Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury impressed by 49ers' swagger on defense

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The positive signs for the 49ers’ defense do not end when the play is over.

Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury, on a conference call Tuesday morning with Bay Area reporters, said he is impressed with the job 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh has done to mold the 49ers’ defense into a unit that plays together and revels in the successes of their teammates.

“Watching last year to this year, just the evolution, how he’s evolved with his personnel,” Kingsbury said of Saleh. “You see those guys, the effort they play with, and then the juice and the swagger they’re playing with. They’re celebrating together.

“All those things jump out on the tape, and that’s a credit to him and the way he coaches and the way he’s been able to evolve and develop that group.”

The 49ers (7-0) travel to Arizona (3-4-1) on Thursday night for an NFC West division game. Both teams will be playing on a short turnaround, and Kingsbury admits there is a lot for which to prepare on both sides of the ball for his team.

Saleh's defense ranks No. 1 in the NFL, allowing just 224.4 yards per game. The 49ers' defense is second in fewest points allowed at 11.0 per game.

The 49ers registered seven quarterback sacks and three interceptions in their impressive 51-13 victory Sunday over the Carolina Panthers. The 49ers celebrated each of those big plays, including posing for photos as a team after each of the interceptions.

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“That’s what it’s about on that side of the ball, that kind of swarm mentality and you can see when one guy makes a play or a sack, they’re all excited for him,” Kingsbury said. “It’s playing as one. And that’s not easy to build this culture in this league when you’re bringing in new players and free agents year-in and year-out.

“But they have it rolling right there and you can see that they’re playing as well together as anyone in the league.”

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