ADVERTISEMENT

ARIZONA CARDINALS

Cardinals pass rushers Dennis Gardeck, Zaven Collins pick on Rams LT Warren McClendon

The Arizona Cardinals' struggling pass rush got going against Los Angeles Rams left tackle Warren McClendon.

The Arizona Cardinals ranked dead last in pass rush win rate by ESPN’s standards after Week 1.

In Week 1, Arizona sacked the mobile Josh Allen twice, but those came from unlikely sources in backup defensive back Kei’Trel Clark and nose tackle Roy Lopez.

That pass rush rating got a lift in the home opener Sunday, a 41-10 shellacking of the Los Angeles Rams and their injury-plagued offensive line.

Cardinals edge rushers Zaven Collins and Dennis Gardeck earned one-on-one wins at State Farm Stadium to highlight a five-sack day of quarterback Matthew Stafford.

ADVERTISEMENT

Both of them helped Arizona pick on left tackle Warren McClendon, who last week for Los Angeles played at right tackle.

McClendon allowed all three first-half sacks of Stafford: two to Gardeck and one to Collins.

Gardeck added a third sack, of the strip-sack variety, in the fourth quarter, which was pounced on by Cardinals defensive tackle L.J. Collier.

It was a bit predictable. McClendon last week against the Detroit Lions allowed five pressures and three quarterback hits. He also had two penalties.

McClendon moved to left tackle against the Cardinals with Rob Havenstein healthy enough to play at his usual spot on the right side.

ADVERTISEMENT

Rams fans were not vibing with it.

Kevin Zimmerman ArizonaSports.com editor

Kevin Zimmerman is ArizonaSports.com's and KTAR.com's digital content manager and co-host of Arizona Sports' Empire of the Suns podcast. The Mesa native has covered the Suns on-and-off since graduating the University of Arizona in 2011 and also spent… Read more

Comments