How the Arizona Cardinals Defense Turned Cowboys Stars into Afterthoughts

The defensive clamp placed on the Dallas Cowboys Sunday by the Arizona Cardinals during a 28-17 win will come with an asterisk for most. An asterisk named Brandon Weeden.

Regardless of who was under center, we still saw a smothering performance from the Cardinals secondary. It was able to key on wide receiver Dez Bryant while the front seven repeatedly stuffed running back DeMarco Murray. A nearly complete shutdown resulted, with two star offensive players extremely limited or, in Bryant's case, almost erased.

Let's get this out of the way off the top, though: Weeden was awful in relief of injured starting quarterback Tony Romo.

During even his best moments—fleeting as they were—Weeden only approached adequate. He completed 54.4 percent of his passes at a pace of 5.5 yards per attempt with two interceptions (one in the red zone), and 81 of his 183 total passing yards came during a meaningless garbage-time touchdown drive.

But when a receiver is on a certain plateau with few others and has as much talent as Bryant, he should be able to overcome quarterback inadequacies. His numbers may still be better with balls that are placed accurately more often or thrown deeper, but Bryant should be able to do what’s necessary—using speed, physicality, precision route running and leaping ability—to get open and haul in passes.

We saw that with Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon in 2013 when Weeden was delivering ducks his way. Gordon led the league with 1,646 receiving yards despite missing two games due to a suspension. In three of the 14 games when he did play, Weeden was his quarterback. Gordon's production during those weeks? He averaged 91 yards per game at a pace of 19.5 per catch.

Or we can look to the sideline opposite the Cowboys in Week 8.

Washington Redskins wide receiver DeSean Jackson finished with 136 yards on six catches as his team upset Dallas. Colt McCoy was Jackson's quarterback—the same Colt McCoy who was making his first start since 2011. McCoy admitted to wearing a layer of rust for much of the first half while underthrowing some passes and spraying others. But Jackson's speed and athleticism was more than enough to support his quarterback.

Bryant couldn't elevate his quarterback to McCoy's level of respectability. That's partly a statement on his effectiveness, but mostly, it shows just how tight the Cardinals had their defensive clamp cranked.

Holding Bryant and fellow wide receiver Terrance Williams to a combined four receptions for 34 yards required a monumental effort even with Weeden chucking. Combined, those two were averaging 128.4 receiving yards per game prior to Sunday.

The first catch by a Cowboys wide receiver didn't come until the 10:52 mark of the third quarter, and Bryant's first of two receptions didn't arrive until 1:55 was remaining in the fourth. He came that close to breaking a streak of 56 straight games with at least one catch.

That sort of blanking goes beyond the quality of the opposing quarterback and instead speaks to the quality of the defense.

	Receiving yards	Receptions	Yards per catch
Week 9 vs. Cardinals	15	2	7.5
Averages before Week 9	77	6	12.9

When looking behind those numbers and to the tape, we see the expected scattered throws from a backup quarterback who is a backup quarterback for a reason.

But solely blaming Weeden is unfair and shortsighted. He faced intense pressure from a Cardinals defense that brings it on seemingly every snap and blanket coverage from cornerback Patrick Peterson as he matched Bryant physically.

Excluding plays negated by penalties, Weeden targeted Bryant 10 times, and he didn't connect until the ninth try on a late fourth-quarter completion for 12 yards. The other successful throw was a three-yard fade for a touchdown that was meaningless in reality and made many fake football fans either rejoice or throw things out windows.

Throughout the rest of the game, pressure made life horrible for both Weeden and Bryant. The Cardinals are the living, breathing and quarterback-hurting example of a defense that shows you why the sack column can tell filthy lies (for the record, they're 30th with only eight sacks).

Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles regularly dials up disguised blitzes to disrupt the rhythm of opposing quarterbacks. Prior to Sunday's game, the Cardinals were sending five or more pass-rushers on 41.8 percent of their defensive snaps, the fourth-highest total in the league according to ESPN Stats & Information.

That tendency continued against a backup quarterback who wasn't allowed to find any comfort whatsoever. As a result, pressure played a role in nearly eliminating Bryant, with several passes sailing wayward as Weeden was wrapped up.

A prime example came early in the second quarter when a field position battle was still being fought. The Cowboys led 10-7 at the time and faced a 3rd-and-8 from their own 24-yard line. Weeden lined up in shotgun with three receivers split to his left and Bryant isolated one-on-one with Peterson to his right.

Confusion began for Weeden when the Cardinals approached the line aggressively. They showed seven potential pass-rushers, but only two were in a three-point stance with a hand on the ground.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Where was the rush coming from? And who was peeling out in coverage?

On Weeden's left, the answer to the latter question was safety Tyrann Mathieu, and defensive end Calais Campbell barreled ahead to occupy two blockers. Life then became much easier for linebacker Alex Okafor, who had a free shot on the quarterback.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Completions don't happen often when a linebacker is hanging from a quarterback's hip as he releases. The pass sailed high, and Weeden took his tumble.

It's also difficult to complete passes when a defensive tackle is planting his forehead in your stomach.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

That's defensive tackle Frostee Rucker busting straight through the middle to disrupt another pass intended for Bryant. He became a free rusher because of a smartly designed blitz that forced Cowboys right tackle Jermey Parnell to pick up oncoming safety Tony Jefferson.

Pressure contributed to Bryant's day of misery and Weeden's passer rating of 55.5. So did physicality from Peterson and his speed that made narrow throwing windows even tighter.

The questions following Peterson had grown from whispers to legitimate concerns. He has skill and an established history of success to fall back on. But prior to Week 9, he had given up an opposing passer rating in coverage of over 155.0 in two of his past three games, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

Those leaky weeks came against high-end competition, with Peterson chasing DeSean Jackson and Philadelphia Eagles wideout Jeremy Maclin. Even with Weeden starting instead of Romo, there was reason to be concerned about Peterson getting pushed around again.

But he matched Bryant's grappling. It came at a cost of two penalties, though more often, Peterson forced Weeden's throws wide.

An example of Peterson cranking the difficulty knob for Weeden came on a 3rd-and-12 early in the second quarter. Bryant ran an out route just past the sticks about 15 yards downfield. The throw was a challenging one for any quarterback, as Weeden needed to put enough velocity on the ball to hit Bryant as he was coming out of his break, with Peterson then ideally trailing the receiver's back shoulder.

But Peterson wasn't trailing. He was running right alongside Bryant with outstretched arms. Now, a challenging throw had become nearly impossible, and the ball sailed wide.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Peterson had help often, too, because friends don't let friends cover elite wide receivers on their own. When the game was still tied in the third quarter and the Cowboys were threatening in the red zone, rookie safety Deone Bucannon showcased his closing speed.

He was playing up the middle shaded toward Bryant when the receiver ran a quick slant. Bryant was open after beating Peterson by at least a step. But when Weeden fired, Bucannon was there dropping the hammer and dislodging the ball.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

While Bryant was reduced and irrelevant along with any semblance of a deep passing game, the Cardinals front seven focused on what it does best: run-stuffing.

Murray entered Sunday as the first running back in league history to rush for 100 or more yards in eight consecutive games to start a season. That had given him a blistering pace of 131.75 rushing yards per game and 5.1 per carry.

Then the Cardinals showed up with their ball-swarming defense that's plugging holes despite multiple season-ending injuries up front and the retirement of defensive end John Abraham. The league's best running back settled for being merely good.

	Rushing yards	Yards per carry
Week 9 vs. Cardinals	79	4.2
Averages prior to Week 9	131.75	5.1

Two weeks ago, the Cardinals were entering a mini-stretch against the Cowboys and Eagles that was the toughest of their season so far. Both opponents had high-powered offenses that are still averaging over 25 points per game with plenty of weapons available on the ground and through the air.

The Cards didn't allow more than 20 points in either game, and the league's third-ranked rush defense held Murray and Eagles running back LeSean McCoy to a combined four yards per carry. The next test? Of the Cardinals' final eight games, five are within the NFC West, as opponents get a chance to hack away at the 7-1 division leaders.

So far, we've been given little reason to think a supposedly decimated defense won't rise to the challenge.