TEMPE, Ariz. -- Even in a season as disappointing as this one, the Arizona Cardinals are on the brink of history.
If their defense continues to produce at its current pace, it will finish in the top 10 in yards allowed for the third consecutive season, all under defensive coordinator James Bettcher. It would be the first time since the NFL merger in 1970 that the Cardinals have produced a top-10 defense in three straight years.
The closest the Cardinals have come was back-to-back top-10 finishes in 1983 and 1984, with another one in 1986.
Not even Todd Bowles, who installed the framework for the Cardinals' current scheme when he was hired in 2013, had two straight top-10 finishes.
If the Cardinals can pull off the feat, they might be one of three teams to finish in the top 10 every season since 2015, along with the Baltimore Ravens, who currently are No. 10, and the Denver Broncos, who currently are first.
And when the Cardinals' defensive specialty -- stopping the run -- is measured, they've had one of the top units in the league over the past three seasons as well. They're on pace to be one of two teams with a top-five run defense in that span, along with the Carolina Panthers. Since 2015, the Cardinals are ranked second in rushing yards allowed per game (92.8) and yards per rush (3.68).
This season, Arizona (6-8) held the league's top rushing team, the Jacksonville Jaguars, to a season-low 91 yards, and two weeks later, it kept the Tennessee Titans to 65 rushing yards, their second-lowest total of the season. Arizona has held six of its past seven opponents under 100 rushing yards. The Cards have allowed only one 100-yard rusher this season, and only four in three years.
But these accomplishments wouldn't have been thought to be possible six weeks ago.
Heading to a Week 10 showdown with the Seattle Seahawks, the Cardinals' defense was ranked 24th, giving up 349.8 yards per game.
Over the span of a month and a half, the Cardinals reduced that number to 313.3 and now sit seventh overall. Since Week 10, the Cardinals are ranked first in yards allowed per game, yards allowed per play and passing yards allowed per game; second in yards per play, yards per rush and third-down conversions; third in rushing yards per game; fifth in rushing stuff percentage; tied for seventh in takeaways; and eight in passing yards per attempt.
The difference between Week 10 to now and the start of the season has been the Cardinals' ability to block out the noise, defensive tackle Frostee Rucker said.
"There's a lot of things that we can't control," Rucker said. "We can't always control the points on the board. We can't always control what's going on outside the room. We can control our character and how we approach our jobs, and I'm very proud of these guys the way we've been resilient all year.
"We keep fighting, keep fighting, giving this club a chance to win, and that's what we're going to hang our hats on. We're going to play our hearts out the last two weeks."
Bettcher, however, has a theory for why his defense has improved drastically over the past six weeks.
"There's a lot of schemes in the National Football League that have had success," Bettcher said. "There's a lot of different schemes, and really, all of us in the league, we operate under the same rules. Same amount of meeting time, same amount of on-field practice time, same amount of hours in the day [that] players can be in the building.
"Our guys understand this. That's why I think we have continued to get better over the course of the season. Our guys understand that it's not what you do, it's how you do what you do. And I think to anybody in the National Football League, that's such an important factor in believing in you process."
One area where the Cardinals' defense has helped take some pressure off the struggling offense has been the ability to keep points off the board on long drives. Arizona is ranked first in touchdowns per drive and second in points per drive on drives that start at the opponent's 25-yard line.
However, when the Cardinals have to defend a short field, they're almost just as good, particularly lately. On drives that start around midfield, Arizona's defense has allowed 1.47 points per drive for the season. But in the past six weeks, the Cardinals have reduced that to 1.24 points per drive and have allowed touchdowns on 11.9 percent of drives, both ranked third in the NFL.
One reason for the Cardinals' strong showing the past month and a half has been the jelling of the defense, which lost five starters last offseason. It has taken some time, but it's finally beginning to show.
"It's always a constant battle throughout the season to find the things that you're really good at and the things guys are comfortable doing," Rucker said. "You have to plug guys in at times because of injuries, so it's a whole collection of everything, but being able to persevere through things, to be able to be open to trying new techniques and do different things, the guys have been open to that."