By the numbers: Mike LaFleur’s 1st win as Cardinals head coach

Mike LaFleur kicked off his Arizona Cardinals tenure the best way possible with an impressive 26-14 road win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.

The victory had a little bit of everything for the first-year head coach, with the offense, defense and special teams all complementing one another.

But what numbers stood out most from Arizona’s season-opening win? Let’s take a deeper dive:

Chewing up the clock

Points, explosive plays and turnovers are the three keys to victory. Win those battles and usually good things follow.

Don’t forget about time of possession, though.

The Cardinals constricted the Chargers offensive attack in different ways on Sunday. They kept the rock out of Justin Herbert’s hands by winning the time of possession battle 37:31 to 22:29.

Just two of the Chargers’ drives spanned more than five plays. One was the opening touchdown drive. The other was a turnover on downs forced by a Dante Stills sack in the first half.

They did not have any drives longer than five plays throughout the second half and ended the game 2-for-8 on third down.

Hard to get much of a rhythm when you’re stuck on the sideline.

More “downs” than an elevator

The Chargers turned the ball over on downs four times on Sunday.

But it was the three sandwiching an interception in fourth quarter that helped eliminate any threat of a comeback in L.A.

File these under fourth-quarter drive results an offense never wants to see:

– Downs (blocked punt)
– Interception
– Downs
– Downs

Stills accounted for one turnover on downs with a sack, but it was Simi Fehoko’s punt-blocking prowess deep in Chargers territory that took the title for most impressive TOD of the day.

Three of the four resulted in 13 points (touchdown and two field goals) on the ensuing drives. The fourth led to victory formation to end the game.

No. 97

Walter Nolen III had just one tackle in Sunday’s win, but it was what didn’t show up on the stat sheet that stood out.

Stills’ sack came on a one-on-one effort with Nolen taking up two blockers next to him.

Dante Stills gets the sack on 4th and goal!

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Budda Baker and Jack Gibbens split a sack later in the game thanks to the rushing lanes opened up by Nolen taking on a triple team of Chargers offensive linemen.

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— Az sports fan (@SportsFanInAz) September 13, 2026

Nolen said “things move a little bit differently” when he’s wrecking things along the interior. Sunday was a good example of that.

One better than none?

The Cardinals offense put up nearly 393 yards and was constantly moving the chains in L.A.

Look at Marvin Harrison Jr.’s statline, though, and you might not have that thinking.

Reeling in just one of three targets for 33 yards, Harrison fell behind Trey McBride (nine for 95), Kendrick Bourne (eight for 75) and Michael Wilson (five for 56) in the pass-catching pecking order on Sunday.

His lone was catch was impressive, but was just a small part of Arizona’s offense on Sunday.

Marv wins the 1-on-1 😤

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— NFL (@NFL) September 13, 2026

If Harrison is going to have a bounce-back season and live up to his first-round price tag, games like this cannot be the norm — even if Arizona won the game thanks to its flock of other playmakers.

From one rookie running back to another

Love became the first Cardinals rookie to score a touchdown in his NFL debut since David Johnson in 2015.

Trey McPlay

With his nine-catch showing, tight end Trey McBride is now tied with Pro Football Hall of Famers Antonio Gates and Kellen Winslow Sr. for the second-most games with at least five receptions by a tight end in his first five NFL seasons. Jimmy Graham paces the group with 46.

It only feels like a matter of time before McBride surpasses Graham at this rate.

Turnarounds on the horizon?

Of the teams that didn’t make the postseason last year, seven of them walked away with Week 1 victories on Sunday:

– Arizona Cardinals
– Baltimore Ravens
– Cincinnati Bengals
– Detroit Lions
– Las Vegas Raiders
– Minnesota Vikings
– New York Jets

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