The season started out promising enough for the Arizona Cardinals defense under new HC Jonathan Gannon and new DC Nick Rallis. In Week 1, the feisty-looking unit held the Washington Commanders to just 248 yards of offense, forced three turnovers, and racked up six sacks. Early returns on the new-look defense staff were encouraging.
But, as we found out, the Commanders weren’t a very good football team… and the Cardinals defense was a pretty hapless unit. The defense has basically been a sieve except for a few games here and there: we somehow held Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens in check in a Week 8 loss, harassed Desmond Ridder and the Atlanta Falcons in Week 10, and shut down the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 13 (aided, of course, but weather, delays, and Mitch Trubisky).