–They won their first game, but the Cardinals’ defense was on the field for 40 minutes and 12 seconds as the 49ers offense ran a staggering 92 plays. That’s the most of any non-overtime game since 2012 and the most a Cardinals defense has faced since 1958.
“In regards to the number of plays, we’ve got to do a much better job of getting off the field,” head coach Steve Wilks said. “They had a 13-play drive right there I believe in the third quarter and they only had one third down. So again, we’ve got to create negative plays and get these guys in third-and-long and get off the field.”
–Defensive end Chandler Jones could be making another run at first-team All-Pro if he keeps stacking games like he played last week against the 49ers, when he was all over the field. Head coach Steve Wilks has said Jones has the potential to be a perennial Defensive Player of the Year.
He was outstanding in the win over San Francisco with six tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss, two quarterback hits, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a batted down pass on a two-point conversion try. Those numbers earned him NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
“I’ll always envision Chandler playing that way,” Wilks said. “That’s the ability that he has, being a Pro Bowl player. He and I have talked from Day 1 when I first got here and how I saw him as a big-time player and a difference-maker out there. That’s what he played like (on Sunday).
“It really wasn’t the call. It was all him just going out there, dominating the tackle, making plays, a sack-fumble, PBUs (pass breakups), you name it. I’m excited to see where he is right now. Hopefully, he can continue on this path.”
–The Cardinals signed free-agent wide receiver Kendall Wright to a one-year contract and released cornerback Deatrick Nichols, whom they later re-signed to their practice squad. Arizona hasn’t gotten much out of its passing game through the season’s first five weeks and the addition of Wright is seen as a way of trying to light a spark to the offense.
“I’ve been in a lot of offenses so it’s not hard to pick it up,” said Wright, who spent his first five NFL seasons with the Titans, including 2013 when he had 94 receptions for 1,079 yards. “The stuff they are running here, I’ve done it before.”
Asked about Wright’s addition and his availability for Sunday’s game in Minnesota, head coach Steve Wilks said, “Again, just want to continue to try to mix things up in all positions, particularly at the receiver position where we need more production. Wright’s doing well. We’ll see exactly how he progresses throughout the week and see if he’s going to be ready to play on game day.”
–“Not just relief for myself because, to be quite honest, I try to keep the outside noise outside. I try to stay focused on the guys here in the building, but I felt good for everybody because the coaches, as well as the players, have been working so hard to try to get this win. As I stated before, 0-4 is not what we expected. We have a pretty good football team. We’ve just got to go out and execute, and I think you saw a little bit of that yesterday. As I mentioned, there are some things that we have to continue to clean up. It is a relief to be able to get one, and now we’ve just got to continue to move forward.” – Head coach Steve Wilks on picking up his first win as an NFL head coach after the Cardinals’ 0-4 start.
–Wide receiver Christian Kirk’s 75-yard touchdown reception from fellow rookie Josh Rosen marked the first time in 10 years that the Cardinals scored a TD on their first play of the game. It was also the longest rookie-to-rookie touchdown play in franchise history since 1958.
Kirk said the Cardinals decided on Friday that they would open with that exact play they had been running in practice.
“Obviously I was excited. All we had to do was execute it,” Kirk said, adding he didn’t have any worries about not making the catch. “No. In that scenario, there were no negative thoughts going through the head.”
–“We need to execute better. I think we’ve just got to play better. It’s my second full game, so moving forward, the more I play, the more fluid I get with everything, and I think the better we can execute. … We’ve just got to execute better – offense and defense. I don’t think anyone plays perfect games, and even if you do play a really good, there’s always room to get better.” – QB Josh Rosen on what needs to get better.
–Safety Darian Thomson was signed off the Cardinals’ practice squad by the Cowboys. To fill that spot, the Cardinals brought back CB Deatrick Nichols, who had been cut on Monday, and signed him to the practice squad.
BY THE NUMBERS: 6 – Including Sunday, the number of games in which wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald will have played an NFL game in his hometown of Minneapolis, where he grew up serving as a Vikings ball boy during the tenure of coach Dennis Green.
