Andrew Billings’ favorite sack is Andy Dalton, says Cardinals defense is staying within itself

No sack in the NFL is created equally, and they certainly aren’t remembered the same for Arizona Cardinals veteran defensive tackle Andrew Billings.

Billings, who signed a one-year contract with Arizona in March, has 6.5 sacks to his name across eight seasons. His favorite came in 2024 against the quarterback who ran the show of the team, Cincinnati Bengals, that drafted him in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft: Andy Dalton.

Neither was still a Bengal, however, as Billings had departed for the Chicago Bears and Dalton the Carolina Panthers.

“(The Panthers’ offense) saw me out there. I don’t think they hurried up because I was out there, but they hurried up,” Billings told Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke on Wednesday. “It was third and long, and we had a blitz on. Nobody touched me.

“And then I got up and I was like (to Andy), ‘You get sacked if you out here. All you gotta do is be out here.’ Sometimes, you just get lucky.”

Billings’ former Bears were up 30-10 in Chicago over the Panthers in an early October game when the 6-foot-1 defensive lineman, who says his goal is to be around 340 pounds in 2026, parted the Red Sea with Dalton in shotgun formation. He just about carried his former teammate seven yards before gift-wrapping Dalton to the turf.

“I don’t think it was zero blitz, honestly. I think the O-line just messed up,” Billings said. “I wanna say we brought six (to rush the quarterback) and I don’t even think we brought anybody through the A-gap, which was weird.”

 

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Dalton is entering his 16th NFL season, and he is now five teams removed from his Bengals days after being traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in March. He has been sacked 363 times since 2011, for the 31st-most in league history and fourth-most among active quarterbacks.

Billings recorded the second-most solo tackles (20) in his career last season while playing in all 17 regular-season games for the Bears, plus their two playoff games.

Andrew Billings likes what he’s seeing from Cardinals D-line

The Cardinals’ third and final session organized team activities is this week, and Billings said the defense isn’t trying to do too much.

“Nobody looks like they’re doing something they can’t do. Everybody brings their own thing to the table and executes in the framework of the defense (under the retained defensive coordinator Nick Rallis),” Billings said.

“That’s something that’s hard to get in the NFL, especially when everybody has to be on the same page and doing the same thing. So that’s pretty nice to see.

The Waco, Texas native who played collegiately for his hometown Baylor Bears is getting his feet established with the likes of Walter Nolen III, Jonah Williams, Darius Robinson and Dante Stills.

Billings said his best pass rush move right now is called the “Chop Pump,” and he thinks his pad level awareness separates him from other guys.

Nolen has stood out to Billings with how “natural” his performance appears. The 2025 draft pick was limited to six games as a rookie, but flashed what could be behind eight solo tackles and two sacks.

Dante Stills: Whole defense will benefit from Rallis’ return

Stills, a regular piece (48 games) of the Cardinals defensive line since he was drafted in 2023, came to Arizona the same year as Rallis and has that unique bond. However, the 6-foot-4, 300-pound tackle said the coaching holdover will help all of those involved.

“Guys are comfortable in this system,” Stills told Wolf & Luke. “Obviously, you switch stuff around here and there, but it’s the same system.”

Stills’ production fell off a bit last season, from 47 and 42 total tackles and eight combined sacks in his first two NFL campaigns to 34 total tackles and zero sacks.

That’s why he has been working on everything to get back on track.

“I watched last year’s film, I left a lot of plays out there. I had some good plays and I also had some bad plays,” Stills said. “It’s very hard to watch (yourself make those plays on film) though. After games you know going into that meeting like what to expect and what plays you messed up.

“So, yeah, I’m definitely the biggest critic (of myself).”

The Cardinals’ mandatory minicamp for both rookies and veterans begins Monday and goes through Wednesday.

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