ARIZONA — What a difference a week can make in the National Football League.
At this point in time last week, Arizona Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur declined to make sweeping changes to his defensive staff, keeping coordinator Nick Rallis in his seat amid a four-game stretch where Arizona's defense allowed 30 points per game.
Fans, rightfully so, had grown impatient with the fourth-year play-caller, and entering Week 6's matchup against a highly potent Los Angeles Rams attack, another poor performance from Arizona's defense just might have been the final nail in Rallis' coffin.
LaFleur, defending Rallis at the podium, promised schematic changes to one of the league's worst statistical defensive units before Week 6. He wouldn't share what they were, but was confident in things turning around. Quickly. And he needed them to, not just for Rallis' sake, but for the organization's as well.
If the proof is in the pudding, LaFleur's eating it in heaping portions at the moment. The Cardinals put on one of their most impressive defensive displays in recent memory during their 18-16 win at SoFi Stadium, shocking the NFL and Los Angeles in one fell swoop.
Sean McVay teams have typically gotten the best of Arizona during his tenure with the Rams, though Sunday marked the first time in what's felt like forever where the Cardinals looked more than prepared. They weren't just ready for the test, they had the answers for it.
"I thought their play style was awesome. It looked to me like they had clear minds. I just saw clear minds. I saw 11 as one. I saw cleats in the ground, and I thought they were just working together in unison. It was really cool. It was reminiscent of what I felt like I saw in '24, maybe even in the early parts of last year, in terms of just something that did not look fun for the opposing offense," LaFleur shared with reporters on a victory Monday.
"... That's what it looked like to me. And hopefully we are even better than that."
The Cardinals limited Matthew Stafford to just 222 passing yards, though he did find two touchdowns through the air. Puka Nacua and Davante Adams respectively had quiet days while Los Angeles allowed three sacks and turned the ball over once. The Rams went 4-10 on third down and 0-2 on fourth down.
Rallis was once regarded as a potential head coaching candidate thanks to the work he did with previous iterations of a less talented Cardinals defense, most notably for his creative play-calling and willingness to send pressure.
That once coveted aggressiveness dwindled to extremely low points in recent weeks, and just when Rallis was potentially on the verge of packing his bags, he dialed up the pressure to new levels. According to Pro Football Focus, Arizona's 13 blitzes on Sunday were the most the Cardinals had all season. The Cardinals tallied seven quarterback hits on Stafford, who averaged just 2.57 seconds to throw on Sunday.
The aggressive gameplan worked, and it's been something fans and media alike have been pounding the table for since earlier in the season.
LaFleur also touched on playing smoother and more free. The Cardinals previously utilized a heavy Cover 6 usage, which is one of the more difficult coverages to play due to its complexity. That can often lead to miscommunications on the backend, which has prompted explosive plays on a weekly basis against Arizona.
Final data isn't out just yet on coverage shells for Week 6, though the Cardinals seemed to simplify their coverages and allowed their defenders to think just a bit less and play a tad faster.
"It was all productive," LaFleur said on last week's meetings to make defensive changes. "And that's their standard. They set the bar right there. That was a really good defensive performance.
"I just want to play great defense. I want hair on fire, hats to the ball, shots on the ball. 11 as one, and that's what I saw yesterday. The guys should be proud of that performance they put out there. It was real."
Budda Baker was flying around the front seven. Josh Sweat was getting to the quarterback and the Cardinals' defensive line was flying to whoever had the ball. Week 6 was, in many ways, what so many fans had hoped for Arizona's defense to become.
One game isn't enough to save jobs. Nobody believes the Cardinals have magically fixed all of their problems, and a 2-4 record is still not up to par. Yet perhaps more than anything, Sunday showed there just might be light at the end of the tunnel for Rallis and his defensive unit.
"I trust the human. I trust the worker. I know what the players think of him. We know this is a results-based business. We understand that, we know that. But I knew our defense had more than what we'd been putting out there, and we just had to unlock it some way, somehow," LaFleur said on his confidence in Rallis.
"And again, this was just one week, but it was a step in the right direction. I do believe we can grow from this one. I do believe we can start to build an identity off of this one. Each week's going to be a game of its own, and there's always going to be unique challenges, but I got a lot of faith in Nick. I got a lot of faith in the rest of the defensive staff. I think they're coaching their butt off. I think the details are improving. I think you could see that yesterday, particularly up front. I believe in the players that have to go out and execute it."
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