Cardinals Coach Mike LaFleur Has Blunt Message on Preseason Stats

ARIZONA — You can hang the banners, as the Arizona Cardinals' offense put up some of the best statistical numbers during exhibition play.

You can also take those down, as the Cardinals' defense was one of the worst units in the league.

Arizona's offense ranked at the top of the list in terms of yards per game — all of total, rushing and passing. They averaged just a shade under 28 points per game as well.

Their defense left much to be desired, however. The Cardinals finished 22nd in overall yards allowed with the 27th-ranked run defense, leaving fans with another dash of pessimism entering the regular season.

How much stock does a guy like Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur put into these numbers?

"Zero," he said.

That's a fairly expected answer from LaFleur, for a few reasons. Preseason games ultimately don't matter for the season, as wins and losses carry no weight. Now, records are once again reset — and this time it's for real.

Teams looking to evaluate players but also not wanting to give too much of their scheme/system away often roll out the most vanilla of looks. That makes execution easier, and thus offensive numbers throughout the league are amplified.

LaFleur, asked to expand from his one-word answer, touched on just that:

"These defenses are at such a disadvantage in the preseason. You don't show absolutely anything. I'm not covering for anything. No matter who gets thrown out there, you want them to just go execute fundamentally and just play the call and do the best you can within the call, but it's a pretty simple deal from an offensive standpoint when you know they're doing this or that.

"It's when you don't know if they're doing this, that, the other, and you know everything in between. That's when it gets tough. And what's tough on a defense and a defensive coordinator and a defensive scheme is what's that fine balance between allowing our guys to go play fast, but also making it so we as offensive guys don't know what's coming? Unless you're just absolutely the most loaded defense ever, then sometimes you can just run a few calls and they just happen to be better than you, and that kind of is what it is.

"But no, there's nothing that I put into numbers or any of that kind of stuff. I just want to see our guys execute the call. I want to see us operate, and I want to see our play style. I thought we operated well, not well enough. I thought our play style was pretty good. There's room for improvement right there, and I thought by the player, by the position, there was some good execution. There was a lot to clean up."

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