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Cardinals’ defense doesn’t break in win over Chargers

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GLENDALE — Los Angeles quarterback Justin Herbert threw for 349 yards on Monday Night Football, and yet, the Arizona Cardinals kept the Chargers out of the end zone entirely in a 17-15 win.

The Chargers settled for five Cameron Dicker field goals and only managed one red zone trip all night, as the Cardinals effectively stymied the run game and made key plays to end drives.

“I feel like we had a great defensive performance,” linebacker Kyzir White said. “Still can be a lot better, but we played bend but don’t break defense tonight, and we came out with the victory. Can’t be mad about that.”

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The Chargers entered Monday with one of the league’s highest run percentages, while Arizona had allowed the third-most rushing yards per game in the NFL (153).

The Cardinals held the Chargers to 59 rushing yards on 22 carries for an average of 2.7, their best statistical effort against the run since Week 2 against the Rams.

“They’ve been having a lot of success, J.K. Dobbins is a great back, so it definitely felt good that we held them under 60 yards, something like that,” White said. “We just got to keep building on it.”

Cardinals’ defense made key plays from the jump on Monday vs. Chargers

The Chargers threatened to find paydirt on their opening possession before cornerback Starling Thomas V knocked a touchdown away. Herbert found Jalen Reagor open inside the 10-yard line, but as Reagor turned to run in, Thomas punched the ball away. It skipped out of bounds in the end zone for a touchback.

Herbert had a lot of time and Reagor found an opening in the secondary, but Thomas making up for it with the takeaway was one of many key moments for this defense in its own territory.

Herbert was sacked three times in Cardinals territory, including on the final offensive play of the first half by practice squad promotion Ben Stille to force a field goal going into the break. Fellow defensive lineman Dante Stills got to Herbert on the Arizona 9-yard line in the third quarter, and cornerback Garrett Williams broke up Herbert’s next pass to bring the field-goal unit back on.

By limiting the run game — Dobbins ran for 40 yards on 14 carries — the Cardinals forced a banged-up Chargers squad of pass catchers to make plays, and late in the game, they struggled to do so.

“I thought we did a really good job in the run game,” head coach Jonathan Gannon said. “Then we had some timely pressures. We sacked them a couple times. That third-down stop in the red zone, I thought the coverage was good down there. I liked the calls by (defensive coordinator Nick Rallis), held them to field goals. Those are some big-time plays, keep points off the board. We knew it was going to be a game like that, they don’t give up a lot of points. That’s kind of where it was today.”

Gannon said the run success stemmed from correct positioning, good technique plus playing with a high motor and violence.

He wants to see improvement in passing downs, having defenders win their leverages to avoid long drives and scoring chances. Herbert found a lot of success throwing the ball toward the sidelines on out-routes.

The Arizona offense was far from high-flying, but a crucial performance from James Conner (152 total yards) and a 44-yard touchdown run from Kyler Murray helped the unit push across just enough points with the defense holding firm.

Consistency was the goal preached all week by the Cardinals who look for their first winning streak of the season.

Building off Monday will be the challenge for a young defense battling injuries that has had its ups and downs all season.

“Just keep reminding each other, keep working hard at practice, keep going the extra mile, watch more film, keep taking care of your body. We’re getting later and later on in the season, and just not get complacent,” White said.