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Records: Arizona (2-10); Pittsburgh (7-4)
Kickoff: Sunday, 1 p.m., CBS
Opening line: Steelers by 5.5, according to FanDuel Sportsbook
Against the spread: Cardinals 6-6; Steelers 7-4
Series record: Steelers lead 35-23-3
Last meeting: Steelers beat Cardinals 23-17 on Dec. 8, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz
Last week: Cardinals lost to Rams 37-14; Steelers beat Bengals 16-10
Cardinals offense: OVERALL (28), RUSH (16), PASS (31), SCORING (28)
Cardinals defense: OVERALL (27), RUSH (23), PASS (23), SCORING (7)
Steelers offense: OVERALL (26), RUSH (14), PASS (28), SCORING (28)
Steelers defense: OVERALL (25), RUSH (22), PASS (24), SCORING (5)
Turnover differential: Cardinals minus-1; Steelers plus-11
Cardinals player to watch: Safety Jalen Thompson has had interceptions in back-to-back games and is playing some of the best football of his five-year career. Thompson has 55 tackles this season, which is the most on the team for a healthy player after linebacker Kyzir White (biceps) went on injured reserve last week.
Steelers player to watch: Linebacker T.J. Watt is putting together a season eerily similar to his 2021 campaign in which he tied the NFL record for sacks in a season on his way to AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors. Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin called Watt the best defensive player “on the planet” this week and he might not be wrong. Watt has 13.5 sacks heading into the weekend and has been remarkably consistent, racking up at least one half-sack in nine of Pittsburgh’s 11 games.
Key matchup: Arizona’s defensive line vs. Pittsburgh’s running game. The Cardinals gave up 228 yards on the ground against Los Angeles last week and now face one of the NFL’s best running back duos in Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren. The Steelers have topped 150 yards on the ground in each of the past four weeks, the first time they’ve done that since 2006.
Key injuries: The Cardinals hope WR Michael Wilson (shoulder) can return after being inactive last week. WR Marquise Brown (heel), TE Trey McBride (groin) and S Jalen Thompson (ribs) are all dealing with injuries that kept them out of Wednesday’s practice. … The Steelers are getting S Minkah Fitzpatrick back. The perennial All-Pro hasn’t played in a month because of a hamstring injury. Pittsburgh DT Montravius Adams is also expected to return after missing two games because of an ankle injury. WR Calvin Austin (ankle) missed practice during the week.
Series notes: It’s just the fourth time the two teams have played since the Steelers beat the Cardinals 27-23 in 2009 in a Super Bowl thriller. The Steelers have won six of the past seven meetings overall with Arizona. The Cardinals haven’t won in Pittsburgh since 1969, when the franchise was based in St. Louis and Chuck Noll was in his first season of what became a Hall of Fame run with the Steelers.
Stats and stuff: The Steelers have won three of four to vault to the top of the AFC wild-card race. The Cardinals are 1-2 since QB Kyler Murray returned from a torn ACL. … The Cardinals started four rookies on defense last week, including DL Dante Stills and DBs Garrett Williams, Kei’Trel Clark and Starling Thomas V. Other than the 1987 season, which had replacement players because of a work stoppage, it’s the first time since at least 1970 that the Cardinals have started that many rookies on defense. … The Steelers are one of three teams that Cardinals RB James Conner has never faced. Conner played for the Steelers from 2017 to 2020. … TE Trey McBride has 48 catches for 521 yards this season and needs just nine more catches to set the franchise record for a tight end. … Arizona ranks 10th in the NFL with 121.8 yards rushing per game.