Cardinals defense looks unrecognizable in upset win over Rams

The Arizona Cardinals defense has been a sore spot for the majority of the season.

Heading into Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams, it was hard to pinpoint a worse unit in the league.

But as they say, ‘Any given Sunday,’ right?

Amid all the warranted noise calling for defensive coordinator Nick Rallis’ job and the overall fan frustration with the franchise, the defense stepped up in a major way to secure Arizona’s second win of the season with an 18-16 walk-off victory.

Cardinals win their second game of the season at SoFi Stadium 😮 https://t.co/B3I5Q5Ttkt

— NFL (@NFL) October 18, 2026

It’s Arizona’s first divisional win since Week 18 of 2024.

Two trips to Los Angeles, two wins for Arizona. And through six weeks, the Cardinals and preseason Super Bowl-favorite Rams sport identical 2-4 records.

Just how everyone drew it up, right?

Rallis got back to his creative and aggressive tendencies across four quarters in L.A.

He was dialing up much more pressure than we had seen all season with more blitzes. His players did their part, too.

After being a pass-rushing afterthought through most of the season, Josh Sweat was a problem for the Rams offensive line on Sunday. He ended the game with two sacks (one was on a two-point conversion attempt).

His pressure late in the game to help force a turnover on downs with 3:17 remaining was a key moment in the game.

Walter Nolen III showed up again, too.

Budda Baker was also wreaking havoc in the backfield with a sack and two tackles for loss. The safety is now up to a team-leading 3.5 sacks on the season.

Pair all that with the Rams’ inability to kick the football after losing Blake Grupe due to injury early on, and it drummed up a perfect storm L.A. just couldn’t wade through.

What makes Arizona’s win even more impressive from a defensive standpoint is the lack of touchdowns on the other end for the Cardinals.

Despite having five red zone trips on Sunday, Arizona failed to find the end zone on all five.

Instead, the Cardinals relied on kicker Chad Ryland, who was a perfect 6-for-6 on Sunday.

His crowning moment on Sunday? The game-winning kick.

What a wild week for the Cardinals.

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