Looking At The Cardinals Defense

We all know the kind of year the Cardinals defense has had under Bill Davis - the 43 sacks mark the first time the they've had over forty since being in Arizona(1988). Darnell Dockett and Calais Campbell led the team with 7 sacks and Dockett will be going to his second pro bowl. When I was looking over the numbers I wanted to get a better idea of where the sacks were coming from.

I put together this chart to give a visual representation of the Cardinals success sacking opposing quarterbacks this year. As you can see, each player or set of players has a percentage next to their name. That is the percentage of the Cardinals season sack total.

I've also added the Packers to the chart, giving the percentage for each offensive line position. Their percentages didn't add up to 100, and that's because there aren't stats that show sacks allowed by tight ends, running backs, ect. The Packers allowed a league-high 51 sacks on the year, and as you can see, 49% of them came from the Packers left side of the offensive line. Obviously tackles Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher were injured for a portion of the year, which did result in many of the sacks that were allowed in the first half of the season. However, you can never rule out an injury that would force a back up into a starting role.

Judging by the chart, it's obvious that the right side of the Cardinals defense has had the most success getting to the quarterback, forcing 52% of the sacks. They'll be lining up opposite to the Packers' left side of the line. Is this an area the Cardinals defense would like to exploit? I don't know, but it's certainly something to look out for on Sunday.