Four reasons why Cardinals are among NFL’s best-coached teams

On a day in which NFL teams already are making changes to their coaching staffs, the Cardinals can point to four impressive reasons that their coaches are among the best in the NFL. All three were on display in Arizona’s 29-9 win over Chicago on Sunday.

• Jonathan Gannon’s club (5-4) punched in each of its two goal-to-go possessions against the Bears. The Cardinals now have 13 touchdowns on 13 goal-to-go situations, far and away the best percentage in the league. The NFL average is 72.2 percent entering Monday night.
• The Cardinals have just 41 penalties as a team, second in the league behind Kansas City (39), which concludes the Week 9 schedule on Monday night. In six games this season, officials have penalized Arizona four times or fewer, including the two flags in Sunday’s victory.
• The Arizona defense posted a season-best six sacks against the Bears. What’s more, 16 Cardinals players had at least one pressure, the most players by an NFL team in six years.
• On offense, the Cardinals registered 213 rushing yards against the Bears, including James Conner’s 107. Since the beginning of 2023, no other team has more 200-yard rushing games than Arizona (six), including the Ravens (five).

Sunday’s team-awarded game balls went to coaches. Gannon said defensive coordinator Nick Rallis became a father less than five hours before kickoff on Sunday, but that wasn’t the only reason. Rallis earned the honor for his suggestions on how to stop Bears rookie Caleb Williams.

“Tuesday, we had a little bit of back and forth on what to do versus this guy,” Gannon said, “because he is a hard player to defend. They’ve got good skill, and I love the plan by him and the defense of how we attacked those guys. Attacked protection, cut some guys loose. And credit to the players, man. Coaches, that’s cool. The players made plays. They rushed well, they stayed connected. Second-effort rushes to get them on the ground, kept the cup and kept them contained a lot. I thought they were good.”

Gannon also awarded a game ball to special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers. The head coach pointed to key kicking-game contributions from punter Blake Gillikin, kicker Chad Ryland, returner Greg Dortch and cover man Joey Blount. Gannon said Rodgers was hoarse after the game.

“He couldn’t even talk,” Gannon said. “Special teams was lights out. Just all kinds of different plays by a lot of different guys. We talked about it last night to ‘star your role.’ Whatever your role is, everyone’s the same. Everyone is the exact same no matter your role. Everyone has the same importance to the team. I thought guys starred their role.”

The Cardinals are playing the starring role in the NFC West, at least for now. They woke up in first place, a half-game ahead of the Rams (4-4) and 49ers (4-4). Arizona (5-4) has already surpassed the four wins it managed all of 2023 and sits above .500 for the first time since finishing 11-6 in 2021. The Cardinals can improve their winning streak to four when they host the Jets (3-6) on Sunday. Arizona’s three-game winning streak is its longest since opening that 2021 campaign 7-0.

Hail Emari: The game’s turning point came just before half, a stunning 53-yard touchdown run on third-and-5 by Conner’s backup, Emari Demercado. The score broke open a 14-9 game and the Cardinals never looked back. According to Elias Sports Bureau, the play was the longest rushing touchdown in the final 20 seconds of an NFL first half at least since the league merger in 1970.

Home paydirt: Arizona has not allowed a touchdown over consecutive home games, including its 17-15 win over the Chargers in Week 7 – a stretch of 20 opponent possessions. The last time a Cardinals team held opponents out of the end zone over two straight home games, the franchise was in St. Louis (Nov. 15-Dec. 6, 1981).