Defensive end has breakout game for the Arizona Cardinals

Arizona Cardinals defender Zach Allen turned in the best performance of his career last Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles

Since he was drafted back in 2019, defensive end Zach Allen’s time with the Arizona Cardinals has been far from impressive. A neck injury cut short the third-round draft pick’s rookie season after just four games. Allen’s first year in the league consisted of a mere eight tackles, with no quarterback sacks to speak of for the young pro.

Allen’s sophomore campaign with the Cards didn’t start off much better. Through his first 10 appearances for the squad in 2020, the 23-year old had amassed just 17 tackles, one sack and one pass breakup for Big Red. And then last Sunday happened.

During Arizona’s 33-26 victory at home against the Philadelphia Eagles, Allen was nothing short of spectacular. The 6’4, 280 pounder was credited with a game-high 11 tackles, and contributed a sack and a pass defensed for the Cardinals as well. There may have been a reason for Allen’s sudden spike in production, however.

The former Boston College product was on the field for 74 plays, an impressive 89% of the Cards defensive snaps. That number was the most for Allen since September 8th of ’19, his first game with the team. During that matchup with the Detroit Lions, Allen registered three solo tackles and three quarterback hits for the Redbirds.

Arizona had high hopes for Allen when they selected him on day two of last year’s draft. When general manager Steve Keim called the youngster to tell him he was the choice, Allen responded by saying he was coming to the desert to “(Expletive) some people up”. It was then that the Cardinals realized that they were not only getting a talented individual, but an intense one as well.

Last weekend, Allen finally delivered the breakout performance that the Cards were waiting for. The organization and it’s fans can only hope that there will be many more to come.