The Cardinals (1-1) rebounded from last week's upset loss with a dominant, reassuring 40-7 victory over the upstart Buccaneers (1-1).
- After its disappearing act in the Cardinals' season-opening loss to the Patriots, Arizona's aggressive vertical passing game re-emerged against the Buccaneers. Led by Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals wide receivers found space again and again in Tampa's emerging secondary, often picking on Lovie Smith-holdover Chris Conte. Fitz set the pace early with a touchdown and continued his hot start to the season with a six-catch, 81-yard afternoon. The Cards put the game away late in the first half when Carson Palmer (18-for-31, 301 yards, 3 TD) led a five-play touchdown drive from their own 26 in just 45 seconds, capped off by a 51-yard bomb to Jaron Brown. It was the return of trademark Arians, back after a week's hiatus: pummeling the enemy while his guard is down.
- Jameis Winston sank the Bucs' sad ship with five ugly turnovers against Arizona, including two picks to backup cornerback Marcus Cooper. Frustration finally boiled over for the sophomore quarterback in the fourth quarter when he blindsided Cooper on a block and the corner responded in kind. After last week's performance against Atlanta hinted at a breakout season, Winston (27-for-52, 243 yards, TD, 4 INT) came back down to earth Sunday against the conference's most ferocious defense and lost his composure in the process.
- The absence of Doug Martin contributed heavily to Tampa Bay's struggles on offense. The Bucs' irreplacable running back left in the second quarter with a hamstring injury and did not return. Tampa was not able to establish any semblance of a running game following his exit, forcing Winston to attempt desperate passes to Evans and company. If the Bucs lose Martin for an extended period of time, that will spell trouble for a promising Tampa offense.
- Patrick Peterson's matchup with Bucs wideout Mike Evans bore some great plays on both sides of the ball. Arizona's top cover man led off the pick parade of Winston with an end-zone interception on Tampa's first drive. Evans followed with an impressive back-shoulder touchdown grab once the game was settled in the third, beating Pat P off the line of scrimmage. With all the talk about fellow corner Josh Norman following lesser opposing wideouts, Peterson reminded the league that he shouldn't be overlooked as a top-three corner, and a fearless one at that.
- On this week's "David Johnson embarrassing defenses", we marvel at the second-year back's breakaway speed on this 58-yard catch-and-run:
