“Defense wins championships.” The Philadelphia Eagles proved just that in Super Bowl LIX behind an impressive 40-22 beatdown of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Rattling quarterback Patrick Mahomes through four full quarters of action, Philadelphia left no doubt that it was the superior team on Sunday.

The showing also left little doubt in what the Arizona Cardinals must accomplish this offseason if they hope to continue their upward trend with a postseason berth in Year 3 of the current regime.

While offensive line and a vertical deep threat are among positions of need for Arizona ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft, upgrading the team’s defensive front sits well above the rest.

As Arizona Sports’ Ron Wolfley likes to say, “the game is won at the line of scrimmage.”

He’s not wrong. The Eagles defense only helped solidify that with this one massive stat against a tough Chiefs offense:

Across Mahomes’ 42 dropbacks on Sunday, Philadelphia racked up 16 pressures and six sacks without a single blitz. Per Next Gen Stats, that’s only the fourth instance a defense didn’t blitz in a game in the Next Gen Stats era.

This wasn’t accomplished by some massive free agent overhaul, either.

The Eagles’ main contributors up front — Josh Sweat (2018), Milton Williams (2021), Jordan Davis (2023) and Jalyx Hunt (2024) — all came over as draft picks in recent years. They accounted for all six of Philadelphia’s sacks on Sunday. And that’s before mentioning cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell (2024) and Cooper DeJean (2024).

For the Cardinals to continue their positive trajectory, it’s all about using those lottery tickets we all call draft picks much like the Eagles did to bolster the front.

It’s not like Arizona hasn’t already begun that process, either.

Dante Stills has exceeded expectations and carved out a nice rotational role for himself these past two seasons. Only Zaven Collins had more sacks for Arizona this season with five, compared to Stills’ 4.5.

2024 first-round pick Darius Robinson saw his rookie season delayed due to a calf injury and the passing of his mother but had flashes across a six-game sample size.

Still, reinforcements are needed for a defense that came in 28th in pass-rush win rate (33%) and 20th in run-stop win rate (30%). The NFL Draft, which is shaping up to have tons of interior defensive line depth, is a great starting point.

But for as much as Arizona needs to hit on young defenders in the draft, general manager Monti Ossenfort must take a swing or two in free agency or via trade.

Myles Garrett might be the biggest fish in the acquisition pond this offseason (and for good reason) but he’s far from the only defender Arizona should be keeping tabs on, especially after what we all watched Sweat and Williams do to Mahomes and the Chiefs offensive line.

Adding either would be an instant upgrade while also giving head coach Jonathan Gannon a familiar face from his defensive coordinator days in Philadelphia. In addition to Sweat’s championship showing, the pass rusher racked up eight sacks, nine tackles for loss and 15 QB hits across 16 regular season games. Milton chipped in 5.0, seven TFLs and 10 QB hits in 17 games.

And with $67.8 million in effective cap space as of Tuesday, according to OverTheCap, Arizona has money to spend in 2025. That being said, Sweat and Williams are likely going to command a big number. Think four-year, $80 million range.

The potential overpay might be worth it, though, after seeing what defensive coordinator Nick Rallis was able to conjure up as the season progressed. Despite being at a talent deficit defensively, Rallis saw the unit improve as the season went behind his creativity and players stepping up into roles.

Can you imagine getting a guy like Sweat or Williams for Rallis to throw into the mix? I can just see the added turnovers — something Arizona must improve upon after registering 17 in 2024 — caused by their ruckus in the backfield now.

The benefits go beyond the defense

Not only would adding a game wrecker like Sweat or Williams improve Arizona’s defense, it could also have an impact on the offense.

With Mahomes and the Chiefs in check, quarterback Jalen Hurts didn’t have to put the team on his back, play hero ball or force things.

Instead, he served as an All-Star point guard picking and choosing his moments while the defense did its thing.

Complementary football was on display at its finest on Sunday.

Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray has talked time and time again about not having to be Superman. Now, he’s still got to pull his weight offensively heading into Year 7 but getting him some help on the other side of the football could do wonders for the signal caller and unit as a whole.

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