In the Arizona Cardinals‘ 20-17 preseason win over the Kansas City Chiefs Saturday night at State Farm Stadium, there were 37 players on defense who got on the field, and while there is always good and bad, the Chiefs totaled only 249 yards (4.0 per play) and converted 5-of-13 opportunities on third down.
Here are the takeaways from the 20-17 victory, in which Kansas City scored only 13 points after their first touchdown that followed a fumble on the opening kickoff.
Cardinals 20, Chiefs 17: Takeaways on defense, special teams
Stopping the run
The Chiefs rushed for 48 yards on 13 carries in the first half and followed that with 44 on eight in the second half, although 26 came on a dash by quarterback Chris Oladokun on fourth-and-3.
Head coach Jonathan Gannon said about the defensive line, “I thought they did a good job. We’ll always have things to clean up, but I thought for the most part, there were a couple of runs that popped early off the top of my head. But then it seemed like that got shored up. And again, (we were) not game planning, and it sometimes it can be hard.
“They’re in the wrong call to play the run and it’s nobody’s fault. It’s not (defensive coordinator) Nick’s (Rallis) fault or their fault. It’s just that they’re in the wrong call. But I thought that they affected the quarterback and the run game seemed pretty good to me today.”
Rarely discussed after the line additions the last two seasons is Dante Stills, and that’s an oversight. He had a quarterback hit and some pressures.
Said Gannon of the sixth-round pick in 2023, “Constant improvement. I told him that on the sideline. I feel like when he got here as a pup, he would have a good day and then a bad day, a good day and a bad day. Kind of riding a rollercoaster, and he’s been steady this camp.
“As steady as I’ve seen him over the course of two years and that’s typically a good sign. He is consistently playing good ball right now.”
Pressure on the quarterback
There was only one sack by defensive lineman L.J. Collier, but other pressures affecting Chiefs quarterbacks came from Mack Wilson Sr., Darius Robinson, rookie Jordan Burch and linebacker Benton Whitley.
Gannon said of Burch, “I did see him win some rushes, which was good to see and winning the right way too,” while adding, “I thought the defensive line, outside linebackers as a whole rushed well. Their quarterback seemed like he was under duress a little bit, so that was good.”
Ballhawks on defense
Cornerback Darren Hall and rookie safety Kitan Crawford had interceptions, and Hall’s came with the Chiefs leading 14-3 in the second quarter. Yes, it was off third-string quarterback Bailey Zappe, but it led to a touchdown, cutting the deficit to 14-10.
Hall almost had another later in the game and had two passes defensed.
“The interception was awesome,” Gannon said. “D Hall to me; he’s a very fast processor. He is extremely intelligent. He has great movement skills and he can play multiple positions. He has good ball skills. You saw that tonight. That was a great pick, I thought. But he’s a good piece for us, there’s no doubt.”
Speaking of pups …
Rookie cornerback Will Johnson and second-year corner Max Melton started and both remained in for a stretch after the other starters left the game. Johnson was flagged for pass interference in the end zone on the play prior to Kansas City’s first touchdown. Melton had a key tackle for loss on a wide receiver screen to fourth-round pick Jalen Royals.
Fifth-round cornerback Denzel Burke had four solo tackles (one for a six-yard loss on a screen to running back Brashard Smith), while inside linebacker Cody Simon (fourth round) had three solo tackles.
Safety Jammie Robinson made his presence felt with one big hit and a team-leading seven tackles (four solo).
Special teams not so special at times
Greg Dortch lost the opening kickoff on a fumble, while DeeJay Dallas fumbled on the next kickoff, but it was recovered by linebacker Owen Pappoe. Later, Dallas muffed a 67-yard Matt Araiza punt, but was able to recover it.
“We have to look at our ball security,” Gannon said. “We have to coach it. We have to drill it and we have to do a better job of that. Those guys know that. And defensively in practice, we need to create more attempts on the ball to make sure that our ball carriers, receivers, backs, whoever, they’re ready for those shots. But they’ll correct it.”
The Chiefs returned four kickoffs for 129 yards (32.3 average), including one for 48 yards by wide receiver Nikko Remigio.
Blake Gillikin averaged 47.3 yards on three punts with a 43.0 net. He had a 41-yard punt that was foolishly fair caught by Smith at the 4-yard line.
Wide receiver Xavier Weaver had a nice 18-yard punt return.
With the best saved for last, kicker Chad Ryland picked up where he left off last season, hitting both his field-goal attempts from 33 and 50 yards. The latter broke a 17-17 tie and provided the game-winning points four seconds into the fourth quarter.
After being signed during the 2024 season, Ryland made 28 of his 32 attempts and was 4-for-4 from 50 yards or more.
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