Titans Can Take Advantage of Banged Up Cardinals RBs

The Tennessee Titans are preparing to hit the road and travel to Glendale, Arizona, to face the Arizona Cardinals this weekend. Beating the Cardinals on the road is going to be a tough task, but their job got a little bit easier with the news of Trey Benson's injury.

The Cardinals lost James Conner, their top running back, to a season-ending foot injury earlier this year, and now they've lost Trey Benson to injured reserve. He's expected to be back later this year, but the Cardinals will be without their top two running backs this week against the Titans.

What Does Trey Benson's Injury Mean For the Titans?

The Titans' defense was going to have their hands full this weekend. They're one of the worst rushing defenses in the league, giving up over 140 yards per game on the ground, and although Benson hasn't broken out yet, it felt like it was only a matter of time before he had a big game. With the way Tennessee's defense has been playing, it felt like this was the week he could do it, but now he'll have to wait.

The Cardinals have now lost 255 yards of rushing production between their two running backs. The Cardinals' top running back is now Emari Demercado, who has just eight rushing yards this season.

Trey Benson, RB, Cardinals — Arizona Cardinals running back Trey Benson (33) walks off the field after their 23-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on Sept. 25, 2025. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With Benson and Conner out, it also makes the Cardinals' passing attack a little less threatening. Conner and Benson had over 100+ receiving yards this season, and while Demercado is still a threat out of the backfield, he's not nearly as threatening as Conner and Benson. While the Titans' defense still needs to be ready for screens and swing passes to the running back, they can focus most of their attention on stopping Trey McBride and Marvin Harrison Jr.

While the Cardinals' offense still poses a massive challenge for the Titans' defense, it will be a lot easier to make them one-dimensional. If they can get some push in the run game and slow down Demercado, it will force Kyler Murray to throw it, and he's proven to be mistake-prone at times this year.

Without Conner and Benson in the lineup, the Titans' defense should have a much easier time slowing down the Cardinals' rushing attack.

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