National Football League

Sunday storylines: Cardinals & Chiefs are reeling, so what a perfect time for them to play

Published Dec. 3, 2014 3:48 p.m. ET

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Every week, our FOX Sports NFL Insiders break down three of the most important storylines you need to watch heading into Sunday. If you have any questions, be sure to hit them up on Twitter.

Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo)

Colts at Browns: Brian Hoyer's last stand, er, start could be coming on Sunday when he leads the Cleveland Browns into a matchup with Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts. The fact it took the Browns three days to announce the quarterback who has started the first 12 games will start their 13th doesn't bode well for Hoyer's job security. Mike Pettine waited until the fourth quarter to put Johnny Manziel into Sunday's loss to the Buffalo Bills. This weekend brings a much more high-powered opposing offense into town. That means Pettine probably won't have nearly as much patience this time around. Manziel could see the field much earlier this time.

Hoyer is on watch, and not just by the coaching staff. Word is at least some offensive players are eager to see what Manziel can do, especially early in games. The Browns have been notorious slow starters on offense this year under Hoyer. He obviously can't afford for that to occur this weekend, otherwise he'll lose the already shaky faith his teammates and coaches have in him.

Alex Marvez (@alexmarvez)

Steelers at Bengals: In the AFC North standings, Pittsburgh's loss to New Orleans last Sunday was a good thing for Cincinnati. But if history holds true from earlier this season, that defeat also is a bad omen for the Bengals (8-3-1) entering Sunday's home game against the Steelers (7-5). For whatever reason, Pittsburgh plays its worst against bad teams. The Saints loss was the third time the 2014 Steelers fell to a team that entered at least three games under .500. Pittsburgh then rebounded to win the following week. For the same pattern to occur Sunday, the Steelers must fix a pass defense that was brutalized by Saints quarterback Drew Brees for five touchdown passes.

That won't be easy with A.J. Green logging 22 catches for 305 yards and two touchdowns in Cincinnati's current three-game winning streak. The Bengals also have an opposing wide receiver to worry about in Pittsburgh's Antonio Brown, whose streak of registering at least five catches for 50 yards now extends to 28 straight games. Excluding a two-game sweep of Baltimore, none of Cincinnati's eight victories have come against an opponent with a winning record. But by doing what the Steelers haven't -- avoiding upsets against markedly inferior opposition -- Cincinnati is assured of keeping at least a 1.5-game division lead with three contests remaining by beating the Steelers.

Peter Schrager (@PSchrags)

Chiefs at Cardinals: Both teams were sitting comfortably in the playoff picture just two weeks ago, but are now watching the rug be pulled out on their once charmed seasons after bad consecutive losses the past two weeks.

Arizona's issue is, of course, the injuries. They've been mounting since the preseason, but have now hit a point where they're truly impacting the product on the field. At a certain point, good coaching can take a team only so far, and on Sunday, the inferior talent on the field was evident versus the Falcons. Drew Stanton has struggled mightily his past two games -- three if you want to include a win over the Lions in Week 11 -- but there are injury woes up and down the roster. In addition to the host of starters who have been shelved this season, Jared Veldheer, Tyrann Mathieu, Paul Fanaika, and Andre Ellington were all banged up in Sunday's loss to Atlanta. Mathieu's thumb injury is a real killer since he was having an All-Pro-type campaign prior to it.

Arizona hopes to get Larry Fitzgerald back on the field Sunday and linebacker Matt Shaughnessy is expected to play, but this isn't the same Cardinals team we were watching the first ten weeks of the season.

The remainder of the schedule is a brutal one for Arizona. After the Chiefs, they go to St. Louis, host Seattle, and end at San Francisco. Arizona can't afford to drop this one at home.

As for Kansas City, they're suddenly a team that is on the outside of the playoff picture looking in, after dropping two straight. The Chiefs, with a glut of 7-5 teams in the AFC, can't afford a loss, either. After Sunday, they face Oakland, Pittsburgh, and San Diego. Win these four, and Kansas City should be in the playoffs.