Wilks praises Cards’ defense
Big stops against 49ers kept game within reach
Coach Steve Wilks gave a succinct summary of the Cardinals’ 18-15 win over the 49ers, and for a moment, the defense sounded like an afterthought.
“I thought the guys performed well, particularly down the stretch when we had to, particularly in that twominute drive with the offense,” Wilks said. “I thought they did a tremendous job, and the defense came up with two critical stops when we had to have them.”
The Cardinals’ fourth-quarter comeback was certainly driven by the offense, but a few big stops by the defense kept the game within reach. A day after their second win of the season, Wilks broke down all aspects of his defense, starting up front.
Defensive line
The Cardinals came close to their goal of holding their opponent to 100 yards or less rushing. The 49ers gained just 107 on the ground. Containing them started up front.
“Markus Golden played an outstanding game on the defensive side of the ball,” Wilks said Monday. “He did a great job setting the edge. He stood out last night in a big way.”
Golden was just in on 59 percent of defensive plays, but that was the plan.
“That’s just really our routine,” Wilks said. “If you look at anything that we do on the defensive side of the ball, we rotate up front. Just trying to keep guys fresh.”
Wilks saw Golden showing the explosiveness that characterized his play before last year’s season-ending ACL tear. Golden felt a lot faster, and has said that he can notice an improvement each game. He finished Sunday’s win with seven tackles, two for loss, and a sack.
“We all flew around and had fun,” Golden said. “A lot of high energy, and I felt good just to be out there. I feel like we did stuff we can build off of for the rest of the season.”
Cornerbacks
After stirring up a media storm early last week, Patrick Peterson had a statistically quiet game against the 49ers.
Peterson’s two most notable plays of the day both came while matched up against Marquise Goodwin. The first was the 49ers’ lone touchdown of the game, a 55-yard pass that Goodwin caught in the middle of the field before he shot past Peterson and carved up the rest of the field. Peterson called it “a boneheaded play,” but he would make up for it.
In the fourth quarter, Peterson broke up a pass intended for Goodwin on first and 10 near midfield. Next, Haason Reddick tackled Alfred Morris for loss of 2 yards. Then, Josh Bynes broke up a pass. It was the first of three stops, as the 49ers would not score again.
Peterson knew how big the stop was. Wilks is just pushing him to consistently play at that level.
“I would say inconsistent,” Wilks said on Peterson’s performance. “I thought he did some good things, and then you give up a 55-yard touchdown, that’s uncharacteristic of him and his play. So a little disappointing there, but he came back with a great (pass break-up).”
It wasn’t a perfect performance, but the team was glad to have Peterson on the field.
After a fiery postgame speech, Wilks called on Peterson to break down the team’s huddle, reiterating that any trade talk was squarely in the past.
“What was said and what was talked about last week is in the past,” Wilks said. “Patrick is a captain. He’s a leader of this football team. Again, I want him to have a voice, and that’s what he wanted to do, and I gave him that opportunity.”
Linebackers
Wilks has stuck with nickel defense for most of the season, but he went with more base defense against the 49ers. After the game Sunday, he attributed this mainly to giving a new look to an opponent the team had already faced. He reiterated that Monday, pinning the effectiveness on the defense on a fresh look, but not the look itself.
“I don’t want to say that was the difference because I know that’s what you guys are trying to pigeonhole me to say, ‘OK, all of a sudden he went back to base, and that was the difference in the game,’ “Wilks said. “We did a good job.”
Deone Bucannon spent more time on the field. Bucannon has long since accepted the fluctuating nature of how he’s used.
“Whatever my role is, I’m going to be the same,” Bucannon said Sunday after the game. “I’m here to play football. Whatever aspect they ask me to do. I don’t take this lightly.”
Wilks was pleased with what he saw out of Bucannon and Reddick, who joined Bynes, the lone consistent starter at linebacker.
“It was a good look for us, a good changeup, and hopefully we can continue to try to mix in that package,” Wilks said.
Even if it’s not a permanent change, the Cardinals could feel a difference in their defense.
“Just having a bigger body presence, an extra linebacker, helped us feel a little more stout to stop the run,” Peterson said.
Safeties
It was a different look for the safeties, as well, with the Cardinals turning to base defense. Antoine Bethea and Budda Baker anchored a defense that held quarterback C.J. Beathard to 190 passing yards.
Normally, Tre Boston joins them, but he was sidelined with an injury to the shoulder and ribs. His injury was less of an issue with the plan to play two safeties instead of three.
Wilks is hopeful that Boston will be back against Kansas City on Nov. 11, but he doesn’t think that will make deciding on the lineup any harder. It comes down to the game plan.
“No, it doesn’t,” Wilks said. “We’ve just got to make sure we give these guys the right looks based off personnel that we get in that particular week.”
Extra points
❚ Wilks said there were no major injuries to report, and that he hopes both Boston and right guard Justin Pugh will be back against the Chiefs.
❚ T.J. Logan was on the field for kick returns, and Wilks would like to see that continue. “That’s something that we want to try to stick with,” Wilks said. “I wanted to try to find a way to get him up this week, and we did just for that mere reason because I wanted a little bit more production on the kickoff return. We didn’t have an opportunity with all the touchbacks.”
❚ Wilks says the bye week will give new offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich more time to tinker with the offense. “I think he’s going to continue to try to be creative in his approach and really try to put the guys in a position to be successful,” Wilks said. “You saw some of the things last night.”