How the Cardinals’ perennial Pro Bowler foiled the Rams
Many of the Cardinals’ fans and pundits who have been urging the Cardinals to trade 6-time Pro Bowler and 3-time All-Pro safety Budda Baker have been arguing that safety is not a premier position in the NFL.
My rebuttal: (please click on the video to see for yourselves)
OK, well, in Budda’s case, please allow me to make it easier on everyone regarding Budda Baker’s position in the NFL —-
In fact, since Budda was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2nd round of the 2017 draft, Budda Baker leads all NFL defensive backs in:
Any team that values tackling could place an extremely high value on Budda Baker.
Budda Baker —-> Nick Rallis’ Trojan Horse versus the Rams
First of all, let’s get one thing out of the way from the get-go.
Here’s one fan’s reaction to my tweet last night:
People who have been assuming the Rams, because of being without LT Joe Noteboom, C Steve Avila and WR Puka Nacua had little to no chance of beating the Cardinals in this game are grossly mistaken.
You have to remember that the Cardinals were taking on a Sean McVay offense that has dominated the Cardinals for 5 seasons —-
In this game, here are the following players who were available to him:
QB Matthew Stafford —- Super Bowl winner, Pro Bowl QB who combined for 455 yards passing and 5 TDs vs. ARI in 2023, 118.5 RTG
RB Kyren Williams —- combined for 301 yards rushing (8.4 ave.), 1 TD, plus 61 yards receiving, 2 TDs
WR Cooper Kupp —- Super Bowl MVP, All-Pro WR who caught 7/148/21.1 1 TD in first win
WR Tutu Atwell —- caught 3/76/25.3 in second win
WR Demarcus Robinson
TE Colby Parkinson
LG Joanah Jackson —- Pro Bowl UFA from DET —- 3/$51M/$17M a year
RG Kevin Dotson —- Pro Bowl UFA from PIT —- 3/$48M/$16M a year
RT Rob Havenstein —- re-signed in 2022 for 3/34.5M
By the way —- the last time the Cardinals had beaten the Rams was 27-17 at LA in 2022 with Colt McCoy at QB and 1 remaining starter on the OL in Kelvin Beachum.
If anyone thinks that the Rams and Sean McVay were coming into this game with Cardinals licking their wounds, guess what? The Rams and McVay were licking their chops in believing they would dominate the Cardinals’ defense the way they did last year, amassing 839 yards and 63 points, to the point where McVay was laughing about how easy it was to run his offense versus the Cardinals during a Monday morning NFL talk show.
The Rams had every intention of jumping out themselves to the 7-0 lead —- and here is what transpired on their first possession:
Cardinals 41-10 Rams (Sep 15, 2024) Box Score – ESPN
1st & 10 at ARI 49
(14:54 – 1st) (Shotgun) K.Williams right tackle to ARZ 40 for 9 yards (S.Thomas).
2nd & 1 at ARI 40
(14:20 – 1st) (Shotgun) K.Williams up the middle to ARZ 41 for -1 yards (B.Baker, B.Nichols).
3rd & 2 at ARI 41
(13:40 – 1st) (Shotgun) M.Stafford pass short right to D.Robinson to ARZ 38 for 3 yards (S.Murphy-Bunting). Arizona challenged the pass completion ruling, and the play was REVERSED. (Shotgun) M.Stafford pass incomplete short right to D.Robinson.
4th & 2 at ARI 41
(13:37 – 1st) Timeout at 13:37.
4th & 2 at ARI 41
(13:37 – 1st) (Shotgun) M.Stafford pass short left to C.Kupp to ARZ 40 for 1 yard (B.Baker).
Talk about setting the tone for this football game. Getting the ball in Kyler Murray’s hands this early in the game was an absolute boon.
Rallis and Baker Collaboration
Here is a likely scenario as to how the Cardinals’ plan was conceived during the week of preparation.
Nick Rallis has talked about how over the summer that he game-planned for the Cardinals’ first eight opponents. Obviously, one of Rallis’ most daunting tasks was to find smart and creative ways to slow down Sean McVay’s elaborate rushing, passing and play-action schemes.
Did you hear Mark Sanchez say during the game that Budda told the FOX crew prior to the game how Nick Rallis’ defense has become his “favorite defense to play in.”
Were you surprised to hear this? Especially in light of how often Budda lauded Vance Joseph to the point of urging Michael Bidwill to hire Vance as head coach?
At first, I was very surprised, but then I thought of how Budda said recently at a press conference that Nick Rallis has been asking Budda for his input with regard to game planning.
This is very wise of Nick Rallis, particularly in prepping for the NFC West opponents that Budda has gotten to know very well over the past seven seasons.
Whether it was Budda who encouraged Nick Rallis to have him key on Kyren Williams in rushing and goal-line situations and to have him help out on Cooper Kupp on passing downs —- or whether it was Nick Rallis who encouraged Budda to take on this role —- Budda’s assignments in this game fed into his greatest strengths.
Therefore, coming into this game, Nick Rallis had created a Trojan Horse type of role for Budda Baker. Which —-> Sean McVay had no answers for!
Note —- kudos to Rallis and Budda for mapping out the Rams’ running and passing tendencies within certain formations or “looks” —-> because look at how Budda, often starting 10 yards off the ball, knew precisely how, when and where to pick his spots (with special thanks to Brian Baldinger):
Look at how quickly Budda gets to the football. And look at how swiftly and abruptly he takes down the ballcarrier. This is superhuman. Baldy term of cobra aptly fits the bill.
In this game, Budda, employed as a Trojan Horse, was not used primarily a safety, he was used as a designated spy and scheme destroyer.
After setting the tone for the game, Budda’s teammates on both sides of the ball hunkered down and made big play after big play?
Think of what Budda’s huge tackles meant in this game:
Kyren Williams —- 12 carries for 25 yards (2.1 ave.) 1 TD, plus 4 catches for 27 yards, 0 TDs
Cooper Kupp —- 4 catches for 37 yards (9.3 ave.) 0 TDs (before leaving due to an ankle injury that he suffered on his one big catch of 24 yards, where he was tackles by Jalen Thompson and Starling Thomas V right before halftime.
Halftime score: ARI 24 LAR 3.
You just know this week how diligently Sean McVay is trying to counter for a free safety tuned designated tackler who foiled his high-powered, multi-dimensional offense and basically was largely responsible for stopping it in its tracks
Our friend and highly regarded analyst Marcos Labrada said it perfectly:
Let me ask you a question. Has any defensive player on the Cardinals intimidated the team’s NFC West rivals for a stretch of at least five years the way Budda Baker has?
I believe that if Budda Baker doesn’t take away McVay’s bread and butter plays like no single Cardinal has since McVay was hired, this game could have turned out like the high scoring Buffalo game.
