Top New York Jets Defensive Stars to Watch Against Arizona Cardinals

The New York Jets hope to build on one of their best defensive performances of the season when they face the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., with kickoff set for 4:25 p.m. on CBS.

New York (3-6) sacked Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud eight times last Thursday in their 21-13 victory. The Jets hadn’t posted a total like that all season. New York did allow 106 rushing yards to Joe Mixon and another 59 rushing yards to Stroud. So, the run defense still isn’t quite where New York wants it to be.

But the pass rush went to another level last week, and the Jets hope to keep that moving on Sunday.

The Cardinals (5-4) are coming off one of their best defensive performances of the year so far after holding Chicago quarterback Caleb Williams without a touchdown pass and limiting running back D’Andre Swift to just 51 yards.

That’s not a big surprise considering Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon, in his second season, was formerly a defensive coordinator.

Here are the defensive players to watch for both teams entering the game.

DE Micheal Clemons

New York needed the kind of game it got out of Clemons last Thursday. He sacked Stroud twice (linebacker Jamien Sherwood did as well). Those were Clemons’ first sacks since Oct. 6 in London and gave him 4.5 sacks for the season. The Jets need him to get to the quarterback more consistently the second half of the season.

DT Quinnen Williams

After a slow start to the season, Williams is starting to pick up steam. He had 1.5 sacks and forced a fumble against Houston last week. But take a deeper dive and you’ll see that he’s sacked the quarterback four times in the last three games. That’s four of his five sacks to this point in the season.

LB Jamien Sherwood

As noted earlier, Sherwood sacked the quarterback twice last Thursday. Those were his first two sacks of the season. But the Jets pay him to tackle and he’s been doing that a lot this season. His 80 tackles lead his closest teammate by 16 (Quincy Williams has 64) and he’s also defended a pass. Every week, Sherwood steps up and produces.

S Budda Baker

Speaking of tackling machines, Baker is having an incredible season for the Cardinals. He has a team-leading 90 tackles (including 58 solo shots), with four tackles for loss and two passes defended. Arizona would love to see him get an interception, but then again, he’s doing just about everything else.

DT Dante Stills

The Cardinals don’t have a high-octane pass rush and made a deal earlier this week to get some depth for the edge. But Stills has been their most consistent producer up front, as he leads the team with 3.5 sacks. He also has 26 tackles, three tackles for loss and has forced a fumble in eight games.

LB Zaven Collins

Collins gives the Cardinals a little bit of everything from the second level of their defense. He has 37 tackles, with 22 solo stops. He has three sacks, which is just behind Stills for the team lead. He also has five tackles for loss. He’ll be among one of the most productive defensive players on the field on Sunday.