The Arizona Cardinals were the worst team in the league a year ago at stopping the run on defense. It was demoralizing to watch.

They intend on turning things around with a new defensive scheme under defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.

Many felt the 4-3 defense they ran was the problem. Joseph runs a 3-4 scheme but doesn’t feel the front necessarily has anything to do with run-stopping success.

“I think stopping the run is not about your front structure, he explained in an interview on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “4-3 or 3-4, it’s got to be a mindset. It’s got to be a structure in place to stop the run. Most of the teams stop the run with numbers. So to play single high and to play man free, you’ve got to have corners. But the best defenses, honestly, stop the run with shell defense. If you can play a coverage-friendly defense and still stop the run with a six or a seven-man bix, that’s genius.”

Joseph said he hopes the defense can do both things — stop the run by having numbers in the box and also in personnel groups meant to stop the pass.

“Stopping the run, it’s got to be a priority,” he said. “That’s where you control the game.”

However, Joseph does not believe stopping the run is the difference between winning and losing.

“It does not win games for you,” he elaborated. “Defending the pass game wins you games, in my opinion, in this league, but stopping the run allows you to control the game more often than not.”

Arizona was pretty good last season against the pass. They did not give up many big plays. But they never controlled games because they struggled so much on offense and then never could keep the running game under control consistently.

With a team goal of having a top-10 defense once again, stopping the run is first. Stopping the pass then makes the difference.

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