Among the questions the Arizona Cardinals have this offseason, it is what the defense will look like under new defensive coordinator James Bettcher. Will it make an improvement? Will it see a dropoff in performance?

For Bleacher Report, Stephen Nelson and former NFL QB Chris Simms discuss the topic:

There are some valid points made. Statistically, the Cardinals defense didn't end up being very good. In terms f yardage, they were in the bottom third. They were near the bottom of the league against the pass. After starting off as a great defense against the run, that fell apart too. The one thing was their points allowed.

We can explain away the defensive struggles late in the season -- the mounting injuries, the time on the field when the offense struggled to produce anything -- but the numbers are what the numbers are.

Simms brings up key losses. At this point, can we really call losing Darnell Dockett a huge loss? He didn't play last season.

However, while Cory Redding and Sean Weatherspoon are mentioned as important additions, they fail to even mention the team's biggest defensive line addition -- Corey Peters. Peters is versatile and can play well against the pass and the rush. They Cardinals won't have to take him off the field like they did Dan Williams.

With the personnel changes, where do you expect the Cardinals defense to stand statistically at the end of the season?