Raiders vs Cardinals preview, blogger live chat

The Raiders face the Cardinals this Sunday at home in another sold out affair. The Cardinals are looking very much like Raiders South these days with several former members of the Silver & Black now donning red and white.

Those former Raiders starts with Carson Palmer, whose blindside is protected by Jared Veldheer just as it was during his season and a half in Oakland. Then on the defense there's former Raiders third round pick, Matt Shaughnessy and former Raiders undrafted free agent and nine-year mainstay at defensive tackle, Tommy Kelly. They even just added former Raiders linebacker Kaelin Burnett to their practice squad.

So, yeah, there is a lot of familiarity there. The one thing that isn't familiar to the Raiders franchise of late is what it's like to have a winning record. That's what the Cardinals have at 4-1 -- matching the Raiders entire win total each of the past two seasons. All the while the Raiders are 0-5.

There is hope in Oakland, however, after they came out firing against the Chargers top ranked defense last week. The Cardinals have a stout defense as well but are lacking in the pass rush arena. Derek Carr showed last week that given a pocket from which to throw, he can make all the throws.

Carr was officially back practicing full after being limited the past few weeks with an ankle and knee sprain.

His counterpart, Carson Palmer has been ailing a bit where it matters most -- his right shoulder. It didn't keep him out last week and the Cardinals still won. But if Carr can keep the offense clicking in Oakland, Palmer would be hard pressed to match it as Philip Rivers did last week to pull out the win.

The main guy to worry about for Carr should be All Pro cornerback, Patrick Peterson. Though Carr has lit up big time corners this season already -- Darelle Revis and Brandon Flowers -- and Peterson is not completely healthy, so that match-up should be fun to watch.

As for the Cardinals offense, there is always Larry Fitzgerald to worry about and they have a talented young running back in Andre Ellington.

If you still have questions you want answered, check out the live developing chat between myself and someone from the opposing team's blog. This week it's Jess Root from SB Nation's Cardinals' blog, Revenge of the Birds. Check back as we will continue to talk throughout the afternoon/evening.

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