{
  "id": 17892019,
  "title": "Arizona Cardinals Week 8 defensive, special teams snap counts, observations",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/03/arizona-cardinals-week-8-defensive-special-teams-snap-counts",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-11-03T02:03:09.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/arizona-cardinals-week-8-defensive-020309887.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Arizona Cardinals secured a narrow 33-30 overtime victory over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 8. Defensive and special teams players collectively made 74 defensive snaps and 35 special teams snaps. Six defensive linemen actively participated: L.J. Collier led with 48/65 snaps, Dante Stills had 46/62, Roy Lopez contributed 27/36, Darius Robinson logged 28/38, Jared Harrison-Hunte scored 24/32 after being elevated from the practice squad, and Andrew Billings contributed 16/22. Inactive lineber Walter Nolen III suffered an injury. Starting defensive linemen had a combined 24 tackles, two sacks, three pass deflections, and two quarterback hits. Linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. led the group with 10 tackles, while Jack Gibbens contributed with eight. Special teams players Budda Baker, Andrew Wingard, Kei’Trel Clark, Denzel Burke, Max Melton, and Kalen King each logged 74 snaps. CB Garrett Williams joined them with 8 snaps. Injured reserve players Zach Carter and Kaleb Proctor had special team opportunities. Notable plays included defensive linemen L.J. Collier's penalty costing 15 yards, Stills' interception, Billings' sack and tackles, Robinson's five tackles, and rookie Harrison-Hunte's three solo tackles. Rookie CB Max Melton returned a kickoff for 36 yards and had two assists. RB/RS Bam Knight had a 3-yard run. Quarterback Dak Prescott reduced his average per attempt from 6.72 to 4.85 after Dallas's two long passing plays (27 and 37 yards) were negated. The Cardinals' opponents in the three wins had only five plays of 20+ yards, while in the five losses, opponents had 24. WR Simi Fehoko, TE Kenny Yeboah, TE Teagan Quitoriano, CB/RS Max Melton, TE Elijah Higgins, K Chad Ryland, RB/RS Devin Duvernay, LB Zaven Collins, P/Holder Blake Gillikin, LS Casey Kreiter, CB Kei’Trel Clark, CB Garrett Williams, DL Dante Stills, NT Roy Lopez, DL L.J. Collier, C/G Hayden Conner, G Isaac Seumalo, T Elijah Wilkinson, T Jedrick Wills Jr. and C Kingsley Eguakun made appearances on special teams. WR/RS Devin Duvernay had a 24-yard return. Overall, the team's special teams efforts contributed to their successful overtime win.",
  "summary": "The Cardinals played 74 snaps on defense against the Cowboys. Here is how the playing time was split up.",
  "key_points": [
    "Arizona Cardinals won 33-30 in overtime against Dallas Cowboys.",
    "Defensive and special teams players made 74 defensive snaps, 35 special teams snaps.",
    "Rookie CB Max Melton returned kickoff 36 yards, had two assists."
  ],
  "editors_take": "Heavy reliance on defensive linemen and a versatile special teams unit provides the depth necessary to stifle long passing plays and secure narrow victories in close games.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}