Game Preview, Week 2: Washington at Cardinals
September 18, 2020
by Steve Thomas
Washington fans are riding high right now after last week’s big victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Now, with a 2 – 0 start to the season on the line, Washington travels to Arizona to face the 1 – 0 Cardinals. Second year quarterback Kyler Murray presents a pretty serious problem for the defense, and Arizona’s defense just held the defending NFC Champion 49ers to just 20 points at home. This is definitely not the moribund Cardinals team of years past. They are young, talented, and motivated, and also play a unique offense that Washington may not see again this year. Being able to grab the second victory of the year on the road, after a cross-country flight would be a great confidence builder for Washington. Unfortunately, it’s no easy task, but it can be done. Keep reading to find how out it can be done.
Game time & location: Sunday, September 20, 2020, 4:05 p.m. ET, State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ; No fans allowed
Television: Fox
Television announcers: Dick Stockton, Brady Quinn, Sara Walsh
TV broadcast map: click here
DC-area radio: The Team 980
Washington radio network: click here
Cardinals radio network: click here
Satellite radio: XM: 225 (AZ broad.) Sirius: 108 (Wash broad); internet: 831 (Washington broad.)
Redskins roster: click here
Redskins depth chart: click here
Cardinals roster: click here
Cardinals depth chart: click here
All-time head-to-head record vs Arizona: 77 – 46 – 2 (last 10: 8 – 2) (streak: 2 – 0)
Last meeting: W, September 9, 2019, 24 – 6
Early odds: Cardinals, -6.5
3 KEYS TO THE GAME
Offensive progress
Washington’s offense started off very, very slow last week against the Eagles, and didn’t put up big stats or go on long drives. What they need to do this week is keep control of the clock to keep the Cardinals offense off the field. Washington needs to build on the Philadelphia game and do a better job on third downs in order to keep drives alive and score touchdowns. Turnovers aren’t necessarily going to come in every game, so the Redskins Washington needs to do a much better job of creating their own offense against Arizona.
Keeping Kyler Murray in the pocket
Murray’s best talent is his running ability. He ran for 91 yards at a rate of 7.0 yards per carry against the 49ers last week. I realize that this is a new staff, but Washington historically has had trouble against very mobile quarterbacks, so I’m leery of this matchup. It may be necessary to not blitz quite so much against the Cardinals, with the linebackers staying home more and the defensive ends making a big effort to seal the edges. There isn’t an obvious spy on this defense, but it might be a decent idea to give that job to someone like Landon Collins or even rookie Khaleke Hudson the job. One way or the other, keeping Murray from running wild is a key to the game.
Not letting DeAndre Hopkins destroy them
Hopkins might be the most talented wide receiver in the game, and Washington simply doesn’t have the personnel in the secondary to play much man-to-man coverage against him, particularly with future hall of famer Larry Fitzgerald on the opposite side. Washington is going to have to design a zone coverage plan to keep a safety help on his side of the field at all times. He put up 151 yards on 14 receptions against San Francisco last week, which is something that won’t lead to a winning formula for Washington.
3 KEY MATCHUPS
Geron Christian and Morgan Moses vs Chandler Jones
Geron Christian had a sub-optimal performance against the Eagles last week, and next up on the hit parade is Jones, who had 19 sacks in 2019, which was second-most in the NFL. This has the potential to be very, very ugly, as Jones is simply out of Christian’s league. I threw Moses in here because I think it’s likely that Jones will flip sides throughout the game. Neither matchup is favorable for Washington, by Christian-Jones is downright terrifying. Washington will need to give him help via either a tight end or a running back, but still: Dwayne Haskins’ life might be in danger on Sunday.
Kendall Fuller, Fabian Moreau, and Ronald Darby vs. DeAndre Hopkins
As I mentioned above, Hopkins may be the best receiver in football. We don’t know if Fuller will be healthy and ready to play on Sunday, so the principal coverage duties may fall to Moreau and Darby. None of these players will be able to handle Hopkins one on one, so look for alot of zone matchups with the free safety shaded over to Hopkins’ side. This has the potential to be a serious problem for Washington, and it’s compounded by the fact that Larry Fitzgerald will be on the other side. I’m not sure there’s a great answer to this problem, so Washington’s corners will just have to be on top of their game and try to minimize the damage.
Terry McLaurin vs Patrick Peterson
This is a premium matchup of “best on best”. McLaurin is Washington’s only real threat, and Peterson is obviously the 4x First Team All Pro and 8x Pro Bowler who will probably draw the task of shutting McLaurin down. Keep an eye out on this battle, because it should be a highlight of the game for both Washington and Arizona fans.
OFFICIAL INJURY REPORT (as of Thursday (active roster only)) (starters in bold)
LP – limited practice FP – full practice DNP – did not practice
NIR – not injury related Q – questionable O – out
D – doubtful NL – not listed
| Washington | Cardinals |
| LB C. Holcomb, knee; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: DNP; game: O | OL M. Cole, hamstring; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP ; Fri: DNP; game: O |
| LB T. Davis Sr., calf; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP; game: Q | LB K. Fitts, wrist; Wed: DNP; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP; game: Q |
| CB K. Fuller, knee; Wed: FP; Thurs: FP; Fri: LP; game: Q | WR L. Fitzgerald, NIR; Wed: DNP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP |
| WR D. Hopkins, NIR; Wed: DNP; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP | |
| S J. Thompson, ankle; Wed: DNP; Thurs: to IR | |
| TE M. Williams, ankle; Wed: DNP; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; game: O | |
| OL J. Jones, ankle; Wed: LP; Thurs: LP; Fri: LP; game: Q |
TEAM STATISTICS
Washington:
From a statistical perspective, Washington’s offense did not have a good day last Sunday. They were ranked 30th in total yards, last in yards per play, 28th in passing yards, 28th in rushing yards, and 31st in rushing yards per attempt.
Defensively, Washington surrendered 327 total yards to the Eagles, which was ranked 11th, plus 270 yards passing (26th), 57.1% completion percentage (6th), 57 rushing yards (3rd), and 3.4 yards per carry (8th).
Record (2019): 3 – 13 (4th) (Home: 1 – 7); NFC: 2 – 10; NFC East: 0 – 6)
All-time franchise record: 604 – 603 – 28
Offense
| Offensive rankings (2019) | 32 (points) / 31 (total yards) / 31 (yards per game) / 27 (yards per play) / 32 (passing yards) / 25 (passing yards per att.) / 21 (rushing yards) / 16 (rushing yards per att.) |
| Points for (2019) | 266 |
| Yards per game (2019) | 274.7 |
| Passing (2019)
|
479 att (28th); 298 comp; 62.2% comp per. (17th); 6.7 Y/A; 2812 net yds; 18 TD; 13 Int |
| Passing leader (2019) | Keenum (247 att, 1707 yds (32nd), 64.8% comp perc (14th), 11 TDs / 5 Int, 91.3 QB rating (15th); Haskins (203 att, 1365 yds, 58.6% comp perc, 7 TDs / 7 Int, 76.1 QB rating) |
| Receiving leader (2019) | McLaurin (919 yds (32nd), 93 tgts (48th), 58 rec (55th), 7 TDs, 15.8 YPC) |
| Rushing (2019) | 356 att (31st); 1583 yds; 4.4 Y/A; 98.9 Y/G (22nd); 9 TD |
| Rushing leader (2019) | Peterson (211 att (19th), 898 yds (18th), 5 TDs, 4.3 Y/A (30th), long 32) |
| Sacks surrendered / rank (2019) | 50 / 28 |
| Ave time of possession / rank (2019) | 27:11 / 32 |
| 3rd down conversion rate / rank (2019) | 29.05% / 32 |
| TD percentage in red zone / rank (2019) | 48.78% / 27 |
Defense
| Defensive rankings (2019) | 27 (points) / 27 (total yards) /27 (yards per game surrendered) / 22 (yards per play) / 18 (passing yards) / 23 (passing yards per att.) / 31 (rushing yards) / 26 (rushing yards per att.) |
| Points against (2019) | 435 |
| Yards per game surrendered (2019) | 385.1 |
| Opponent’s passing (2019) | 540 att (11th); 371 comp; 68.7% comp perc. (29th); 7.6 Y/A; 3823 net yds; 35 TDs; QB Rating 102.5 (30th) |
| Opponent’s rushing (2019) | 493 att (31st); 2339 yds; 4.7 Y/A; 14 TD; 146.2 Y/G (31st) |
| Sacks / rank / Sack leader (2019) | 46 / 10 / Ioannidis (8.5) |
| Tackles leader (2019) | Collins (117) |
| Int / rank / Int leader (2019) | 13 / 16 / Dunbar (4) |
| Opponent 3rd down conv rate / rank (2019) | 48.9% / 32 |
| Opponent TD percentage in red zone / rank (2019) | 61.02% / 24 |
Special Teams
| Kick returns (2019) | 25.2 Y/R (4th), 33 returns, long 91 yards (6th), 1 TD |
| Punt returns (2019) | 4.7 Y/R (32nd), 22 returns, long 15 yards (32nd), 0 TD |
| Kick return defense (2019) | 25.8 Y/R (28th), 17 returns, 0 TDs |
| Punt return defense (2019) | 9.1 Y/R (28th), 39 returns, 0 TDs |
| Punting (2019) | 49.2 Y/P (1st) |
Turnovers (lost by O / recv’d by D / net / rank) (2019): 21 / 22 / +1 / 14
Penalties (total accepted # / rank) (2019): 106 / 10
Cardinals:
In week one, the Cardinals gained a total of 470 yards, which was ranked 7th, 5.3 yards per play (19th), 230 passing yards (ranked 18th), 180 rushing yards (2nd in the NFL), and 5.0 yards per carry (7th).
Defensively, Arizona gave up 382 yards last week, which was ranked 22nd, 6.3 yards per play (26th), 259 passing yards (21st), 123 rushing yards (ranked 17th), and 4.9 yards per carry (25th).
Record (2019): 5 – 10 – 1 (4th); Home: 2 – 5 – 1; NFC: 7 – 5
All-time franchise record: 559 – 763 – 41
Offense
| Offensive rankings (2019)
|
17 (points) / 21 (total yards) / 21 (yards per game) / 16 (yards per play) / 24 (passing yards) / 18 (passing yards per att.) / 10 (rushing yards) / 3 (rushing yards per att.) |
| Points for (2019) | 361 |
| Yards per game (2019) | 341.7 |
| Passing (2019) | 554 att (18th); 355 comp; 64.1% comp per. (13th); 6.9 Y/A; 3477 net yds; 20 TDs; 12 Int |
| Passing leader (2019) | Murray (542 att, 3722 yds (15th), 64.4% comp per., 20 TDs / 12 Int, 87.4 QB rating (21st)) |
| Reception leader (2019) | Fitzgerald (804 yds (41st), 109 targets (29th), 75 rec (27th), 4 TD, 10.7 Y/C) |
| Rushing (2019) | 396 att (19th); 1990 yds; 5.0 Y/A; 124.4 Y/G (10th); 18 TDs |
| Rushing leader (2019) | Drake (170 att (26th), 817 yds (22nd), 8 TDs, 4.8 Y/A (11th)), long 80 yds) |
| Sacks surrendered / rank (2019) | 50 / 28 |
| Ave time of possession / rank (2019) | 27:20 / 31 |
| 3rd down conversion rate / rank (2019) | 36.04% / 24 |
| TD percentage in red zone / rank (2019) | 45.28% / 29 |
Defense
| Defensive rankings (2019) | 28 (points) / 32 (total yards) / 32 (yards per game surrendered) / 30 (yards per play) / 31 (passing yards) / 30 (passing yards per att.) / 24 (rushing yards) / 21 (rushing yards per att.) |
| Points against (2019) | 354 |
| Yards per game surrendered (2019) | 402.0 |
| Opponent’s passing (2019) | 601 att (29th); 421 comp; 70.0% comp per. (30th); 8.0 Y/A; 4510 net yds; 38 TD; QB Rating 109.9 (32nd) |
| Opponent’s rushing (2019) | 439 att (23rd); 1922 yds; 4.4 Y/A; 9 TD |
| Sacks / rank / Sack leader (2019) | 40 / 16 / Jones (19) |
| Tackles leader | Hicks (150) |
| Int / rank / Int leader (2019) | 7 / 32 / Hicks (3) |
| Opponent 3rd down conv rate / rank (2019) | 46.73% / 30 |
| Opponent TD percentage in red zone / rank (2019) | 59.68% / 20 |
Special Teams
| Kick returns (2019) | 21.2 Y/R (24th), 36 returns, long 39 yards (11th), 0 TDs |
| Punt returns (2019) | 7.0 Y/R (18th), 24 returns, long 29 yards (17th), 0 TDs |
| Kick return defense (2019) | 20.6 Y/R (7th), 36 returns, 0 TDs |
| Punt return defense (2019) | 8.1 Y/R (20th), 35 returns, 1 TDs |
| Punting (2019) | 47.0 Y/P (3rd) |
Turnovers (lost by O / recv’d by D / net / rank) (2019): 18 / 17 / -1 / 20
Penalties (total accepted # / rank) (2019): 121 / 23
* Statistics courtesy of www.pro-football-reference.com, www.nflpenalties.com, www.nfl.com, www.teamrankings.com, www.espn.com, www.sportingcharts.com
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