Cardinals Bringing Attitude to Altitude in Mexico City
The Arizona Cardinals only have a few days left to prepare for the altitude that awaits them at Estadio Azteca.
The legendary stadium in Mexico City has played host to pivotal soccer matches for teams such as Club America and the Mexican National Team among others.
Yet a different type of football will be played on the hallowed pitch, as Mexico will play host to the Cardinals-49ers on Monday Night Football in the last of the league's series of international games this season.
It's familiar ground for the Cardinals, who hosted the league's first ever regular season game outside of the US in 2005.
The 49ers were also opponents the last time Arizona played in Mexico as well.
The altitude at Estadio Azteca will be something both teams aren't quite used to - the elevation of roughly 7,218 feet. In comparison, that's 1,938 feet higher than the elevation at Mile High in Denver.
The 49ers have already departed for Colorado Springs to prepare for the shift in altitude. They'll leave on Sunday in advance of their meeting with Arizona on Monday night.
As for the Cardinals, no changes were made to the schedule.
“We’ll just get there a day earlier. That’s it. We set up the week the exact same. We’ll leave Saturday after our walkthrough, then Sunday we’ll go to the stadium (to have) a quick walkthrough there and then that’ll be it. Not a lot of change, just the extra day in between," Kliff Kingsbury told reporters on Wednesday.
"Ultimately, our sports medicine staff and sports science group felt like we could get a good plan here, keep the guys here and kind of maximize what we wanted to do. That’s what we settled on.”
Kingsbury will be there front and center when the lights are brightest in primetime. The same may not be able to be said of Kyler Murray, who sat out last week's win vs. Los Angeles with a hamstring injury.
His status won't be known until later in the week. Regardless, he's ready for an atmosphere unlike any other he's played in:
“I’ve heard multiple things. Today they were telling us it’s just making a lot of noise all game. It’s not really like on third down people get loud. It’s kind of like that all game. That’s what I heard. I’m not sure. He [Cardinals strength and conditioning coach Buddy Morris] asked who’s played in this game and I think maybe two or three dudes raised their hand, so we got a lot of guys that are kind of go into an unknown scenario, but I’m looking forward to it. It’ll be fun," Murray said.
A lot is riding on this international game. A win for Arizona would inject a new picture of life as the second half of the season goes into full swing. A loss would bury the dagger deeper into their hopes of the postseason.
Once the game begins, we'll eventually figure out how the Cardinals can go about their business the rest of the way.
For now, however, Arizona revels in their unique opportunity.
"I think it's awesome. I've heard it's going to be an incredible atmosphere. I'm sure a lot of our players have never been to Mexico City or experienced anything like this," Kingsbury said.
"To play in that stadium— just a legendary soccer stadium and so many cool events that have been there and games it'll be awesome. I think as a team just to be around each other and get an experience that'll be a unique experience for all of us."
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