Defense is no passing fancy

The Cardinals aren’t among the NFLleaders in many categories, so their few areas of excellence shine like the only working bulbs on a string of burned-out lights.

One of those bright spots is pass defense. The Cardinals rank fourth in the NFL against the pass, and, no, it’s not only because teams have been able to run against them.

They have intercepted 22 passes, the most in the league, and they are fourth in sacks per pass attempt. The passer rating of opposing quarterbacks is the lowest of any NFL defense.

The Cardinals have played well against some of the better quarterbacks, including the Patriots’ Tom Brady and the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers, so their pass defense is no fluke, or statistical quirk. So how do they do it? Defensive coordinator Ray Horton smiled at the

simplistic question.

“The simplistic answer would be pressure, hitting the quarterback,” Horton said. “I think we tend to hit the quarterback very early in the game.

“They know we come, anyway, and so I think when you hit them on the first series, it probably plays a little bit in their mind.”

The Cardinals broke a nine-game losing streak last week by contributing to Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford having one of the worst days in his career.

He had three passes intercepted. Two were returned for touchdowns, a third set up a touchdown.

Earlier this year, Rodgers completed 46.7 percent of his passes against the Cardinals, the third-lowest mark of his career Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan had five passes intercepted against Arizona.

Brady completed about 61 percent of his passes against the Cardinals, but he was sacked four times and had one touchdown in 46 pass attempts.

It starts, as Horton said, with pressure. And he will do most anything to place a defender in the quarterback’s face. Inside linebacker Daryl Washington leads the team with nine sacks, many of them coming on blitzes up the middle.

No one else has more than 41⁄ sacks, and four players have at least that many.

It doesn’t matter what quarterback the Cardinals are facing: Horton is going to bring pressure. He did it against a future Hall of Famer such as Brady, and against rookies, such as Seattle’s Russell Wilson and Miami’s Ryan Tannehill. He will do it again today against the Bears’ Jay Cutler.

“It does work,” Horton said. “Who wants to get hit? Let’s be honest.”

If anything, it’s more important to hit great quarterbacks than any others, said end Calais Campbell, who has 41⁄ sacks.

“Those are the guys you have to hit early because if you don’t, they’re going to beat you,” he said. “If you get to them early, they might start thinking about you a little bit and get rid of the ball quicker and throw the ball to their first read, even if it’s not all the way open, instead of looking for their third or fourth read.”

Campbell puts Cutler in that class, because he has a strong arm and “can kill you if you let him get going. The only way to beat a really good quarterback is get him down on the ground.”

To bring the pressure Horton does, a coordinator must have great confidence that his secondary can hold up. Bringing a fifth or sixth pass rusher means having one or two fewer players in coverage. Blown assignments and individual failures in coverage lead to long touchdowns and embarrassment.

There have been a few instances of that this season, but not nearly so many as there were in the first half of 2011, when the Cardinals were learning Horton’s system.

“I think our guys, for the most part, have worked together and been able to communicate better,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said.

Cornerback Patrick Peterson, the fifth overall pick in 2011, has developed into the elite cover defender the Cardinals had hoped. He defends the best receiver in most games and likely will be matched up against Brandon Marshall for most of today’s game.

Peterson has intercepted a pass in four consecutive games and has seven interceptions for the season, one behind the Bears’ Tim Jennings, who leads the league.

Extra points

Receiver Larry Fitzgerald was named the Arizona Cardinals/Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, the team announced on Saturday. Fitzgerald is one of 32 winners to qualify for the NFL's national award. That winner will be announced during Super Bowl week. Fitzgerald will be presented with a trophy prior to today's game against the Bears.

» The University of Phoenix Stadium roof is expected to be open for today’s game. Kickoff is at 2:25 p.m.