The clock was dwindling in the first half when the Cardinals defense stared the moment down.
Nursing a 10-7 lead against the Chargers, QB Justin Herbert had led his team to a goal-to-go, and now it was fourth down at the Arizona 3. At the snap, Dante Stills bulled his way up the middle and Herbert never had a chance, going down in a heap after a 10-yard loss.
“We allowed them to get down to the goal line,” Stills said. “I had a good rush, and I just won. It definitely felt good because I haven’t had a sack in a whole year.”
Here’s the kicker: the Cardinals never ended up surrendering the lead after that, in what turned out to be a 26-14 win that stunned the rest of the NFL. The defense, much maligned since last year, was arguably the biggest reason why.
“I just feel like we’ve been disrespected ever since I’ve been here,” said Stills, now in his fourth season. “We’re always put down the bottom, always last in the rankings, and this is a step one.”
The offense played well but the group understands the red-zone trips need to produce more touchdowns.
The Andrew Wingard interception was impressive, ranging far to pick off Herbert on a deep ball. His forced fumble was crucial, allowing cornerback Will Johnson to recover and wear his own Turnover Buffs for the first time as a Cardinal.
But there might not have been a more important sequence for the defense, and how LaFleur sees them, as when the Cardinals held a 16-14 lead with 14:10 left and the Cards facing a fourth-and-1 at their own 40. Few coaches choose to punt in that situation anymore, and just last week, LaFleur did say he’d used analytics (which overwhelmingly said go) as a tiebreaker for game situations.
But this wasn’t a tie. LaFleur trusted his defense. The Cardinals punted, the D held on a three-and-out, and then the special teams blocked a punt. Nothing like a 3-yard touchdown drive to take control of a game.