Davante Adams Dares Cardinals Defense for Week 2
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If you know Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, he's aggressive as it gets. His defense tends to trust his cornerbacks with man coverage and incorporate heavy blitzing. There's a reason Arizona ranks 6th in the NFL in sacks (129.0) in three seasons under Joseph.
But Joseph's scheme can also be to a fault.
In Week 1, the Cardinals blitzed Patrick Mahomes on over half of his dropbacks and he threw for five touchdowns, despite the fact. And that was with a Kansas City Chiefs team without Tyreek Hill.
Arizona won't be so lucky in Week 2 against the Las Vegas Raiders as Davante Adams is now their lead pass-catcher. The Green Bay Packers traded Adams to the Raiders in March and had a stellar 2022 debut, posting 10 catches for 141 yards and a touchdown in the team's Week 1 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
On Wednesday, Adams was asked about the style of defense Arizona plays and he encourages them to keep being aggressive.
"Anytime I get man coverage, I'm excited about that. So yeah, I hope they do that as much as possible," Adams said.
Adams has notched five Pro Bowls and two first-team All-Pros in his eight-year career. Many view him as the best wide receiver in the game at the age of 29.
Joseph was asked about the abilities of Adams and he's not denying how difficult it will be stop the veteran receiver on Sunday.
"He is probably the best runner in the league outside of (Stefon Diggs) in Buffalo," Joseph told reporters Thursday.
"He is a special player. I mean, those kind of guys when you're one on one — if you want a one-on-one for 10 plays — he'll probably win seven. So having a plan to get him stopped and getting him doubled from time to time is going to be critical. He had 17 targets last week and caught 10 for 141. That's a lot of balls. So it's going to be a tough task to get him contained.
"And I say contain, not stop, because you don't stop those guys, you contain them. So hopefully we can."
It's likely that Adams will see coverage from Byron Murphy Jr. and Marco Wilson, with plenty of double-team looks, as Joseph mentioned. However, the Cardinals will also have to worry about Hunter Renfrow and Darren Waller. It'll be an incredibly tough task for the Cardinals cornerback who are already trending downward.
The good news for Arizona? Last week, the Raiders did give up five sacks and Derek Carr threw three interceptions. Arizona will hope to see the same inconsistent play from them, even if Adams has one of his usual great games.
Marquise Brown is entering a contract year and has seen Adams alter the wide receiver market in a positive way.
Brown looks up to Adams and understands his special body of work.
"He's one of the best in the game," Brown said. "He's one of the guys that you want to model your game. I mean, he does everything the right way. And his mentality is right. His mentality is really what makes him who he is."
"If you sit down and talk to him, you will know why he is the way he is."
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