GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Sometimes numbers lie. Sometimes they only tell part of a story.
When Sunday’s game at University of Phoenix Stadium kicked off, the numbers suggested the Arizona Cardinals’ secondary wouldn’t be able to stop Detroit Lions receivers Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate or slow down quarterback Matthew Stafford. The Cardinals entered their battle for NFC supremacy with the third worst passing defense in the NFL, according to the numbers.
As it proved by extending the team's league-best record to 9-1 with a 14-6 win over the Lions, Arizona’s secondary isn’t that bad.
“We are definitely one of the best in the game,” cornerback Patrick Peterson said. “Our numbers don’t speak for that, but I believe we have caught our stride. In the last two games, I believe we didn’t give up over 200 yards passing with three or four interceptions. That’s definitely something that we were hoping for for the rest of the season. It’s going to be a challenge.”
Actually, the Cardinals’ secondary hasn’t given up 200 passing yards in its past three games and has intercepted five passes and allowed two passing touchdowns.
The numbers the Cardinals care about most are nine and one. They own the outright best record in the NFL this late in the season for the first time since they ended the 1948 season with an 11-1 record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
What happened that year? The Cardinals, then playing in Chicago, went 11-1 and lost the NFL championship
There are still six games left this year -- maybe Arizona's six toughest games -- before any real talk about a Super Bowl run can begin in earnest, but if the Cardinals are to make a push into late January, it’ll be because of their secondary.
“I mean, Seattle did it last year, so we definitely feel like we have the group, we have the personnel to really carry this team as far as we can take them,” safety Tyrann Mathieu said.
As far as the Super Bowl?
“It’s possible,” he said, “if we continue to play well.”
Facing Johnson, Tate and Stafford was Arizona’s best test to date. The Lions were the second best NFC team, and postseason seeding was on the line.
All the Cardinals did was limit Stafford to 183 yards and zero touchdowns for the second time this season and hold Johnson to 59 yards on five receptions. He was targeted 12 times but denied a catch of 15 yards or more for the first time this season, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Tate, who entered Sunday with the second most receptions in the league, was held to two catches on two targets -- and wasn’t targeted after the 13:27 mark of the second quarter.
“The whole team relies on what our secondary can do,” defensive end Calais Campbell said. “They make us a much better team. They allow us to do so much more, make us so much more dynamic. Our blitzes are better because we can blitz a lot more and do different disguises because they hold up so well in man coverage.
“They allow us to rush the passer and get a lot of sacks. Teams are so worried about our blitzes, now that we’re starting to scale back our blitzes a little bit and play football, we’re starting to get more sacks, and a lot of that is because the secondary does a good job, [and] nobody is open.”
Stafford had the second fewest yards thrown against Arizona. Safety Rashad Johnson had an interception, and cornerback Jerraud Powers added a sack for good measure.
Stafford was the best quarterback Arizona had faced since Peyton Manning in Week 5, and with that test came the burden of the Cardinals proving they weren’t just beating teams with quarterbacks such as Austin Davis, Kirk Cousins, Derek Carr and Brandon Weeden.
They proved the doubters and the numbers wrong Sunday.
“We put it on them every week,” Arians said. “That’s the strength of our football team, and we play to their strengths.”
