Arizona defense regroups after Carolina collapse

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP)—The Arizona Cardinals defense went from pumped up to deflated in one awful Sunday afternoon.

Now it’s out to prove it was an aberration, a painful reminder of what happens when a team isn’t ready to play. It seems to happen to the Cardinals from time to time.

“We wake up,” linebacker Karlos Dansby(notes) said after Thursday’s practice. “We need a jolt like that, and once we wake up we’re rollin’, and right now this week we’ve been rollin’.”

The Cardinals, who play at Chicago on Sunday, entered last weekend’s game with the No. 1-ranked run defense in the NFL. The defense had just played two outstanding games in road victories over Seattle and the New York Giants.

Then came the Carolina debacle, when Arizona gave up 270 yards rushing, the second-most the Panthers had ever gained on the ground. The Cardinals trailed 28-7 at halftime and lost 34-21 to fall to 1-3 at home.

“Usually when something bad like that happens we bounce back and something positive happens,” defensive tackle Darnell Dockett(notes) said. “We’ve got to take it as a learning lesson.”

Arizona still leads the NFC West at 4-3, thanks to a 3-0 record on the road, but the Cardinals find their reputation—which had been bolstered by the victories over the Seahawks and Giants—battered by such a big defensive letdown.

“We don’t get too wrapped up in one game,” coach Ken Whisenhunt insisted. “I think we’ve made great progress on the defensive side of the ball. We’ve been counted for dead already once this season as a defense after the Indianapolis game and we responded well after that.”

Whisenhunt was referring to Arizona’s 31-10 Sunday night home loss to the Colts on Sept. 27, when Peyton Manning(notes) threw for 379 yards and four touchdowns. Against Carolina, it was the run defense.

They had given up 13 yards rushing on 11 attempts and only 128 yards overall in a 27-3 victory at Seattle. A week later, the Cardinals harassed Eli Manning(notes) into three interceptions and sacked him three times in a 24-17 win.

Arizona had won three in a row heading into the Carolina game. Opponents through six games had averaged just 67.5 yards on the ground. The Panthers topped that on one play.

DeAngelo Williams(notes) burst through the middle on a 77-yard run that set up Jonathan Stewart’s(notes) 10-yard scoring run on the first play of the second quarter. Jake Delhomme(notes), who passed for only 90 yards on 7 of 14 attempts, completed a 50-yarder for another score, then on the next play from scrimmage, Julius Peppers(notes) intercepted Kurt Warner’s(notes) pass and returned it 13 yards for a touchdown. That made it 28-7 at halftime.

The Cardinals tried to come back, but they couldn’t stop the run. Williams finished with 158 yards in 12 carries, Stewart added 87 yards in 17 attempts, including two touchdowns. In all, the Panthers had 44 running and 14 passing plays.

Whisenhunt said his defensive players “have worked good this week” in practice as they get ready to face a Bears team that struggled mightily on the ground before Matt Forte(notes) broke through for 121 yards in last week’s 30-6 victory over Cleveland.

“It’s tough because we had some guys nicked up. I think whenever you have that many runs come at you on Sunday, it takes a physical toll on you,” Whisenhunt said after Thursday’s practice. “But today was a good day. We got back in the flow and guys were excited and flying around. Hopefully that will translate to Sunday.”

The 77-yard run, Whisenhunt said, was the right play against the wrong defense. Most of the other problems had to do with defensive technique, he said, especially wrapping up on tackles, something Arizona had done well most of the season.

Whisenhunt called those problems “easily correctable.”

“I don’t want to diminish any of the aggressiveness that especially our defensive front has been playing with,” he said.

Dockett, linebacker Gerald Hayes(notes) (back spasms) and safety Antrel Rolle(notes) (foot)—all starters—were limited in practice on Thursday. Dockett said there’s no doubt he will play, and the other two are expected to do so, too.

Dockett said the team has to end its pattern of being up one or two weeks, then down the next.

“Dominant defenses don’t have good games one week,” he said. “They’re consistent throughout the year, and that’s not where we’re at right now.”