Why J.J. Watt's impact on the Cardinals harkens back to Reggie White and the Green Bay Packers

I don’t know if you’ve noticed but there’s a full-blown culture shift happening with a certain desert football team.

It’s not only that the Arizona Cardinals are undefeated at 6-0 but more so how they’ve gotten to this point. In past eras, led by Kurt Warner and Carson Palmer, the Redbirds showed they were capable of winning a slew of football games while scoring points in bunches.

Yet both of those periods of success were, too often, built on finesse. More specifically high octane offenses with immobile quarterbacks in combination with defenses that played complimentary football. So while either Cardinal regime could certainly put together the occasional lopsided victory, were they ever truly dominant?

Not when you compare them to this 2021 version of the Arizona Cardinals.

No longer viewed as a “pretty boy” franchise, the Cardinals have suddenly morphed into certified ass kickers fueled by the number two scoring defense (18.2 ppg) in the NFL. In a league where parity is king and blowout victories are rather rare, the Cardinals performance this season remains an outlier.

So much so that, through the first six weeks, the Cardinals are the first team since 2007 to go 4-0 in their first four road games while simultaneously winning each of them by double digits. The other club to do it had a couple guys named Brady and Moss setting records seemingly every Sunday.

So what makes this Cardinals team so different? What’s the common denominator?

The answer to that question is unequivocally and emphatically J.J. Watt. The same J.J. Watt who, after signing a two-year deal worth upwards of $23 million dollars in guarantees, was lamented for choosing the Cardinals as opposed to a “true contender”.

When the Cardinals opted to recruit and eventually sign the future Hall of Famer back on March 1st, it was largely viewed as a cash grab by most of the national media. Watt, who had been on a steady decline during his latter years as a member of the Houston Texans, was assumed to be deciding to sign amongst the NFL’s elite in a final pursuit of a championship. Preseason darlings like Green Bay, Tampa and Buffalo were routinely tossed around as options before Watt himself broke the news on Twitter.

source: me. pic.twitter.com/1Y6okQBUy5

— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) March 1, 2021

If Watt was previously perceived to choose Arizona due to bigger dollars, why were the Cardinals so fixated on adding a player seemingly on the wrong side of 30? Following their 2020 late season collapse, it was routinely hinted at by the club that the Cardinals were lacking the key veteran leadership needed in order to take that ever important “next step”.

Which is why Team President and Owner Michael Bidwill went to the lengths he did in order to haul in his free agent prize. As a result, Cardinals brass secured a package deal with Watt that included all the team bonding imaginable. While some refer to it as his “shtick”, anyone who knows Watt understands that his personality is 100% authentic when it comes to his teammates.

For proof, look no further than last offseason, as Watt was routinely active with his new desert comrades. One minute the former Texan would be courtside at the NBA Finals alongside Kyler Murray and the next he’d be seen golfing with first round pick Zaven Collins. In fact, the first time he entered the Cardinals facility in Tempe, he was greeted and embraced by close friend Chandler Jones.

There’s no question that football players, no matter the stature or reputation, gravitate toward Watt. His status is firmly cemented as one of the greatest players of his generation.

From rookies to veterans alike, Watt’s infectious personality was immediately contagious amongst his Cardinal teammates. In a single offseason addition, GM Steve Keim had seemingly secured what was previously lacking in terms of leadership and comradery on the 53-man roster. Even if the Cardinals weren’t getting “peak” J.J. Watt, perhaps his ability to cultivate a locker room would be enough to warrant his hefty price tag.

Fast forward to the start of the season and, despite missing most of training camp with an injured hamstring, Watt has quickly reestablished himself as one of the most disruptive defensive linemen in all of football. His presence and impact on what had too long been a mediocre Arizona defensive line cannot be overstated. In fact, in his last two games alone, Watt has secured eight tackles, a sack, six QB hits, two tackles for loss, two passes defended, and a forced fumble.

But anyone who watches this Cardinals team knows that the former NFL Man of the Year is much more than a box score. Each time you watch #99 operate in the trenches, you feel his impact on damn near every play. In a league where so many players pick and choose their spots, Watt’s effort is relentless from the moment the whistle blows.

The most recent example of this was last Sunday when the Cardinals traveled out east to take on the Cleveland Browns.

In what was perhaps a franchise altering victory, given the circumstances, Watt was the driving catalyst for the Cardinals upset mentality. From start to finish, the rebranded Redbirds dismantled and out physicaled a Browns team equipped with one of the deepest rosters in all of football. The dominant mindset Watt has injected into this team is unlike anything we’ve seen before in Arizona Cardinal history.

But how does it compare to NFL history?

The arrival of the now 32-year old defensive end harkens back to 1993 when a fellow 32-year old dominant defensive presence also hit the free agent market. After spending the first eight years of his eventual Hall of Fame career with the Philadelphia Eagles, defensive linemen Reggie White left town for bigger dollars, opting to sign with a then fledgling Green Bay Packer organization.

The same Packer franchise that, despite their illustrious history, was in the midst of a 16-year post season drought. Like Watt with Arizona, White saw the potential in the upstart Packers who were also led by a year three quarterback in former Southern Miss product Brett Favre.

Former Packers team president Bob Harlan has famously called the team’s signing of White “perhaps the most momentous day in his two-plus decades with the organization“. That’s because, following his arrival in green and gold, White helped orchestrate a resurgence in Green Bay that included post season births in all six years of his time with the Packers.

That run of success was highlighted by a 1997 season that culminated with White and Favre hoisting the Packers’ first Lombardi trophy in over 30 years.

While the Arizona Cardinals certainly have a long way to go in order to emulate the results of the mid-90s Green Bay Packers, they are most certainly on track to snap their five-year post season drought thanks in part to their most expensive offseason addition of 2021.

In fact, after routinely picked to finish fourth in their own division to begin the season, the Cardinals are now a -140 favorite (via DraftKings) to outright win the NFC West. Road victories over three different 2020 playoff teams (Tennessee, LA, Cleveland), all in dominant fashion, will do that for you.

As will the presence upfront of one J.J. Watt, who like White, is slowly reshaping how the rest of the NFL views what was once an afterthought franchise. Teams must now prepare for the physicality they will inevitably experience when facing these Redbirds, which routinely includes a plethora of sacks and defensive turnovers.

Yet even with the evidence of the contrary seemingly growing with each blowout win, the Cardinals still have their fair share of critics.

Thankfully, for those who continue to make excuses in an attempt to diminish what the Arizona Cardinals have done through six weeks, J.J. Watt has a message for you.

“Maybe we’re just better.”

“Maybe we’re just better.”pic.twitter.com/BhRGiL8B3s

— PHNX Cardinals (@PHNX_Cardinals) October 19, 2021