For the Arizona Cardinals to have a fighting chance of winning Sunday, they have to find a way to keep Detroit Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson from wrecking the game.
Hutchinson had a monster game last Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with 4.5 sacks for 37 yards, five tackles (four solo) with four for loss, five quarterback hits and a forced fumble. Yet, the Lions lost.
In the season opener, he had one sack for five yards, five tackles (three solo) with one for loss and four quarterback hits, and they beat the Los Angeles Rams.
Still, the Cardinals know the challenge he presents and the question now is whether right tackle Kelvin Beachum will be healthy. Beachum suffered a hamstring injury apparently in practice Thursday. He was limited that day, did not practice Friday and is questionable for the game.
Last week, after first-game starter Jonah Williams suffered a knee injury and was placed on injured reserve, Jackson Barton was elevated from the practice squad to be the swing tackle. The Cardinals also have Charlie Heck and Luke Tenuta on the practice squad and while Heck played 41 games with 21 starts in four seasons with the Houston Texans, he’s been in Arizona only since Sept. 11. Tenuta was signed to the practice squad on Aug. 29.
It's not out of the question that rookie Isaiah Adams might be called on to play right tackle after he started 10 games last season there at the University of Illinois. The Cardinals don’t list a backup tackle on their depth chart. To protect themselves in the event Beachum isn’t 100 percent Sunday, two tackles might have to be elevated.
No matter who is matched up against Hutchinson, helping him with a tight end could be beneficial although it could result in one less receiver running pass routes, much less what Hutchinson is capable of doing against the run.
When offensive coordinator Drew Petzing was asked about the Lions defense this week, he said, “It's an impressive group, really at all three levels. They have premier players. They play extremely hard. The scheme's really good; it's really well-coached. They give people fits. It’s one of many reasons that they're a good football team. It's not one of those games like if we eliminate this player or this part. They got it at all three levels and they do it at a really high level. So I think it's going to be a big challenge for us this week.”
He did say about Hutchinson, “Any unit, no matter how talented they are, has a best player. For them, that's certainly him. He's dynamic in the pass game for sure. You see the statistics and my guess is he would say this: He's just as effective in the run game. He takes no plays off. He plays with an extremely high motor. One of the best defensive ends in the league. So, we have to be aware of him as we do the other 10 guys on the field. But certainly if you're gonna rank ‘em out, he's at the top of that list in terms of what we need to pay attention to.”
Asked if he will have to be always aware where Hutchinson is, quarterback Kyler Murray said, “You have to be. He warrants that, he's a great player. The things he has done in his short career are pretty impressive. He is who he is and he's going to continue to be that guy for the rest of his career. We definitely have to be aware of him.”
“He is in a really good scheme; they give him some freedom and he's got a skill set,” head coach Jonathan Gannon said. “Wherever he got drafted, you could tell why he got drafted that high.”
Hutchinson currently has 10.5 sacks in his last four regular-season games and with 2.5 Sunday would tie him with Hall of Famer Michael Strahan for the most sacks in five consecutive games, even though two of the games were more than eight months ago.
He admitted to running out of dances when he got to the final sack last week, saying “That fifth one I just put up my hands. It was just one of those days where you're just a magnet to the ball. It was fun."
The Cardinals don’t want him having much fun Sunday.
