Arizona Cardinals: Pass rush will be the X-Factor in Week 4
By Sion Fawkes
The Arizona Cardinals are facing one of the worst quarterbacks in football this week when they travel to face the Carolina Panthers.
The Arizona Cardinals have an opportunity to pull off a statement win as they travel to the east coast to face the biggest thorn in their side, the Carolina Panthers. But these aren’t the same old Panthers, who have become a team led by two former first round busts in Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold.
Maybe Josh Rosen was onto something when he became infamous for his nine mistakes quip during that draft. Unfortunately, the Cardinals whiffed on him too. Anyway, with such a fringe starter at quarterback, the Cardinals pass rush has an opportunity to take over this game.
The Arizona Cardinals pass rush can overwhelm Mayfield
Markus Golden was supposed to be the new undisputed leader on the Arizona Cardinals pass rush. Instead, he’s been nothing but a bust over the first three weeks of the 2022 season. But that can change on Sunday.
While Mayfield has had an ample 2.5 seconds of pocket time this season and faced pressure just 21.9% of the time, he looks like a deer in the headlights more often than not. Mayfield, despite being hurried just eight times and taking 21 total pressures, has been sacked nine times, on pace for a career high of 51.
This shows us that Mayfield holds onto the ball way too long, and for the Cardinals, this is a game where the pass rush can finally get to the quarterback. And it’s not like the pass rush has been bleak – their 17.4% hurry percentage is second in the NFL next to Chicago. They are sixth in quarterback knockdowns, and fifth in knockdown percentage.
3 advantages the Cardinals have over the Panthers. light. Related Story
The Cardinals are also sixth in pressures and fifth in pressure percentage. However, they rank last in the league with just two sacks, tied with the Las Vegas Raiders. Now that they are facing a quarterback in Mayfield who has notoriously struggled over the first three weeks of the season, they can play a pivotal role in helping the Arizona Cardinals take this one.
(Statistics provided by Pro-Football-Reference)