— There are two teams in the league with three edge rushers who have each generated a pressure rate above 14 percent on at least 100 pass rushes, according to Next Gen Stats. One is the Seahawks, not a surprise, given how well they are playing. The other? The Cardinals with Josh Sweat’s 29 pressures (14.6 percent), Baron Browning’s 19 (14.5) and Zaven Collins’ 18 (15.5).
“Zaven was in his bag this week,” Campbell said. “That was the best he’s played.”
Campbell joked that Collins missing a couple sacks this season has actually helped Campbell get some. Collins, Campbell added, should have five or six sacks now. “He’d get the recognition he deserves.”
“Hopefully some of them start to fall your way,” Collins said. “I like to see other guys get sacks too. I was pressing the pocket on Walt’s sack. I was the closest to the QB when I heard a loud bang. I was like, ‘Shoot, that’s Walt.’
“The nice part is everyone is rushing at an intense level so it lets you cover a mistake when one happens.”
— Running back Emari Demercado had an excellent game in Dallas, in part because of the pass protection he provides. Coach Jonathan Gannon said that was not only noticeable against the Cowboys, but also the game before.
“We missed him in the Green Bay game,” Gannon said of Demercado, who had to sit out against the Packers with an ankle injury.
It’s funny because Demercado said he was terrible at pass protection in college and wasn’t sure exactly how he improved so much (he’s been trusted by these coaches since he was a rookie.) Gannon said it becomes a mind game for a back in pass pro.
“Most of the running backs in the NFL that carry the ball a lot are tough because they get hit for a living,” he said. “Check that box. Technique, if they want to do it, they will probably get better at it. The thing that separates them is their brain. Emari does a good job of it.”
— Kedon Slovis, who has already been the backup for three games, will stay one play away for the time being. (QB coach Israel Woolfork admitted that during the Packers game, after Jacoby Brissett was dragged down on a hip-drop tackle and looked worse for wear, he told Slovis to start warming up.) Undrafted in 2024, he has yet to appear in a regular-season game.
He said the Cardinals’ offense has been the easiest to learn since he’s been in the league, and credited Brissett for helping him in the process. “He just does things the right way,” Slovis said.
Slovis, who is from Scottsdale and went to Desert Mountain High School, grew up a Cardinals fan and said running out of the tunnel for the Packers game at State Farm Stadium was one of the most special moments in his life.
“Being in a Cardinals uniform means a lot to me,” Slovis said.
— With his two sacks against the Cowboys, Campbell already has five sacks this season – his 15th (out of 19) in which he’s reached five sacks. There are only three other players who have had at least five sacks in 15 seasons. All three are in the Hall of Fame: Bruce Smith, Julius Peppers, and Reggie White.
— The last word goes to Josh Sweat, on if the defense took a step forward in the Dallas game and whether that could be a harbinger of things to come.
“We’ve been playing really good defense all year. It’s just the fourth quarter killing us. It’s one of two things that had to happen. Either do better in the fourth quarter – which happened – or completely just dominate the first three so that when (expletive) goes wrong, there’s no way they can catch up.”
Sweat was chuckling as he said it. Doesn’t make it any less true.
