We are starting something with a type of mailbag to answer questions you have about the Arizona Cardinals. This is the first edition of Cards Wire Correo, where I will answer questions sent to me via social media.

Below are some of those questions sent to me and my responses.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Run defense concerns

How do the Cardinals fix their run defense woes? They have a couple of teams coming up that have a good run game.

The run defense has been peculiar. We saw how absolutely dominant it can be against the Titans, holding Derrick Henry to eight first-half yards.

Then, of course, they allowed 142 first-half yards to the Minnesota Vikings and 65 first-quarter yards to Darrell Henderson and the Los Angeles Rams.

We can also point to the one drive in the second half against the Jacksonville Jaguars where they ran eight straight running plays, rushing for 75 yards and a touchdown.

Here’s the interesting thing. They turn it around.

Against the Jaguars, they only allowed 84 rushing yards outside of that drive.

Against the Vikings, they allowed 35 rushing yards in the second half.

Against the Rams, they allowed only 44 after halftime.

Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph has said it has been an issue of gap integrity and tackling. Budda Baker mentioned adjustments they made so the motion didn’t mess with the defenders’ eyes. It is part on the defensive line and part on the linebackers. Isaiah Simmons’ run defense grade from PFF is 43.3 and Jordan Hicks’ is 45.1, whatever that is worth.

Perhaps the greatest thing they can do for their run defense is get a lead. NFL teams, once they are more than one score down, almost always rely on the passing game.

The trouble is they will face the 49ers and Browns the next two weeks, who are heavy run teams.

It will be difficult for the Cardinals to pull ahead unless they make plays to force punts. Once they do, the run defense will not be a factor.

Win streak?

How many wins can the Cardinals pull off this season?

At 4-0, going just 6-7 will get them to the 10-7 record I predicted for them before the season. 8-5 gets them to 12-5. You see where I am going with this.

I have felt this team had a 10-win floor and a 13-win ceiling, with the ability to be a Super Bowl team. I feel that way about all the teams in the NFC West.

They aren’t going to win every game. Assuming they beat the 49ers this weekend and improve their division record to 2-0, it is reasonable to believe they can pull off four division wins. That gets them to seven wins.

They should beat the Texans and the Lions. That is nine wins to two losses. With the six remaining games against the Browns, Packers, Cowboys, Bears, Panthers and Colts, they should be able to pick up a split.

There is no reason to believe they can win 12 or 13 games this season with how they have looked so far.

Run defense again and pass rush

I talked about this on the most recent podcast episode (you should definitely subscribe to it if you haven’t yet).

One would think that a team that struggles with the run game and to get sacks would have a bad defense.

The Cardinals don’t.

They are a top-10 defense in points allowed. They are sixth in third-down defense and were second before the Rams game. The Rams entered the game No. 2 in the league in third-down offense. They have forced the most fumbles. They are third in takeaways. They are sixth in pass breakups, so defenders are getting their hands on the football.

Plus, while they have not been getting sacks, they are getting pressures and hits. They had 25 quarterback hits in four games.

Oh, and they have only given up 23 second-half points. Only 16 of those points were scored by an opponent’s offense — Minnesota’s Nick Vigil had a second-half touchdown on his pick-six.

As noted previously with the run defense, their issue has been a whole games outside of Tennessee. They make adjustments and, for the most part are great in the second half.

Chandler Jones' and J.J. Watt's impact

Well, Jones is still second in the league in sacks despite not having one since Week 1. He leads the NFL with 14 quarterback hits.

Watt has almost nothing statistically, but he is winning his matchups. According to ESPN, Watt has the third-best pass-rush win rate among defensive tackles.

We can look no further than Byron Murphy’s pick-six against the Jaguars for Watt’s impact. That was all on Watt. He sniffed out the flea-flicker, got in Trevor Lawrence’s face, keeping him from getting everything on the throw. It was underthrown, Muprhy undercut the route, caught it and took it to the house.

Zaven Collins

I am not concerned. I am surprised. Jordan Hicks was told by general manager Steve Keim he wouldn’t be able to compete for the starting job. He is starting and now not leaving the field.

Collins’ role has decreased but it will increase later.

He has graded out okay against the run, but he has also been given limited run situations.

I believe that his snap count was lower in particular against the Rams because of the type of offense they run. They use a lot of motion to mess with the eyes of defenders. As a rookie, Collins would likely be the most susceptible to making mistakes. The same is the case with the 49ers this weekend. That is a staple of Kyle Shanahan’s offense.

He will get his playing time. The coaches are about winning games and, right now, they believe Hicks is the better option.