Cardinals bye week roundtable: Who’s to blame on the defensive side?

The Arizona Cardinals sit at 3-7-1 heading into a Week 12 bye. With a first-year head coach in Kliff Kingsbury and first-year starting quarterback in Kyler Murray, let’s reset the first 11 games of 2019 before looking ahead to the final five.

To do just that, we asked our collection of 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station hosts, producers, editors and reporters three big-picture questions.

After grading out the duo of Kingsbury and Murray, we head to the defensive side of the ball for our second question. How much of the Cardinals’ defensive deficiencies are on the coaching staff versus the personnel?

Vince Marotta, co-host of Bickley & Marotta

I’d put 60% of the blame on the personnel, which is pinned on general manager Steve Keim’s office, and 40% on the scheme. While I have been frustrated by this defense (especially against the the passing game) in 2019, it’s hard to assign any more blame on Vance Joseph because he really hasn’t had a full deck to work with. From Patrick Peterson’s six-game suspension to Robert Alford’s injury to the sudden (necessary) release of Darius Philon in the preseason, to playing three rookies regularly in the secondary, we should have anticipated these hard times on that side of the ball.

Paul Calvisi, anchor of Doug & Wolf

Minus their top two CBs for much of the season and without a consistent pass-rush threat beyond Chandler Jones, the Cards D makes big plays and gives up big plays. More importantly, the defense has failed to ‘play big,’ as players say, in big moments. After self-scouting during the bye week, might the Cards coaches adjust the scheme to match the nominal talent while they try to develop playmakers?

Luke Lapinski, host of The Rundown with Luke Lapinski

Honestly it’s probably right around 50/50. The coaching staff can’t just be totally absolved when the defense is letting double-digit leads slip away and routinely allowing opposing tight ends — no matter who they are — to find the end zone every week. Especially when you have Chandler Jones doing what he’s doing to the quarterbacks the Cardinals face. But this defense is clearly missing pieces. And not having Patrick Peterson for the first six games probably cost them at least one win, if not two.

Ron Wolfley, co-host of Doug & Wolf

This defense has been a failure. They are at the bottom of almost every major metric there is. When you struggle to that degree, blame needs to be distributed evenly: blame the scheme and blame the players executing said scheme.

John Gambadoro, co-host of Burns & Gambo

I have said time and time again that I hate this defense. Flat out hate it. Don’t trust Vance Joseph and don’t believe in most of the players. I like Budda Baker, Chandler Jones and Jordan Hicks right now and I think Byron Murphy will be good even though he has given up seven touchdown passes this season. This very well could be on Joseph, who has done nothing to prove his worth as the Cardinals rank at or near the bottom in most of the crucial defensive categories. But for now I will go with lack of personnel.

Not having released DT Darius Philon, cornerback Robert Alford, Patrick Peterson (six-game suspension), rookie end Zach Allen and a few others throughout the season has been tough to overcome.

Kevin Zimmerman, ArizonaSports.com editor and reporter

I’m not completely buying that the many breakdowns, mostly in terms of covering opposing tight ends, are on Vance Joseph. The Cardinals’ strength on defense is the pass-rush, and he has no choice but to tailor his schemes to that. Anyway, if you can count more than five players starting on that side of the ball who are right now average or better, let me know. I’ll put 70% of Arizona’s struggles on the lack of personnel.

Dave Burns, co-host of Burns & Gambo

I’d say 70% personnel, 30% coaching. There just aren’t many elite players on this defense and one of the few you have (Patrick Peterson) hasn’t regained that form yet. The same overhaul that defined the offseason for the offense needs to happen on the other side of the ball. Better defensive lineman. Better pass rushers. Best pass coverage. The first few days after the season is going to be touch and go for Vance Joseph, but the hesitation to usher in a fourth coordinator and a fourth scheme in four years keeps him around.

Jordan Byrd, producer of Burns & Gambo and host of Arizona Sports Saturday

I certainly believe Vance Joseph has made some questionable decisions as the Cardinals DC this season, but for me, the main culprit of the defensive short comings are on the personnel. Some of the defensive roster issues were hard to predict, like cutting Darius Philon for an off-the-field incident or Robert Alford’s injury, but the Cardinals never addressed the holes on the roster as they creeped up. Instead, the Cardinals decided to just fill the holes with untested and inexperienced youngsters. Joseph hasn’t been great this year but he was given an incomplete roster to work with.

Kellan Olson, ArizonaSports.com editor and reporter

At some point, the amount of obvious breakdowns are on the coaching staff and not just on guys getting beat in coverage and in the gaps. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an awful defense, but the context of the consistent mistakes points toward coaching being a problem just as much as the bad roster. It was not a good sign when every Broncos fan I knew spoke of Vance Joseph like this was going to be a disaster. It kind of has been.

Jarrett Carlen, producer of Bickley & Marotta

It’s hard to dole out the blame for such a frustrating defense, especially since they struggled last year and then changed both the coaches and some players. They have several solid players, but need more impactful playmakers.

Tyler Drake, ArizonaSports.com editor and reporter

A lot of the blame has been put on DC Vance Joseph this season, and rightfully so. The defense has been dreadful with questionable calls and miscommunication throughout the season. Just take a look at the game-winning touchdown from the 49ers last week and you’ll see all of the above. In 11 games, the defense has allowed at least 21 points and can’t guard a tight end to save its life.

But does the DC deserve all the blame? Nope.

If you take a look at the players on the roster, there’s some glaring issues. Patrick Peterson hasn’t found himself since serving his six-game suspension and with Robert Alford out basically the year, the secondary has relied on a couple of rookies to pick up the slack left behind by the vet. Throw in losing Darius Philon to off-the-field problems and you find yourself with a defense lacking critical playmakers outside of the consistent Chandler Jones.

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