5 Advanced Stats Reveal the Real Story of Cardinals' Week 1 Upset

ARIZONA — The Arizona Cardinals won their season opener in Los Angeles, and now, all eyes look ahead to a daunting home opener that will welcome the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks to State Farm Stadium.

Box scores, unfortunately, will only tell a small part of the story.

These five stats lay out a bigger picture of how the Cardinals won against the Chargers, and what could be in store ahead:

Jacoby Brissett's Time to Throw: 2.56 Seconds

Arizona Cardinals QB JAcoby Brisset — Sep 13, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7) throws a pass against the Los Angeles Chargers during the first quarter at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Brissett's time to throw was the second lowest out of all quarterbacks on Sunday, trailing just Joe Burrow. The 2.56 second mark was also tied with Jordan Love, who was blitzed on 80% of snaps.

What's to make of this? This could be a mix of Brissett being quick through his progressions and a lack of protecting, which we'll get into here in a second. This also may have been intentional in the game plan by head coach Mike LaFleur.

“Yeah, I thought [QB] Jacoby [Brissett] did a heck of a job on getting the ball out, when they were starting to bring some pressure and stuff like that," LaFleur said post-game.

Chargers defensive coordinator Chris O'Leary blitzed on only 20% of snaps, so it's not as if Brissett was under fire the entire game like Love was.

Still, it's interesting Brissett had the ball out nearly faster than everybody in the NFL on Sunday.

Arizona's Pass Block Win Rate: 22%

This may be a piece to that puzzle we just talked about.

The Cardinals' pass block win rate of 22% ranked second-worst in the league according to ESPN. They only ranked ahead of the Green Bay Packers at 9%.

Brissett was sacked just once on the afternoon while he was hurried on just 7.7% of plays, which ranked dead middle of the league after Week 1. While Chargers defenders didn't quite get home all day, advanced analytics clearly indicate the Cardinals' offensive line was worrisome.

Paris Johnson finished with a 79.3 grade on Pro Football Focus while none of the other four Cardinals starting offensive linemen finished above 65.

This is certainly something to watch moving forward.

13 Personnel Usage: 22.4%

Arizona Cardinals TE Trey McBrid — Sep 13, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride (85) celebrates after catching a touchdown against the Los Angeles Chargers during the fourth quarter at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

One of the main expectations around the Cardinals under LaFleur was a heavy dose of 13 personnel thanks to his prior team (Rams) using it at eye-opening rates last season. In Week 1, Arizona was one of five NFL teams to use three tight end packages at a rate of 20% or higher.

For those curious, the Bills (50%) and Rams (40%) led the way.

This number could jump when tight end Tip Reiman is eventually off injured reserve, as he's an excellent run blocker and could elevate Arizona's rushing attack to new heights. However, the fact that the Cardinals are still using the packaging at such high rates without a key piece is encouraging.

Nick Rallis' Blitz Rate: 13.7%

Arizona Cardinals DC Nick Ralli — Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Nick Rallis speaks with the media during training camp at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, on July 25, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Rallis' blitz rate on Sunday was the second-lowest across the league — trailing only Patrick Graham's 10.5% rate.

The fact that Arizona was able to hold the Chargers to 14 points and sack Herbert three times without being fully aggressive is telling of a few things.

The Cardinals were able to execute their bend but don't break defense incredibly after L.A.'s opening drive. Arizona also was more than content to only rush four players and drop seven more into coverage.

Whether that translates over the next few weeks remains to be seen, though the Cardinals' defense was impactful while being conservative.

Advantage in Possession: 15:02

Arizona Cardinals RB Jeremiyah Lov — Sep 13, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7) hands off to running back Jeremiyah Love (4) against the Los Angeles Chargers during the first quarter at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Part of keeping the Chargers' offense to just 14 points was they simply didn't have the ball a lot.

Los Angeles trailed the possession game by a whopping 15 minutes to Arizona. Yes, the Cardinals had the ball for an entire quarter's worth of play over the Chargers.

That speaks to Arizona's ability to continually move the chains while churning clock late in the game. When the Cardinals needed to squeeze some minutes out of their final possessions, they were able to hand the ball off and kept the clock ticking.

It's awfully hard for Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel to scheme up plays if his quarterback's sitting on the sideline for long durations of time.

LaFleur's offense looks night and day different from the 2025 Cardinals that fans grew so tired of seeing. Complementary football is demanded if you're going to win at the NFL level, and the saying of "the best defense is a good option" very much was true at SoFi Stadium.

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