Budda Baker loves to talk smack—especially when it comes to game day. He doesn’t just challenge opponents; he gets in his teammates’ heads too.
“I tell them, ‘If you keep these guys to this number or less, dinner’s on me,'” Baker quips. But if they don’t perform, he jokingly adds, “I take that dinner back!”
While he laughs it off, the message is serious. The Cardinals need to tighten up their run defense. Stopping the run is crucial not just for the win but also for the team’s pride.
This week, they face the Green Bay Packers, who boast one of the league’s top running backs, Josh Jacobs. Currently, Jacobs has six rushing touchdowns, just one shy of leader Jonathan Taylor. This comes on the heels of Taylor’s impressive game against the Cardinals, where he rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown. Coach Jonathan Gannon knows they need to improve defensively.
“If I were them, I’d see we gave up 150 rushing yards last week and try to run the ball,” said defensive lineman Calais Campbell. “If we want to win, we can’t let that happen. Stopping the run must be our number one focus.”
Last season, the Cardinals allowed a staggering 179 rushing yards to the Packers. Despite this, the current Cardinals squad is better than that stat suggests. They rank 13th in the league, giving up 102 rushing yards per game. It shows progress, but there’s still a long way to go.
Interestingly, since Week 4, a running back has found the end zone against them in every game. This trend highlights the urgency for the Cardinals to strengthen their run defense. Campbell emphasizes, “Stopping their run game is our biggest challenge. We need to make them one-dimensional to win.”
As teams adjust mid-season, strong run defenses become key. Statistics indicate that teams allowing fewer than 100 rushing yards per game have a significant chance of making the playoffs. The Cardinals have the talent; now it’s about execution. Only time will tell if they can rise to the occasion against tough opponents like the Packers.
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