Sleeper Watch

Two sleepers from Arizona in the same week? What’s next, hell freezing over? A controversy-free ballot count in Florida? The Red Sox winning the World Series? Don’t look now, but the traditionally weak Arizona Defense might be worth picking up.

The Cardinals defense has been surprisingly effective this season. While Arizona ranks just 24th in the league by allowing opponents to gain 349 yards of total offense per game, those yards haven’t translated into very many points on the scoreboard. The Cardinals have given up just 17.3 points per game, tied with Miami for ninth-best overall. Just a year ago, Arizona was dead last in this category. Thanks to the play of Dave Macklin, Adrian Wilson, Bertrand Berry & Co., this unit also ranks near the top in interceptions (eight, tied for fourth in the NFL), forced fumbles (ten, tied for third) and passes defended (42, also tied for third), and are in the middle of the pack in sacks.

Yet it isn’t these statistics that make the Cardinals a good pickup, it’s their schedule. With dates with Buffalo and Miami, next-to-last and last in points scored, in the next two weeks and a trip to Carolina, the team ranked third from the bottom in points per game, in week 11, no defense has an easier schedule over the upcoming month than Arizona. If your primary defense is underachieving or will soon run into a powerhouse offense or two, you could do worse than to turn to the Cardinals for help.