Joseph: Cardinals must clean up 3rd downs, hope to have Jordan Phillips

It looked like the Arizona Cardinals’ offensive sputtering last Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams burned out the defense.

Even though Arizona head coach Kliff Kingsbury said after a 38-28 loss in Week 13 that was the case, his defensive coordinator sees it another way.

“We played really good football in the first two quarters (on) first and second down, but the third downs really killed us,” Vance Joseph said Thursday.

“That was the reason we played in the first half 45-plus snaps. It was really self-inflicted wounds we endured. If you lose one third down, you’re almost guaranteed to play six or seven more snaps.”

The Cardinals trailed 14-7 at halftime as the defensive unit turned the Rams over on downs twice, once at the goal line. But Arizona also allowed Los Angeles to convert 6 of 9 third downs.

By the end of the game, the Cardinals had lost the time of possession battle by nearly 18 minutes.

“It’s our job to win third down,” Joseph said. “We can control how many plays we play in an entire game by simply winning third downs.”

Line help incoming?

While the Cardinals have seen their patchwork defensive line hold up relatively well over the last few weeks, it’s good to have known commodities in the trenches.

Defensive tackle Jordan Phillips is near a return. He was designated to return from the injured list and remains day-to-day for a Sunday game against the New York Giants, according to Kingsbury.

Joseph said having that big-name player in the interior makes it easier on him as a play-caller — he can dictate and set up how an offense might react.

“What you’re missing (without Phillips) is the team has to account for those guys, Joseph said. “You can kind of use those guys to free others up. When Jordan’s out there, I know that center, if he’s a shade, he’s going to slide to Jordan. He can’t slide straight back.

“Those things you know and are guarantees when you have bell-cow rushers on first, second or third down. Without those guys out there, it’s tough to dictate or to predict what is going to happen. So it takes a lot of smoke and mirrors to free folks up.”

Phillips had 10 tackles and two sacks this year before a hamstring injury took him out of action on Nov. 19.

Peters’ Walter Payton honor a silver lining in injury-shortened year

Defensive tackle Corey Peters spoke with the media for the first time since suffering a season-ending knee injury that put him on IR the same day as Phillips was tabled.

That happened because Peters on Thursday was named the Cardinals’ nominee for the NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year honor.

Peters, whose endeavors revolve heavily around the education of children, said he’s handling a season-ending injury better than he has in the past.

“The first time, I tore my Achilles, which was my first major injury,” he said. “I didn’t handle it well at all. I got very depressed and just didn’t do the things that I needed to do to come back and be where I needed to play so I could play.”

Peters, who has 15 tackles with two sacks this year before the injury, will be a free agent heading into next season. He said his efforts to empower kids in Arizona will continue whether or not he’s back in a Cardinals uniform.

Follow @kzimmermanaz