3 Ways Cardinals Can Upset Bengals Today

There are only two games left this season for the Arizona Cardinals to get a win, and their trip to Ohio to play the Cincinnati Bengals is their best chance to do so. This game looked unwinnable before the season started, and it still looks that way now, albeit in a much different way.

But compared to their season-finale road game against the Los Angeles Rams, this game is much more gettable.

But they'll have to have the perfect strategy, and I'm once again going to provide them with the blueprint for victory.

The biggest key to this game, and as we will discuss in more detail later, will be to keep up with the Bengals offense. Cincinnati's defense is atrocious, and even an offense with plenty of holes is still capable of lighting up the scoreboard. We've seen the Cardinals move the ball with ease offensively, but it's far past time those numbers result in wins.

The best way to do that is to get your best player involved, and that's where we'll start.

Trey McBride legacy game

How many times can McBride have a legacy game this season? He's had enough to already call his 2025 campaign one of the greatest ever at the tight end position, but why not add another to that résumé? Honestly, it might be the only way the Cardinals win this game.

In wins and losses this season, tight ends have feasted on this Bengals defense. Rookie linebackers Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. are showing growing pains, and they've been exposed by some of the league's best and some of its most tenured tight ends. McBride is a bit of both.

The Cardinals offense has been able to push the ball through the air all season, and they'll likely have little resistance doing it against the Bengals. McBride has dominated defenses all year, and he'll likely have little issue doing it against the Bengals.

If McBride has yet another massive performance, making it his umpteenth time this year, Arizona's chances to get the win jump quite a bit.

Sack Joe Burrow... a lot

Surprisingly, Burrow has only been sacked 12 times in six games. The line has surrendered 31 total sacks, with Joe Flacco and Jake Browning each being sacked nine times. For a group of not-great players, that seems like the best-case scenario for Cincinnati.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals defense has just 26 team sacks, and 11 are from Pro Bowl snub Josh Sweat. Despite major investments to the front seven, Arizona has struggled to bring pressure, and things have gotten difficult over the last month for the team. But maybe this matchup is just what they need to regain some swagger.

This is a stoppable force meeting a movable object, which means who knows what's about to happen. Arizona needs to get after Burrow early and often, but pressure won't be enough to stop the superstar quarterback. For the first time in a while, the Cardinals pass rush will need to play at a near-elite level, even against a pedestrian offensive line. Anything less than five sacks of Burrow will result in a loss for Arizona.

Copy/Paste every Bengals drive

If the Bengals turn the ball over, then the Cardinals can turn the ball over "safely." If the Bengals score a touchdown, then the Cardinals have to find a way to score a touchdown. If the Bengals go three-and-out, then the Cardinals are allowed to go three-and-out. If the Bengals settle for a field goal, then the Cardinals need to get a field goal.

You get the idea.

The point made here is that the Cardinals cannot afford to get behind at any point. Yes, we want Arizona to score on every drive, but that's not going to happen. Rather, we just need the Cardinals to follow the script that the Bengals lay out. We've seen this season that Arizona struggles to lead games, but they've played (and lost) plenty of one-score games. This time, they need to get on the right side of things.

With a few plays and drives going their way, Arizona may be able to squeak out perhaps their final win of the 2025 season.