For a while, it looked like the same ol’ Arizona Cardinals' defense that lost nine consecutive games to end the 2025 season with inside linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. on injured reserve because of a serious injury to his ribs.
On their first possession, the Los Angeles Chargers moved effortlessly on an eight-play, 77-yard drive that included three receptions by wide receiver Ladd McConkey for 60 yards to tie the game at seven with 4:22 to play in the first quarter.
The Cardinals took a 10-7 lead on a Chad Ryland 27-yard field goal after which the Chargers traveled 76 yards, gaining 62 on nine plays and faced fourth-and-three at the Cardinals' three-yard line after the two-minute warning.
Eschewing a chip-shot field-goal attempt, quarterback Justin
Herbert dropped back to pass, but before he could even set up to throw, defensive lineman Dante Stills was on him after cleanly beating guard Trey Pipkins III and sacked Herbert for a 10-yard loss.
The Cardinals followed that with a drive that ended the half with a Ryland 44-yard field goal and a 13-7 halftime lead.
Consider this: On their first five possessions of the second half prior to the Cardinals extending their lead to the final score of 23-14, the Chargers ran only 21 plays for 60 yards. That included a three-play possession for 60 yards, on which they had only 12 scrimmage yards thanks to a 48-yard pass interference penalty on cornerback Max Melton that moved the ball to the Cardinals 12-yard line.
The ensuing touchdown cut the Cardinals lead to 16-14 on an 8-yard TD catch by McConkey with 6:03 remaining in the third quarter, but they managed only 34 yards on 12 plays in their next three possessions.
Overall, in the second half, the Chargers totaled 117 yards on 29 plays (4.0 average) and for the game were 2-for-8 on third down and possessed the ball for 22:29.
Here’s how the Cardinals did it:
Mack Truck
It was third-and-16 from their own 18-yard line with 23 seconds remaining in the third quarter when Herbert tried to go to McConkey again. Wilson made sure that didn’t happen.
He lit McConkey up with a devastating clean hit that resulted in him leaving the game with a chest injury.
Said safety Andrew Wingard, who everyone calls Dewey, “That hit that Mack had; that’s the stuff that just gets you going, man. That’s football. A perfect strike-zone hit. I love all these guys and seeing them make plays is just so cool. And Mack is just like a dog, an absolute dog for sure.”
Wilson had the green dot in his helmet to relay the defensive calls last year for the first time until he was injured. Back this season in that role, head coach Mike LaFleur said after the game, “People just feel good when he's the one calling it; his confidence. There's a way that you call a play whether it's quarterback or defense that gives the other 10 guys confidence. Just his demeanor. It's always, ‘Hey, next snap,’ whether it's good or bad, put the ball down and let's go to the next one. He’s so even-keeled. He's a stud.”
Wilson was second on the team with six tackles, two of which were solo.
The newbies
I made the point Saturday that the Cardinals had helped their defense by adding players on reasonable contracts like Wingard, inside linebacker Jack Gibbens and the return of nose tackle Roy Lopez. Also mentioned was edge rusher Jordan Burch, who it would be hoped will show growth in his second season.
Wingard contributed an interception, a forced fumble recovered by cornerback Will Johnson), a pass defensed and four tackles (three solo, two for loss). Gibbens was the team leader with seven tackles (five solo) and shared a sack with safety Budda Baker. Lopez had four tackles (two solo). Burch had three solo tackles (one for loss) and a sack.
Those four players combined have a salary-cap charge of $12.574 million this season.
Noting the big plays, LaFleur said, “I’m proud of them. It is what it is; the noise is the noise. It’s what makes this league awesome, too, that there’s so many people who care about it. I just thought our defense was resilient. I thought our guys did such a good job (with) the turnovers, getting after the quarterback in the second half, so really happy for those guys.”
Yes, the noise
When LaFleur was asked Friday how difficult it is for coaches and players to deal with the “ignore the noise” mantra, he acknowledged, “Ignore might be the wrong word because you're naturally going to see it. Like that is what it is. But that's just life in general really. It's more like (being) above the noise. Because it is just noise. It doesn't matter.
“I'm not saying that people's words don't matter per se, but it doesn't matter in our locker room. The same thing happens when you're winning a ton of games. Forget all that too. Like that's just noise when people want to crown you. This is a week-to-week league and our focus is going to be trying to be 1-0 every single week.”
That was mission accomplished for Week 1.
Wingard addressed it more forcefully when asked Sunday if the performance was gratifying against the Chargers.
He said, “Everyone’s been trashing this defense, trashing Coach (Nick) Rallis. I’m gonna be polite and not say what I wanna say, but it’s not gratifying because it would be gratifying if you cared about it, but it’s just I’m happy for all these guys.”
As for what this defense is capable of and what the big plays do for the team, he said, “Huge man, I’ve been saying it from the get-go. Our front is sneaky good. Those guys are dogs. Everyone just has a chip on their shoulder. It’s hard not to.
“The team hasn’t had success in the last few years. Everyone’s just hungry, man. You can’t put a price tag on hunger. It’s like everyone’s glazing the Chargers, glazing Justin Herbert, but here we are focused and that’s what it is.”
One “quiet” up-front player Sunday was Walter Nolen III, whoi was credited with one assisted tackle. However, he was often double-teamed and sometimes triple-teamed so he wouldn’t wreck the game.
Very special
Simi Fehoko earned a roster spot among seven wide receivers largely because of his play on special teams. He had one of the biggest plays Sunday, bolting through the middle of the Chargers' protection unit and blocking a JK Scott punt from deep in his own territory. The Cardinals took over at the 3-yard line and on the second play, quarterback Jacoby Brissett connected with tight end Trey McBride on a 3-yard touchdown pass that extended the Cardinals' lead to 23-14 with 11:44 remaining in the game. Fehoko also had an assisted tackle on kick coverage.
Unfortunately, safety Kitan Crawford suffered an ankle injury on the blocked punt play and had to be carted off the field. He had registered two tackles (one solo) in kick coverage. Rookie linebacker Karson Sharar had two solo tackles.
Ryland had four field goals with a long of 49, but missed from 56 when the ball hit the right upright and had a kickoff go out of bounds that handed the Chargers the ball at the 40 and led to a touchdown.
Punter Blake Gillikin averaged 52.7 yards on three punts, but his net was only 39.3 because two bounced into the end zone for touchbacks.
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Cardinals 26, Chargers 14: 4 things we saw on defense, special teams
