Moore: Vance Joseph's defense has saved the Arizona Cardinals

How much fun has it been to watch this Cardinals defense under Vance Joseph?

It’s not something that’s going to show up in the stats. The Cardinals aren’t flying that high on too many traditional metrics like yards or points allowed per game, but from watching the games it becomes clear that the only reason this season hasn’t been a failure of Wilksian proportions has been VJ’s Juice Crew.

'Stop what they do best'

They key has been simplifying the game.

“We have a plan to stop what they do best and live with the rest,” Joseph said ahead of the game at Minnesota.

That means holding Davante Adams to 12 yards in Las Vegas.

Limiting Cooper Kupp to 44 yards.

And holding DK Metcalfe to 34 yards in Seattle.

(Nobody tell Vikings offensive coordinator Wes Phillips or star receiver Justin Jefferson.)

We’ll have plenty of time for discussion later about VJ getting a head coaching job or wondering what might happen if he were in Kliff Kingsbury’s seat with a different offensive coordinator.

For now, let’s just enjoy a defense that revels in playing big at big moments.

“(We try to) make our plays be great on third down and great in the red zone,” he said.

It’s a smart strategy to simplify a game that has been so heavily slanted toward passing attacks in recent years.

You can try to dominate every play, or you can simply do your job and show up when it matters most.

That certainly is how it went against New Orleans.

Antonio Hamilton snagged an interception on third-and-goal from the Arizona 8-yard line. And the Isaiah Simmons interception return for a touchdown was on third-and-10.

The approach helps in other ways, too.

Think about it. JJ Watt wears his age on his jersey, and he’s still out there getting it done every week with big plays that don’t always end up in sacks. It’s like he’s just out going 75 percent until third-and-whatever when he flips a switch and ragdolls some poor unsuspecting guard or tackle into a massive disruption of the backfield.

Or Byron Murphy. The guy is jumping at the chance to check No.1 receivers every week, and he’s playing well enough that we don’t really miss Patrick Peterson the way it might have seemed earlier in Murphy’s career.

'We can get better'

Joseph, for what it’s worth, thinks his unit can get better. He didn’t like the big plays Arizona gave up against New Orleans, including a 64-yard pass play to Kevin White that set up a Saints second quarter touchdown, and a 41-yard reception from Chris Olave that set up a third-quarter field goal. (“We had a spirited meeting Friday morning,” he said. He said later, “We have a higher standard than that.”)

“(We can get) a lot better,” he said. “A lot better.”

Here’s hoping they don’t have to. The Arizona defense saved the game against Las Vegas, thanks to a Byron Murphy score in overtime, and the two interceptions returned for touchdowns accounted for the win over New Orleans.

Joseph’s side of the ball also kept Arizona close against the Seahawks, Eagles and Rams. Arizona’s offense averaged just 13 points in those three games, an incompetent showing that has doomed the Cardinals to a middle-of-the-pack 3-4 record.

Whether the Arizona defense improves to get to the quarterback more or give up fewer long drives is an open question.

What’s not up for debate is that this side of the ball has carried the team, and thanks to formations that include only one or two down linemen or watching a 6-4 middle linebacker get out in pass coverage or seeing guys aggressively try to cause fumbles on routine tackles, it’s been a lot of fun to watch.

Reach Moore at gmoore@azcentral.com or 602-444-2236. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @SayingMoore.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Moore: Vance Joseph's defense has saved the Arizona Cardinals' season