GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Panthers' defense has maintained all offseason that they improved the run defense. That came into question after Week 1, when the unit gave up 200 yards to the Jaguars, making it the seventh game in a row that had given up 200-plus rushing. But they went into the week of preparation ahead of the Cardinals game, focusing on cleaning up a scheme and personnel groupings that they knew could have success.

The result? The best rush defense performance since Week 3 of last season.

"I think that our coaches did make a huge emphasis on that in practice, making tackles, open field tackles, stopping the run," safety Lathan Ransom shared after Sunday's game against the Cardinals. "And I think that's just a hat's off to the D-line, to linebackers and everyone's executing their jobs, and I think they did that well and we're going to continue to get better."

That Week 3 game last year saw the Panthers hold the Raiders to 55 yards on the ground. The Cardinals got more than that, finishing with 82 yards total on the ground, but it was the lowest output Arizona has been held to since Week 12 of last season, and the first time since that game that they've finished with fewer than 100 yards rushing.

"We made up our mistakes that we had in the first game," noted outside linebacker D.J. Wonnum, who picked up four tackles, including one for loss, a quarterback hurry, and an interception. "A lot of different gap integrity things, issues that we had in the first game, we just went and watched the film and just keyed in and honed in on that and just show it today."

Added defensive lineman Derrick Brown, "I think it was just execution, right, same problems that we had last week, we fixed this week.

"I mean, we've got to fix them going forward," he finished with a knowing shrug, pointing to the problems that led to the Cardinals still putting up 27 points in a 27-22 win.

Fixing them going forward will be the key, as well as limiting explosives. Despite putting up their best rushing defense performance in nearly a year, holding James Conner to 34 yards on 11 carries, and keeping Murray to 32 yards—after sacks and tackles for loss were tallied in—there were still big plays when someone broke containment and made the Panthers pay. This week, it was Kyler Murray on a huge run, breaking free from what was almost a sack, only to skate down the left sideline for a gain of 30 yards.

"You know that's one thing we've worked on all week because we know how athletic he is and how efficient he is when he gets out of out of the pocket," Brown said.

With another mobile quarterback on deck next week, the Falcons' Michael Penix Jr., Brown knows every bit of good, but especially the bad, has to be learned from and carried over to next Sunday.

"I mean, whenever you've got a scrambling quarterback, you gotta be a lot more careful in the rush, right? You can't, can't be too careful and then allow them to sit back there all day, but you need to be efficient enough to get to him," said Brown.

The Panthers technically only sacked Murray once on Sunday, but there were four tackles for loss, a couple of which came on Murray when he was considered a runner. The sack was courtesy of rookie Princely Umanmielen, who notched his first NFL sack for a loss of nine yards.

"It was a tight end lined up inside of me," explained Umanmielen. "He faked chip and then I got a chip from the running back as I was rushing up the field, and after the running back came and tried to chip me, I just kept rushing to try to beat the tackle on the outside, and I did, and you know, it felt good."

Umanmielen and fellow rookie Nic Scourton saw more time, rotating in with veterans Pat Jones and Wonnum, providing rest and different looks. The defensive front also saw the second straight game with Brown—who missed 16 games last season due to injury—playing alongside A'Shawn Robinson and 2025 acquisition Bobby Brown III. As their chemistry grows, so does the rush defense.

"I mean, we've been doing this ever since the summer back in OTAs," said Brown. "So I mean it's just knowing how they play, learning how they play. I mean, it's great for me."

The Panthers will head back to the East Coast, forced to look at the plays that were missed and how those might have changed the outcome of this game. But after holding the Cardinals to 20 points (seven came off a fumble recovery and return) and 293 total yards, there was a performance on Sunday that Dave Canales knows they can build off of going forward.

Because, in addition to the run defense, there was a scoreless fourth quarter, in which the defense nabbed a turnover and forced a three-and-out, giving the offense a chance at a comeback. In the end, it fell short when Bryce Young was sacked on the final drive. The opportunity, even being there thanks to a defensive stand, though, didn't go unnoticed.

"It was what we talked about, is the discipline and trust with each other of fitting off each other, playing with the energy that they need to, and it was a really disciplined approach to the run game today, so I saw a lot of great improvement there," said Canales.

"The guys, it matters to them, and they took a lot of pride in that. But again, the defensive guys will be up here and they'll be the first ones to tell you, you know, there's a handful of plays that we got to be sharper on with our communication and all that."