Arizona Cardinals Defense Key to Victory Over San Francisco 49’ers
By Scott Allen
Despite the 23-9 loss on November 20th to the San Francisco 49’ers, the Arizona Cardinals defense played fairly well. Unfortunately they were left with poor field position to work with most of the game, especially in the first half when the Cards held the Niners to six field goal attempts, making just three of them. If not for a poor offensive showing, the Cards might have been right there with a chance to win.
Cards quarterback John Skelton’s performance left a lot to be desired, so it sort of overshadowed the defensive effort, that’s how bad the offense was. The only offensive touchdown was on a tipped/lucky catch by Larry Fitzgerald. The one guy the Cards will need to focus on slowing down though is Michael Crabtree. He had 130 receiving yards in that last game.
Daryl Washington had an excellent interception in the end zone of Niners quarterback Alex Smith. At the time, it was only Smith’s third interception of the season and this one came in the red zone on a scoring opportunity. Washington has really come into his own this season. Another guy on the rise is Sam Acho.
Acho has steadily improved and had his named called more and more over the past couple of months. He has helped this defense make a name for itself. Combined with the recent efforts of Calais Campbell, Patrick Peterson, and Rashad Johnson, this defense is stepping up at the right time. Now its a matter of stepping it up against a very good team. A solid defensive effort on Sunday and the Cards could find themselves on the winning end of things.
Follow raisingzona.com on Twitter