For the Arizona Cardinals To have any chance of winning Sunday, they must find a way to prevent Detroit Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson from ruining the game.
Hutchinson had a monster game last Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with 4.5 sacks for 37 yards, five tackles (four solo) with four for loss, five hits on the quarterback and a forced fumble. Yet the Lions lost.
In the season opener, he had one sack for five yards, five tackles (three solo) with one for loss, and four quarterback hits, as they beat the Los Angeles Rams.
The Cardinals are aware of the challenge he presents, and the question now is whether right tackle Kelvin Beachum will be healthy. Beachum apparently suffered a hamstring injury in practice Thursday. He was limited that day, did not practice Friday and is doubtful for the game.
Last week, after Game 1 starter Jonah Williams suffered a knee injury and was placed on injured reserve, Jackson Barton was promoted from the practice squad to center. The Cardinals also have Charlie Heck and Luke Tenuta on the practice squad, and while Heck played in 41 games with 21 starts in four seasons with the Houston Texans, he has only been in Arizona since Sept. 11. Tenuta was signed to the practice squad on Aug. 29.
It’s not out of the question that rookie Isaiah Adams could be called upon to play right tackle after starting 10 games last season at the University of Illinois. The Cardinals don’t have a backup tackle on their depth chart. To protect themselves in case Beachum isn’t 100 percent Sunday, two tackles could have to be elevated.
Regardless of who Hutchinson faces, helping him with a tight end could be beneficial, even if it could mean one less receiver running the pass route, not to mention what Hutchinson is capable of against the run.
Asked about the Lions’ defense this week, offensive coordinator Drew Petzing said, “They’re an impressive group, really, all three levels. They’ve got top-notch players. They play extremely hard. The system is really good, they’re really well-coached. They give players a hard time. That’s one of the many reasons they’re a good football team. It’s not a game where we’re going to take away this guy or that guy. They’ve got it all at all three levels and they’re doing it at a very high level. So I think it’s going to be a big challenge for us this week.”
He said of Hutchinson: “Any unit, no matter how talented, has a top player. For them, it’s definitely him. He’s dynamic in the passing game, for sure. You look at the stats and I guess he would say this: He’s just as effective in the running game. He doesn’t take any rest. He plays with an extremely high motor. He’s one of the best defensive ends in the league. So we have to pay attention to him like the other 10 guys on the field. But if you want to rank them, he’s certainly at the top of that list in terms of what we have to pay attention to.”
Asked about the need to always know where Hutchinson is, quarterback Kyler Murray said: “You have to know. He deserves it, he’s a great player. The things he’s accomplished in his short career are pretty impressive. He is who he is and he’s going to be who he is for the rest of his career. We definitely have to pay attention to him.”
“He’s in a really good system, they give him some freedom and he has a skill set,” head coach Jonathan Gannon said. “Regardless of where he was drafted, you can see why he was drafted that high.”
Hutchinson currently has 10.5 sacks in his last four regular-season games and with 2.5 on Sunday, he would tie Hall of Famer Michael Strahan for the most sacks in five straight games, even though two of those games came more than eight months ago.
He admitted to missing the dances when he got to the final bag last week, saying: “The fifth one, I just threw my hands up. It was just one of those days where you’re like a magnet for the ball. It was fun.”
The Cardinals don’t want him to have much fun on Sunday.
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This article was originally published on Cards Wire: Cardinals-Lions Preview: All eyes will be on Lions DE Aidan Hutchinson
