Cardinals Mailbag: Should Arizona Blitz Drew Lock? Plus, a Beat Writer's Confession

ARIZONA — It's nearly time for the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks to clash in Week 2.

The Cardinals are rocking their gorgeous rivalry (and some would say tortilla) uniforms this week in their home opener at State Farm Stadium. Starting 2-0 would be massive for Arizona.

Thanks to all of your questions this week. Hopefully I answered them well.

How much of the Cardinals' defensive success can be attributed to Nick Rallis and his scheme/player calling compared to the defense just being healthy? - Mando

Mando, I'm not sure if you've seen Hannah Montana, but you really need the best of both worlds.

The best defenses, as Arizona's about to see on Sunday, are a blend of both strong scheme and player execution. The Cardinals had neither last year, especially to your point about health.

It's hard for people to not overreact to Week 1, but the Cardinals' defense played well against a potentially potent offense. I'm intrigued to see how that carries over — but the best ability is availability, and Arizona has a clean slate in that regard.

Also, Rallis appears to be taking a different route to success this season without Jonathan Gannon in the picture. We'll see if his high Cover 6 usage continues.

To really answer your question Mando, it's hard to tell. I'd lean more towards health at the moment since this is nearly the same unit as a year ago.

Do you expect for Mike LaFleur to make adjustments for this game and have different playmakers get the lion's share of touches compared to last week? MHJ needs a big game to get fans back on his side - StephenBSmith

Stephen, I'm here to tell you as long as the Cardinals are finding offensive success and winning, they couldn't give a you-know-what about the fans' opinions — respectfully.

The Cardinals would love to see Harrison emerge with a massive game. Heck, they'd love to see everybody make waves in this game. However, as previously discussed, the ball will find the open receiver.

If that's Harrison? Perfect. If that's somebody else (like Bourne last week) then so be it. They just want to move the ball and score points, which I heard is a good thing to do.

To your point, Stephen, I wouldn't be surprised if Harrison's involved a bit more earlier. Yet if Harrison's going to get the defensive respect he did last week, Arizona's not going to force it just for the sake of wanting to make Cardinals fans happy.

Give me a name for Arizona that nobody is talking about that can make a splash play or two to get a win this week - Bryan

Bryan, it's hard to pick a name nobody is really talking about after this past week where it truly was a group effort, but I'll try to find some names.

This is a dart throw, but if he's active, I think Andrew Billings can be a fun gap-plugger along the defensive line. He's a mammoth of a person and can free up rushing lanes for others to get in the backfield. Splashy? Not quite, but he can make a difference.

Offensively, the team essentially has their playmakers set up. However, I am curious to see if Elijah Wilkinson can step up to the plate after having a rough outing at right tackle last week.

Would you blitz the s-- out of Drew Lock? - Edin

Edin, I'm naturally an aggressive defensive play-caller in video games like Madden or College Football. Maybe I'm not Brian Flores, but I'll dial up the pressure more times than not.

The Cardinals under Rallis don't inherently blitz a lot. They ranked near the middle of the pack last season in blitz percentage while Rallis sent pressure the second-fewest times last week.

The allure of doing so against Lock, a backup who hasn't started in quite some time, is real here. With weapons such as Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp at receiver, forcing quick throws and decisions isn't such a bad idea.

I personally would try to get after Lock, especially with the lack of pass rush up front.

Granted it was just Week 1 but do you feel a Mike/Jacoby-led team gives us a greater shot of getting the Seattle problem back on track since the BA/Palmer era? - Dre

Dre, the Cardinals last beat the Seahawks on Nov. 21, 2021. That's nine straight matchups. Only two players on this current roster were suiting up for Arizona on that day: James Conner (currently on IR) and Budda Baker.

I do think Brissett's 2025 season was overblown with his record. While he's not a guy capable of willing a team to victory, he's a strong, tough veteran quarterback capable of spreading the ball. Under LaFleur, that's all you can ask for in a talented Cardinals offense.

I do think LaFleur-Brissett pairing is the best pairing Arizona's had in years, all things considered. That's more so a reflection on LaFleur's offense compared to Petzing and Kingsbury.

It's Week 1. Take everything with a grain of salt. But the signs are clearly there that this Cardinals offense can be strong, and LaFleur's no stranger to Seattle thanks to his last two years game-planning for Macdonald's defense.

Will Simi Fehoko see a play or two on offense? - Anthony

Anthony, he played six offensive snaps last Sunday, and that's probably the number to expect moving forward. There's just too much talent ahead of him on the WR depth chart while he's carving out a role as a crucial special teams player.

I will say, the Cardinals went 11 (3 WR) personnel a bit more than I had anticipated last week.

On a scale of 1-10, how big of a Cardinals fan are you? How long, and how did you get to become a fan? Just curious where your great coverage is coming from... - Scott

Scott, I greatly appreciate the kind words. Working in this field has been a dream of mine since high school, and I'm incredibly fortunate to have lived that dream.

I'm one of the many transplants in Arizona — I moved here in March of 2012 from Kentucky while previously living in Ohio and Pennsylvania, which leads to my point: I'm actually not a Cardinals fan, nor have I ever been.

Since I'm from Pittsburgh, you can probably guess what team I grew up rooting for. Being a Steelers fan is practically a religion in those parts. That's where my love for football came from.

However, I do find myself in an interesting spot because I'm genuinely not a fan of any NFL team, which is odd given how much I love the sport.

For the last five years, I've spent every single day covering the Cardinals. This is my livelihood, and I want to be the absolute best beat writer I can be. My attention is fully on this team, and as such, I really haven't watched or cheered for the Steelers since I began. It's hard to love a team that you genuinely don't follow and haven't for quite some time.

On the flip side, I don't quite "root" for the Cardinals, either. Is my job easier when they win? Absolutely. I want to cover a good and fun football team. I want to be able to say I covered the Cardinals through the good and bad times. Hopefully good times are coming.

Naturally, I do find myself rooting for players to do well based off individual relationships. Being in this seat, you really get a feel for how solid some of these players are on and off the field. You root for them to do well because you know the person, and it's cool to see people do well in life.

I'd love to cover a Super Bowl at some point for the Cardinals. I want the team to do well, but I'm also not actively rooting for them and my emotions don't sway based off a win or loss. All of my fandom has shifted to soccer now (I'm a massive FC Barcelona fan, to put it lightly).

So, Scott, I'd love for the Cardinals to go undefeated — but I don't own a single Cardinals clothing item and I've never cheered for them. As long as I'm in a press box and want to cover the team fairly and properly, I don't think that's going to change.

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