Atlanta Falcons vs. Arizona Cardinals GAMEDAY: How to Watch, Betting Odds
The Atlanta Falcons face the Arizona Cardinals and the return of quarterback Kyler Murray, who has been sidelined for the last 11 months recovering from an ACL tear suffered in a non-contact injury last season.
Atlanta hopes to halt a two-game skid and stay relevant in the NFC South title conversation, while the Cardinals are just looking for something positive to take away from Murray's return amid their six-game losing streak. Arizona went 1-13 while he was out.
“In this league, it's very hard to win,” Cardinals safety Budda Baker said. “And it's definitely very hard to win without special players on the field, offense and defense. To finally, potentially, have K1 and James Conner back, that's a huge part of our offense and a huge part of our team."
Arizona also gets its leading rusher, James Conner, back off injured reserve this week but it's unknown if he'll see the field on Sunday. The Cardinals might have seen their worst effort of the year in a 27-0 thrashing by the Cleveland Browns last week, in a game where the Arizona offense gained just 58 total yards.
The Falcons have been marginally better, and have lost two very winnable games over the past two weeks.
“We’re not going to sugarcoat it,” Atlanta coach Arthur Smith said. “You can be frustrated. You can be mad. You’re going to feel all the emotions by it, but we have to go do something about it. As bad as it feels — nobody’s celebrating being 4-5 — but the reality is when you have perspective, after we get these corrections and assess everything, we do still control our own destiny. We have half a season.”
Veteran quarterback Taylor Heinicke has been supportive of second-year signal caller Desmond Ridder since he took over the starting job for the Falcons.
“Me and Des have talked privately,” Heinicke said Wednesday. “I’ve told him everything he’s been doing since he was starting, running the meetings, keep doing. Everything. I think that’s going to help him in the long run.”
WHAT: Atlanta Falcons (4-5, 1-3 Road) at Arizona Cardinals (1-8, 1-3 Home)
WHERE: State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ (65,000)
WHEN: Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023, 4:05 p.m. ET
TELEVISION: CBS / FuboTV (try it free)
RADIO: WZGC-FM 92.9 The Game
Get your tickets at SI Tickets
Betting via SI SportsBook
SPREAD: Falcons -1.5
TOTAL: 43.5
MONEYLINE: Falcons -125, Cardinals +105