I think most of us here, myself included, perceive the Cardinals D to be improved over last year, but still below average... middle of the pack at best. The points and yardage rankings are a bit better than i would've guessed, 13th for both. But i was surprised to read (in this article in the Athletic about how Jalen Hurts has jumpstarted the Eagles O, which has some good analysis of how the Cards defended him) that the Cardinals are 9th in overall defensive DVOA and 8th in passing defense by DVOA.
Gotta say, i'm quite surprised! Perhaps the perception of not being that good comes from the timing of the defense's failures. There's never a good time to give up a score, but it seems as though the Cardinals D gives them up in the last couple of minutes of halves, and immediately after Cardinals scores, thus shifting momentum. I don't think DVOA takes that into account. It would be interesting if there were a measure of team defense that takes into account game situations, like the QBR does for quarterbacks.
...dave
Gotta say, i'm quite surprised! Perhaps the perception of not being that good comes from the timing of the defense's failures. There's never a good time to give up a score, but it seems as though the Cardinals D gives them up in the last couple of minutes of halves, and immediately after Cardinals scores, thus shifting momentum. I don't think DVOA takes that into account. It would be interesting if there were a measure of team defense that takes into account game situations, like the QBR does for quarterbacks.
...dave
