Arizona Cardinals, Not Detroit Lions, Create Pass Rush
By Scott Allen
The Arizona Cardinals managed four sacks of the Detroit Lions on Sunday
Much was made, including from yours truly, about the Detroit Lions pass rush coming into Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. Coming into the game, the Lions had sacked their opponents 26 times. You had to expect a few more coming Sunday, especially given that the Cardinals were now going with Drew Stanton. Not so fast.
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The Lions did not record a single sack of the Cardinals on Sunday. What a testament to the pass protection of the Cardinals offensive line. It is also a testament to Stanton. There were a few sacks he avoided on his own. He read blitzes well.
In contrast, the Cardinals defensive line was able to come up with four sacks of Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford on Sunday in the Cardinals 14-6 victory. They had six last week in the victory over the St. Louis Rams. That gives them 10 over the last two games. They only had eight sacks over the first eight games.
The pass rush was one of the areas the Cardinals needed to improve on. Up until two weeks ago, they had generated a decent pass rush here and there but only managed to tackle the quarterback with the ball behind the line of scrimmage eight times.
Today, linebacker Alex Okafor had two of the four sacks. Defensive tackle Frostee Rucker and cornerback Jerraud Powers had the other two sacks. They’ve found their pass rush at the right time as the Cardinals move now to 9-1 on the season.