Just how bad was the Cardinals’ pass defense in 2019?
The Arizona Cardinals were bad on defense last season, especially against the pass. There are a number of reasons for that, as they were decimated by injuries on the defensive line, they struggled at one inside linebacker position, were missing their two best cornerbacks for much of the season and had to rely on a rookie selected in the supplemental draft to play one of the safety positions.
They had the worst statistical pass defense in the league, but look at this stat line and imagine if these stats were one quarterback.
These are the numbers the Cardinals gave up:
70.1% completion percentage, 4,510 passing yards, 38 touchdowns and seven interceptions — passer rating of 109.9
A single player putting up those numbers in a season probably wins the MVP. But that was not one player. It was all the quarterbacks combined who played the Cardinals. Those are prime Drew Brees numbers.
The most passing yards allowed by an NFL team is 4,541. The most touchdown passes allowed in a season is 40. The Cardinals were awful close to both of those stats.
Numbers like that are career years for even the best quarterbacks in history. For reference, the all-time record in a career for passer rating is Aaron Rodgers’ 102.4. The single-season record is 122.5, also set by Rodgers.
It is like the Cardinals turned every quarterback to an MVP or Hall of Fame player.
2020 has to be better, right?
Instead of Tramaine Brock, Byron Murphy and Chris Jones at cornerback, it will be Patrick Peterson, Robert Alford and Murphy. They believe in Jalen Thompson and Budda Baker. They added talent to the defensive line and linebacking corps.
They were a historically bad pass defense.
In 2020, they don’t have to go from worst to first statistically. But with their upgrades, they should be around the middle of the pack, and if that is the case, the Cardinals could be better than some will expect.
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