Story last week that Chandler Jones wants out of Arizona, apparently unhappy with his contract. It's interesting timing, in that Jones comes off a down year, in which he only played 5 games and only had 1 sack. Regardless, Jones' departure, if things play out that way, would be a negative for the Cardinals defense.
Arizona, of course, signed J.J. Watt back in March, hoping to pair him with Jones in what was one of the league's best pass rushes a year ago even with Jones hurt; the Cardinals had 48 sacks (4th). But they let Haason Reddick (12.5 sacks) leave in free agency, so if they can't work things out with Jones, they'll have lost their best two players in that regard. Watt will be more of a one-man show, and that didn't work out so well in Houston last season.
Keeping Jones, if the Cardinals are able to do that, would be the ideal. Arizona had one of the league's better pass rushes a year ago (48 sacks) with him contributing little, so reasonable to think he and Watt can offset Reddick's departure. That will help them keep pace in a division that’s been really good at getting after opposing quarterbacks in recent years. The NFC West accounts for nearly a quarter (9) of the top 40 sack seasons over the last decade; five by the Rams, three by the Cardinals, and one by the 49ers. And the Seahawks were also pretty good a year ago, especially in the last eight games.
In the second half of last season, three teams had 26 or more sacks. All three were from the NFC West. (Table sorted by 2nd-half team sacks; NFC West teams in bold.)
| TEAM SACKS, 2020 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | G 1-8 | G 9-16 | Total |
| L.A. Rams | 25 | 28 | 53 |
| Seattle | 19 | 27 | 46 |
| Arizona | 22 | 26 | 48 |
| Green Bay | 17 | 24 | 41 |
| Pittsburgh | 32 | 24 | 56 |
| New Orleans | 22 | 23 | 45 |
| L.A. Chargers | 16 | 22 | 27 |
| Carolina | 8 | 21 | 29 |
| Miami | 20 | 21 | 41 |
| Philadelphia | 28 | 21 | 49 |
| Denver | 22 | 20 | 42 |
| Indianapolis | 20 | 20 | 40 |
| N.Y. Giants | 20 | 20 | 40 |
| N.Y. Jets | 11 | 20 | 31 |
| Tampa Bay | 28 | 20 | 48 |
| Washington | 27 | 20 | 47 |
| Buffalo | 19 | 19 | 38 |
| Chicago | 17 | 18 | 35 |
| Cleveland | 20 | 18 | 38 |
| Atlanta | 13 | 16 | 29 |
| Houston | 18 | 16 | 34 |
| San Francisco | 14 | 16 | 30 |
| Baltimore | 24 | 15 | 39 |
| Kansas City | 17 | 15 | 32 |
| Dallas | 17 | 14 | 31 |
| Detroit | 11 | 13 | 24 |
| New England | 11 | 13 | 24 |
| Las Vegas | 9 | 12 | 21 |
| Jacksonville | 8 | 10 | 18 |
| Tennessee | 10 | 9 | 19 |
| Minnesota | 16 | 7 | 23 |
| Cincinnati | 11 | 6 | 17 |
The weak link in the NFC West a year ago was San Francisco, which of course had an epic amount of injuries, most notably losing Nick Bosa for all but 2 games. That's a pass rush that should bounce back in 2021; the previous season, it had 48 sacks (5th).
Jones had 19 sacks in 2019, and he's 31 years old -- should have some good seasons left in him. Will be very interesting to see if the Cardinals work things out to keep him around, or what other team will benefit from him plying his trade. Will have some impact on the defense rankings in the weeks to come.
--Andy Richardson