The New York Jets’ top defensive stars to watch against the Arizona Cardinals

The New York Jets will hope to build on one of their best defensive performances of the season when they face the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:25 p.m. on CBS.

New York (3-6) sacked Houston Texans quarterback CJ Stroud eight times in a 21-13 win last Thursday. The Jets hadn’t achieved a record like that all season. New York allowed Joe Mixon 106 rushing yards and Stroud another 59 rushing yards. So the run defense is still not quite where New York wants it to be.

But the pass rush reached new levels last week, and the Jets are hoping it can continue that way on Sunday.

The Cardinals (5-4) put together one of their best defensive performances of the year so far after holding Chicago quarterback Caleb Williams without a touchdown pass and limiting running back D’Andre Swift to just 51 yards.

That’s not a big surprise considering Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon was previously defensive coordinator in his second season.

Here are the defensive players to keep an eye on as both teams enter the game.

DE Michael Clemons

New York needed the type of play it got from Clemons last Thursday. He sacked Stroud twice (linebacker Jamien Sherwood also did). Those were Clemons’ first sacks since Oct. 6 in London and gave him 4.5 sacks for the season. The Jets need him to get to quarterback more consistently in the second half of the season.

DT Quinnen Williams

After a slow start to the season, Williams is slowly picking up speed. He had 1.5 sacks and forced a fumble against Houston last week. However, if you delve deeper, you’ll find that he has sacked the quarterback four times in the last three games. That’s four of his five sacks to this point in the season.

LB Jamien Sherwood

As mentioned, Sherwood sacked the quarterback twice last Thursday. Those were his first two sacks of the season. But the Jets are paying him to tackle, and he has done that often this season. His 80 tackles put him 16 ahead of his closest teammate (Quincy Williams has 64) and he also had a pass defended. Every week, Sherwood goes to work and produces.

S Budda Baker

Speaking of tackling machines, Baker is having an incredible season for the Cardinals. He has a team-leading 90 tackles (including 58 solo throws), four tackles for loss and two passes defensed. Arizona would like to see him get intercepted, but then again, he does pretty much everything else.

DT Dante Stills

The Cardinals don’t have a deep pass rush and made a deal earlier this week to get some depth at the edge. But Stills has been the most consistent producer up front, as he leads the team with 3.5 sacks. He also has 26 tackles, three tackles for a loss and has forced a fumble in eight games.

LB Zaven Collins

Collins gives the Cardinals a little bit of everything from the second level of defense. He has 37 tackles, including 22 solo stops. He has three sacks, just behind Stills for the team lead. He also has five tackles for a loss. He will be one of the most productive defensive players on the field on Sunday.