Through four games, the 1-3 Arizona Cardinals have surrendered an average of 29.3 points per game to opponents. That's currently the fourth-most points surrendered in the league, behind only the New Orleans Saints, Detroit Lions, and Washington Commanders.
Arizona's Week 5 matchup against Detroit, by all accounts, should be a shootout, which unfortunately plays to the Lions' favor considering their offense is much more established.
After pulling off the biggest upset of Week 1 against the Los Angeles Chargers, the Cardinals are predictably trending in the wrong direction. Say what you will about the obvious need for a quarterback upgrade over stopgap Jacoby Brissett, but this rebuilding team won't be close to .500 until they address their defense.
Cardinals' rebuild needs a serious defensive upgrade
The Cardinals are suddenly at risk of giving up four consecutive 30-plus-point games to opponents. Considering the New York Giants, with inconsistent backup quarterback James Winston, just beat them 36-24, there's not much reason for optimism matched up against what remains an elite Lions offense.
If that is the case, it should put defensive coordinator Nick Rallis' job in jeopardy.
At the very least, the Cardinals need to be spending the remainder of the season evaluating whether he's truly the right fit to guide the defensive side of the ball throughout this rebuild.
Admittedly, Rallis hasn't been dealt a great hand in terms of roster construction. Even with the Cardinals' polarizing decision to retain veterans such as Josh Sweat and Budda Baker up until this point, there are serious flaws in this defense. That said, Rallis hasn't done a good enough job in masking those flaws or even finding the best schemes to cover their weaknesses.
It remains to be seen if Rallis is actually on the hot seat in The Valley, but he certainly should be.
The Week 1 win over Los Angeles looks far less impressive in retrospect, with Justin Herbert off to a rough start with new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel. Since then, there haven't been enough promising signs on that side of the ball for Arizona to feel comfortable moving forward with Rallis.
Their rebuild took such a promising step in the right direction by landing Mike LaFleur, who already looks like the right fit as head coach just a few games into the season. But the excitement surrounding the new LaFleur era has primarily been on the offensive side of the ball and the schemes he brings with him from the Sean McVay coaching tree.
The Cardinals have serious problems to clean up on defense, and their job won't get any easier in Week 5 against the Lions. If this troubling defensive trend continues, one has to wonder if Rallis is truly the right fit for this defense going forward.
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