The Cardinals return to University of Phoenix Stadium Sunday for a nationally televised Sunday Night showdown against the undefeated Indianapolis Colts.
GAME FACTS:When: Sunday, September 27th, 5:20 p.m.
Where: On TV, Channel 12
The Cards evened their record at 1-1 with a 31-17 road win at Jacksonville last week.
Kurt Warner was almost perfect in the game, completing 24-26 passes for an NFL single-game record completion percentage of 92.3
The Colts moved to 2-0 on Monday night at Miami, outlasting the Dolphins 27-23.
The Colts will be making an appearance in the Valley for just the second time in this game, and the first since 1990, ending the second longest drought of any NFL series (the Steelers last visited Washington on 9/11/88).
The game will also mark the Cardinals first-ever appearance on “Sunday Night Football” and one of two they will have this season (the second is 10/25 at NYG).
Warner vs. ManningThis week’s game against the Colts features a matchup of two of the NFL’s top quarterbacks in Cardinals QB Kurt Warner and Colts QB Peyton Manning.
Although they are both Super Bowl winners and former MVPs, the two QBs came to NFL success in very different ways.
Warner played his college ball at Division I-AA Northern Iowa in the Gateway Conference, a college that has seen a total of 15 players drafted into the NFL.
Kurt entered the NFL when he signed with the Packers as an undrafted rookie in 1994 but was cut in training camp that year. He went on to star in the Arena League and NFL Europe before getting another shot at the NFL with the Rams in 1998
Manning quarterbacked one of the elite college football programs in the country at Tennessee. He was one of the most decorated players in the history of the SEC at a school that has had over 300 players drafted into the NFL. Peyton was a college All-American and the first overall selection in the 1998 NFL Draft who was inserted as the starter right away with the Colts.
What could be…. - A sellout of this week’s game vs. Indianapolis would be the 36th consecutive sellout at University of Phoenix Stadium. (It has been confirmed that Sunday's game has been sold out, meaning the team has sold out every game they've played at the stadium since it was opened in 2006.)
- A win this week vs. Indianapolis would be their first victory over the Colts since 1990, the only other time they visited Arizona.
- With a TD reception in this week’s game, Fitzgerald would have a TD reception in nine consecutive games including the 2008 season and postseason. It would mark his fifth consecutive regular season game with a TD reception and tie the second-longest streak in franchise history
Key PlayersCardinals - Running Game – Keep Peyton and the Colts offense off the field
Colts – Defense – can they shut down Fitz, Boldin, and Breaston?
Our PickThe Cardinals Offense and Defense both come to play and escape with the win, Colts 20 Cardinals 31.
