The Arizona Cardinals (2-5-0) are getting ready for the Monday Night Football (MNF) contest against the Dallas Cowboys (3-4-1). The game will be on a national stage in front of over 100,000 hometown Texas
fans and approximately 15 million viewers. This year, MNF viewership is up 10%.
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Both teams have been a disappointment this season. Arizona began 2-0 and then lost three games they had won in the closing quarter. The Cowboys can outscore anybody in the league, but their defense is porous and ranked dead last in most defensive categories.
The Cardinals’ defense will most likely be outmatched by the high-flying aerial attack of Dallas. They are ranked #17 against the pass, but have a very good defense against the run, currently ranked #7.
Part of the reason Arizona is so good versus the run is because of DT Calais Campbell. He is on his second stint with the Cardinals after being selected in the second round of the 2008 NFL draft out of Miami. He spent nine seasons with Arizona before going on to play for four other NFL clubs. In April, GM Monti Ossenfort inked Campbell to a one-year, $5.5 million contract with the team that originally drafted him.
Against the Cowboys, Campbell will have started his 250th NFL game.
This is not consecutive, mind you, but career total starts in his 18-year career. Only 15 athletes have reached the 250-start plateau. QB Tom Brady heads the list with 333 starts.
Campbell is now 39 years old. That in itself would be assumed to mean that he should become a two-down gap plugger because of his 6’-8” frame and tipping the scales at 315 pounds during the season, and easily pushing 350 pounds during the off-season despite having a nutritionist on staff monitoring his pizza intake.
But Campbell has been one of the Cards’ best defenders this season.
This season, he has seven starts, 19 total tackles, 3 sacks, 5 tackles for loss, 1 batted pass, 5 QB hits, 2 hurries, 5 knockdowns, 10 pressures, and just two missed tackles.
It just seems he is in the most opportune spot when a big play is needed. And the fact that the big play is arriving from the middle of the defensive line instead of flying off the edge or on a stunt from a safety is remarkable. And a lot of times, his presence or pressure in the pocket doesn’t get an actual stat, but it will give a result for another player’s act.
Big dudes are supposed to become immovable objects that prevent ball carriers from gaining yardage up the gut and have to resort to taking it outside instead. This shuts down the inside running lanes and protects the linebackers.
Campbell has been voted to the Pro Bowl six times, two while with Arizona on the first go-round. He has been named First Team All-Pro once, and Second Team All-Pro twice, both while with the Cardinals. He was later named to the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team.
He was selected as the Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2019 while with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Other accolades include the Bart Starr Award (2019), Art Rooney Award (2022), and the NFLPA Alan Page Community Award (2024).
After signing to play for Arizona this off-season, Campbell announced he would be donating upwards of $100,000 to nine Phoenix homeless-focused nonprofits.
For his career, Campbell has 936 tackles, 113.5 sacks, and 159 pressures, among other stats.
Recently, Campbell expressed to Spectrum News about playing on Monday Night Football:
“I don’t know if you guys can tell, but I love football. It started from being a kid and watching the big prime-time games. Back then, there were only a few games on TV, but the Monday night game was always the biggest.”
Several media outlets have projected that Campbell could be trade bait if the Cardinals fall to the Cowboys, which might signal an end to any playoff hopes. His size and production this year have made him an asset to clubs that have postseason aspirations and need a good run stuffer.
Campbell told Sports Illustrated that he is on his final run and wants to end it in the State of Arizona:
“I came here. I want to be here, and I want this team to go out there and make a run and go fight for it. So, I didn’t even think about that [leaving Arizona]. You know, it doesn’t exist to me. All that exists to me is this team getting back into the fight. Fight with everything we have to get back into it. I expect us to win ball games and be in position [for a playoff spot].”
He has maintained a residence in Tempe for 13 years on East Rio Salado Parkway. He did leave the door open for another season. But apparently, that settles it. Campbell will end his career where it began.
In Cardinal red.
