What a dominant defensive performance for the Arizona Cardinals in week one against what was supposed to be one of the best offenses in the NFL.
Time will tell which side is better, but for one week there was no doubt, the Cardinals defense was legit against the Tennessee Titans.
What did the snap counts look like?
Let’s take a look.
Jordan Hicks – 61 snaps (95%)
Budda Baker – 61 snaps (95%)
Isaiah Simmons – 58 (91%)
Byron Murphy Jr. – 58 (91%)
Marco Wilson – 58 (91%)
I tried to tell people, part of the issue that came up for a recently retired cornerback was the emergence of the rookie Marco Wilson. The team loved him and what he brought. Against one of the best receiving corps in the NFL he had a great first game.
Jalen Thompson – 54 (84%)
Robert Alford – 49 (77%)
Chandler Jones – 48 (75%)
J.J. Watt – 46 (72%)
Markus Golden – 45 (70%)
That is an ideal look at how the Cardinals deploy their pass rushers. Obviously ideal being the key term, meaning they are ahead and don’t need to rely on Jones and Watt.
Also, notice Thompson’s numbers and then notice Simmons getting snaps up front and in the back of the defense.
Zach Allen – 36 (56%)
Zaven Collins – 22 (34%)
Rashard Lawrence – 21 (33%)
Leki Fotu – 17 (27%)
Corey Peters – 15 (23%)
Devon Kennard – 13 (20%)
Michael Dogbe – 13 (20%)
Kylie Fitts – 10 (16%)
Tanner Vallejo – 6 (9%)
Victor Dimukeje – 4 (6%)
Charles Washington – 3 (5%)
Deionte Thompson – 3 (5%)
Antonio Hamilton – 3 (5%)
Amazing to see how the Cardinals deployed their front five (three down lineman and two outside rushers). Only J.J. Watt played over 60% snaps and only Watt and Allen were over 35% of the snaps.
Wonder if this is what we see going forward in ideal scenarios.
What do you think?