Cardinals Hope to Maintain High Defensive Standards
Arizona Cardinals DC Vance Joseph never lets himself or his defense get too high or too low.
Take Arizona's win last week on Thursday Night Football for example: The Cardinals intercepted passes on back to back drives in the second quarter, both of which were returned for touchdowns. Marco Wilson and Isaiah Simmons reached paydirt for Arizona.
Antonio Hamilton intercepted a pass in the red zone which also prevented the Saints from going up two scores early in the first quarter, perhaps overlooked with two passes taken back to the house later on.
Even when praising the big plays for Arizona's defense, Joseph was adamant things still needed fixing.
"Absolutely, that was fun to see, especially for Marco [Wilson] and Isaiah [Simmons] and Ham [Antonio Hamilton]. Those three guys have worked hard all year and especially Marco and Isaiah. To watch them make those big-time plays was fun to see for our defense," Joseph told reporters on Thursday.
"Obviously [our play] wasn't perfect. I thought the standard dipped a little as far as the three big plays we gave up which led to points."
The Cardinals' defense has been the team's strength in recent weeks, picking up play since the second half of their win in Week 2 against Las Vegas. Last week was the first time since the season opener where Arizona allowed over 23 points.
Garbage time points were indeed accrued, but a football game is 60 minutes, and the Saints still finished only down by a possession despite the Cardinals dropping 42 points.
Arizona's defense, at all levels, is playing well. How much better can they be?
"A lot better, a lot better. Even last Thursday to make those three big plays, that was fun to watch. But to give up those three big plays that we gave up that led to 17 points, we don't like that," said Joseph.
"Those three plays were the biggest plays we've had all year. 60+, 40+, 50+, that's not good defense. Friday morning we had a spirited meeting. They were a little shocked of my attitude on Friday morning, but the standard did dip. Making those plays was obviously good for our football team. But given up three explosive passes that lead to points was not good for us.
"So that's got to stop. The guys know that. They weren't happy after the game by any means, we have a higher standard than that."
Through seven weeks of football, the Cardinals are tied for third in the NFL for turnover differential with +5 and a total of ten takeaways on the defensive side of the ball. While a banged up secondary has led to low rankings in pass defense, Arizona's rush defense ranks No. 6 in the league in yards per game on the ground with 101.1.
After a rough start, the Cardinals have seemingly played better by the week. Although off to a good start, Joseph knows this unit has plenty of strides left before anybody in the facility is satisfied.
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