Watch live on Sky Sports Action & Main Event from 12.30am, Friday
Friday 19 October 2018 05:22, UK
Week Seven in the NFL opens with the meeting of two teams in terrible form as the Denver Broncos travel to the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday Night Football, live on Sky Sports Action and Main Event from 12.30am. Here's what you can expect...
It does not make for pretty reading for either side, with both teams registering four-match losing streaks in the opening six games of the season.
The Broncos (2-4) sit third in AFC West, having suffered four defeats on the bounce to Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets and Los Angeles Rams. After winning his opening two games with the team, new quarterback Case Keenum is now seriously struggling. The former Minnesota Vikings QB has thrown a joint-highest eight interceptions so far - and at least one in every match.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals (1-5) are not faring much better in NFC West, where they also sit third, suffering big losses to the Washington Redskins and the Rams before being edged out in narrow defeats to the Chicago Bears and the Seattle Seahawks. There was brief respite from the misery though as rookie Josh Rosen's side overcame a Jimmy Garoppolo-less San Francisco 49ers in Week Five before normal service resumed with a loss in Minnesota last Sunday.
Denver have won eight of their last nine matches against Arizona but the Cardinals did register their solitary victory in that span at home - a 43-13 thrashing of the Broncos.
Keenum or Rosen to come good? Unsurprisingly, with two teams that are failing to fire, their QBs are not currently shining themselves in glory.
Keenum is in need of far more protection, after being sacked twice in the first two games of the season he has suffered an alarming 13 in the following four contests. Rosen too is struggling under pressure, and although he looked good in patches against the Vikings, the 21-year-old rookie still suffered four sacks at the hands of their NFC North opponents. At 33.8, Rosen has the league's third-worst pass rating under pressure - something Von Miller is likely to try to exploit.
The winning side on Thursday night is probably going to be decided by whichever QB is able to handle the pressure better on the night.
Von Miller has already promised an improved defensive showing from the Broncos as they look to snap their four-game losing streak. The All-Pro linebacker has seen his team concede 200 rushing yards in their last two matches but has vowed to show the full strength of Denver's defense on Thursday evening.
Cardinals running back David Johnson has looked far from his sharpest on his return to the side this season, having suffered a season-ending ACL tear in 2017. However, this could be the perfect game to get his, and Arizona's, season up and running if he can exploit a weak-looking Broncos rush defense.
Watch the Denver Broncos at the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday Night Football, live on Sky Sports Action from 12.30am on Friday morning.
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