, he spent most of those snaps on Michael Wilson and a handful on Dortch. MHJ is a one-trick pony and he used it to score his TD. Contested catches.
- Trey McBride (4-71-0/5) is Kyler’s go-to, and they really schemed the offense around him. If MHJ isn’t 1-on-1 against a weak corner, the ball goes to McBride or the RB. Most of the routes are designed to clear space for McBride as well. He and James Conner (12-33-1; 5 catches for 80 yards) are the players to possess in fantasy.
D/ST Report:
- I discussed the Cardinals D/ST on X briefly, but they are a very good defense that has a great schedule for the fantasy playoffs, Facing SEA-MIN-SEA-NE-CAR, after their BYE this week. The NE-CAR specifically is a great matchup.
- Emerging in this Arizona defense is 2022 7th-rounder Jesse Luketa (2 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 2 QB hits), who has a sack in each of his last two games, and has been playing more snaps since Dennis Gardeck was hurt. Gardeck, by the way, was going nuclear all season before tearing his ACL.
image source: (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)