Josh Weinfuss, ESPN Staff Writer 6y

Comparing the four defensive coordinators interviewed by Cardinals

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Of the nine candidates the Arizona Cardinals have interviewed for their head coach job, five were defensive coaches. And of those five, four were defensive coordinators.

Three of the four -- the Cardinals’ James Bettcher, Philadelphia Eagles’ Jim Schwartz and Carolina Panthers’ Steve Wilks -- led defenses that finished in the top seven in yards allowed per game.

The Matt Patricia-led New England Patriots finished 29th in yards per game. However, every defense except the Panthers got better as the season progressed. In Weeks 1-9, the Cardinals were ranked 22nd in yards allowed per game, the Eagles were 23rd and the Patriots were 29th, while the Panthers were fifth. During the last eight weeks, the Cardinals gave up the third-fewest yards, the Eagles the fewest, the Patriots the 13th-fewest and the Panthers’ the 18th-fewest.

The Cardinals finished fourth in yards allowed per play, the Eagles ninth, the Panthers 17th and the Patriots 31st.

Here’s a statistical breakdown of how each coordinators’ defense fared in 2017:

Styles: Only Bettcher, for obvious reasons, would carry over the type of scheme the Cardinals have run the past five seasons, the last three with Bettcher as coordinator. Bettcher runs a 3-4; the other three coordinators run 4-3 defenses. However, the other three, as well as Bettcher, run multiple fronts. If a 4-3 coach were to be hired, the Cardinals would have to slightly retool their roster to fit the three-linebacker scheme, while most likely moving Chandler Jones and Markus Golden to defensive ends -- a position they often lined up at anyway.

Against the run: Again, three of the four coordinators boast top-tier run defenses. Schwartz was the architect of the best run defense in the league, allowing just 79.2 yards per game. The Panthers finished third and the Cardinals were sixth. The Patriots struggled against the run and finished 20th.

But on a per-play basis, Bettcher’s defense had the best season out of the bunch. The Cardinals were third in yards allowed per rush with 3.53 and the Eagles were sixth with 3.76. The Panthers were 11th and the Patriots were 31st.

New England allowed the most 100-yard rushers with four. Both the Eagles and Cardinals each allowed one. The Panthers did not allow one throughout the season.

Against the pass: Schwartz’s defense continued to shine against the pass. The Eagles had the fourth-most interceptions with 19, and were ranked seventh in passing yards allowed per play with 5.67, but were 17th in passing yards allowed per game with 227.3.

Bettcher’s defense had 15 interceptions -- 12th-most in the NFL -- while allowing passing 6.28 yards per game (11th) and 221.3 passing yards per game.

The Panthers weren’t as efficient against the pass, intercepting 10 passes this season (24th-lowest) and giving up an average of 6.66 yards per pass (19th) and 229.1 passing yards per game (18th). Then there were the Patriots, who had 12 picks (18th) and allowed 6.81 yards per pass (21st) and 251.3 passing yards per game (30th).

Points allowed: Despite their struggles elsewhere, the Patriots allowed the fifth-fewest points in the NFL with 18.5 per game despite playing the most snaps (1,022) out of the four defenses whose coordinators have interviewed with the Cardinals.

The Eagles allowed the fourth-fewest points with 18.4, and the Panthers allowed 20.4 points (11th). The Cardinals allowed 22.6 points per game -- 19th in the NFL.   

To blitz or not to blitz: If the Cardinals want their defense to blitz, there are two prime candidates: Wilks or Bettcher. Wilks’ defense blitzed on 44 percent of dropbacks, the second-highest rate in the NFL. Bettcher’s blitzed on 32.9 percent. Schwartz blitzed on about a quarter of dropbacks – 25.5 percent – while Patricia dialed up blitzes on 23.6 percent of dropbacks.

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