Arizona Cardinals defense becoming force to be reckoned with

This year’s version of the Arizona Cardinals defense is dramatically improved from the unit that took to the field in 2019

Back in week four, the Arizona Cardinals defense took an ugly turn for the worse. After an impressive start to the 2020 campaign, coordinator Vance Joseph‘s unit was sliced and diced by a mediocre Carolina Panthers offense. It was an awful effort that harkened back to the group of Cards defenders that struggled so often a year ago.

Now, three weeks later, Arizona has dramatically turned things around on the defensive side of the ball. Heading into their nationally-televised clash with the Seattle Seahawks, Joseph is presiding over a crew that is giving up just 18.7 points per game. Only one team in the entire league, the Baltimore Ravens (17.3 ppg), has given up less than the Cardinals.

That’s one heck of an improvement from what the Cards defense allowed in 2019. Last fall, Joseph’s contingent gave up 402.0 yards per contest, which happened to be the most in pro football. Arizona was torched for a whopping 27.6 points per matchup as well, which put an immense amount of pressure on the squad’s “Air Raid” scoring attack.

The heart and soul of the Cardinals defense is Budda Baker, the fourth-year safety out of the University of Washington. Coincidentally, the two-time Pro Bowler was not on the field during the club’s demoralizing defeat to the Panthers. Baker was sidelined that weekend after he underwent surgery to repair a torn UCL in his right thumb.

Arizona’s pass-rush took a major hit back in week three, when sack artist Chandler Jones was lost for a season with a torn bicep. Despite the loss, Big Red has still managed to register 17 sacks, the sixth-most in the NFL through six weeks. To help replace Jones, general manager Steve Keim went out and acquired former Card Markus Golden for a sixth-round selection in the 2021 draft.

Kudos to Joseph and his defensive assistants for the coaching job they have done thus far in 2020. Last Monday night’s destruction of the Dallas Cowboys offense was downright masterful. More performances like that will help the Cardinals get back to the postseason when the current schedule comes to a close.