Before we begin, a round of applause is in order for defensive coordinator Todd Bowles and the members of the Arizona Cardinals defense who are still able to take the field.
We have no idea how they're doing it, but we continue to marvel that they are, indeed doing it.
Through three games, the Cardinals defense ranks seventh in the NFL (before Monday night's game), allowing 316.3 yards per game. More importantly, the Cardinals rank second in scoring defense at 15 points per game and they haven't allowed a single point in the fourth quarter this season.
That's called closing the deal.
"We knew (San Francisco) was going to come out early with all they had offensively, but as a defense, we didn't blink," cornerback Patrick Peterson said of shutting down the 49ers after falling behind 14-6 on Sunday. "At the end of the day, we stayed true to ourselves, true to the scheme and came out with a big W."
We all knew this was an elite unit after the 2013 season, but did anyone outside those complex walls in Tempe truly believe it would remain elite when Karlos Dansby signed a four-year deal in the offseason with Cleveland, or when Daryl Washington was suspended for a year under the league's substance abuse policy, or when Darnell Dockett was lost for the season with a torn ACL, or when Tyrann Mathieu and Alameda Ta'amu began the season less than 100 percent, or when Dockett's replacement, Frostee Rucker, was shelved with a calf injury, or when John Abraham went on season-ending injured reserve with lingering effects of a concussion?
If you still said yes, our apologies. We don't believe you.
At least the Cardinals caught a break Monday when an MRI revealed cornerback Antonio Cromartie suffered only a bone bruise in Sunday's win over San Francisco; not another left knee ligament tear like the one he suffered in 2005 before his senior season at Florida State.
"I got really good news this morning," coach Bruce Arians said. "His old surgery is intact and is in good shape. He'll be day-to-day this week and ready to roll next week."
The 23-14 win over the 49ers was a telling example of the unit's ability to adjust quickly. San Francisco QB Colin Kaepernick was having his way with the Cardinals in the first half. He led two time-consuming, 80-yard touchdown drives by completing 14 of 18 passes for 116 yards and rushing nine times for 45 yards.
But in the second half, the Cardinals contained Kaepernick with better attention to assignments and technique along the front seven, while the secondary became more aggressive.
"I think we just figured out what they were trying to do; we just called better plays to stop it," defensive end Calais Campbell said. "We got a little tighter in our coverage and our D-line stepped up and played a little better."
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Halftime adjustments have become a trademark of the Bowles-Arians era, but given the direction of this season, Bowles can't just think about adjustments, he has to think about which personnel he has left on the sidelines with which to implement those adjustments.
On Sunday, when Cromartie went down in the third quarter, that meant greater roles for cornerbacks Jerraud Powers (last year's starter) and Justin Bethel. It meant greater roles for Tommy Kelly and Kareem Martin with Rucker still limited. It meant having supreme confidence in safety Tony Jefferson, once an undrafted free agent, who led the team in tackles (10) while adding one giant sack.
"We had guys step up and move around in different positions and play different packages and we didn't miss a beat," Bowles said. "That was good to see."
The contributions of the offense shouldn't be overlooked in judging the defense's success. Arizona quarterbacks Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton have thrown 99 passes without an interception this season while the Cardinals have fumbled just three times. Two of those turnovers came in opponents' territory so, by and large, the offense hasn't put the defense in bad situations with turnovers.
Will it continue? Will all those personnel losses finally take their toll after the bye week when the Cardinals travel to face Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos? Or can Bowles really keep fooling offenses with this shell game of over-achieving substitutes?
"He's done a fantastic job; he's a great teacher," Arians said. "All those guys are being put in a position to be successful and they're doing a good job of it."
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