5 Keys to a Week 2 Washington Football Team Grounding of the Arizona Cardinals
Well…if there were ever a time to happily be wrong, Week 1 was it.
Washington shocked the NFL universe by scoring 27 unanswered points to beat the division rival Philadelphia Eagles after being down 17-0.
There was a lot in that game plan that we had been told from head coach Ron Rivera and defensive coordinator Jack del Rio would happen. Rotations to keep defensive linemen fresh, linebacker by committee, and stopping the run on the way to sacking the quarterback.
Week 2 against the Arizona Cardinals brings in a new challenge. You have second year quarterback Kyler Murray who continues to grow in head coach Kliff Kingsbury’s offense. The defense—while not the ’85 Chicago Bears—is serviceable enough to not lose games. And now arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL in DeAndre Hopkins lines up on the outside.
The Cardinals are a far cry from what the Eagles wanted to do on offense last week. They also do not have as many injuries along their offensive line to take advantage of. Additionally, Murray is on his way to becoming the next Russell Wilson.
Even with all that being said, there are still ways for Washington to walk away 2-0. Here are my 5 keys to beating the Arizona Cardinals.
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Less Offensive, Offensive Line: The offensive line in Week 1 was—as Dennis Green would say—are who we thought they were going into the season. According to PFF the left side, Geron Christian, Sr. and Wes Martin, were the worst and second worst rated players (37.9 and 38.8) at their respective positions. Quarterback Dwayne Haskins was also pressured 17 times on 36 drop backs with Christian, Sr. and Martin accounting for 9 of them. PFF isn’t gospel, but the eyes don’t lie, and the eyes line up with that assessment.
The reason Haskins was only sacked 3 times against the Philadelphia Eagles was that he released the ball at an NFL low 2.2 seconds. The pressure is what led to a lot of Haskins throwing off balance and inaccurate throughout the first half. If Washington wants to have a chance to keep pace with the fast paced, high scoring potential of Arizona, they will need to keep Haskins protected.
RPO, No Problemo: There are similarities between what San Francisco does on defense to what we saw last week from Washington. Excel at the pass rush and force the quarterback to make mistakes with quicker then anticipated throws. Arizona was able to combat that against the 49ers by running a lot of RPO bubble screens and quick slants.
Washington is going to need to flex out and play more nickel coverage with rookie Kamren Curl to add a sure-fire, aggressive tackler on the field. When Curl was inserted into the defensive packages, the effectiveness that Philadelphia had with their tight ends over the middle diminished. Defensive ends Ryan Kerrigan and Chase Young were also able to sniff out screens showcasing their football IQ's.
A repeat of that performance could slow down Arizona’s wide receivers from getting into space on RPO’s forcing Murray to hold the ball longer and let the pass rush get home.
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Defensive Discipline: It is one week, and head coach Ron Rivera is still instilling discipline into his team. Super Bowl caliber teams also don’t shoot themselves in the foot by allowing their opponents drives to extend. There were 4 cases in 3 drives where Washington got into trouble. So, bear with me.
On the Eagles second drive of the game defensive end Montez Sweat committed a neutral zone infraction that put the Eagles at 3 and 2 instead of 3 and 7 in the shadow of the end zone. Two plays later, safety Landon Collins committed a boneheaded unnecessary roughness penalty for an inexplicable push in the back of Jason Huntley when he was already out of bounds. These penalties led to a field goal that extended the Eagles lead to 10-0.
On the Eagles fourth drive it looked like Washington defense might be getting a three and out. But, safety Troy Apke was flagged for an unnecessary roughness penalty for hitting wide receiver John Hightower with the crown of his helmet that put the Eagles at 1 and 10 at the Washington 45 instead of 3 and 10 on the Philadelphia 38. That drive resulted in a touchdown that gave the Eagles a 17-0 lead.
On the fourth drive of the second half, Washington’s defense was feeling the momentum and thought they had a turnover in the redzone. However, defensive tackle Matt Ioannidis jumped offsides and not only turned a 3 and 7 into a 3 and 2, but it also negated an interception by linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis. The Eagles did end up turning the ball over on downs while up by three, but hindsight is 20/20.
If they want to stay in the game with Arizona, they absolutely cannot have drive crippling penalties on defense. Murray, running back Kenyan Drake, and Hopkins will run them ragged.
Freezing the Dynamic Duo: It was no surprise that Arizona was going to do what it could to show off their cool new toy. Murray targeted Hopkins 16 times resulting in 14 receptions and 151 receiving yards with the longest reception being 33 yards.
Ronald Darby will likely be the main cornerback to shadow Hopkins. But it will be Apke and Collins that will have the more important role to play. Apke was caught flat footed on a couple of deep routes against Philadelphia while Collins looked like he did not rotate over properly on the 55-yard reception by wide receiver Jalen Reagor.
Both will need to be more focused on fundamentals to keep the top from popping off. It will be that combination—plus an extra defensive back—that could help curb any extended production from the future hall of fame wide receiver and young quarterback.
Tempo and Thomas, a Great Pairing: No one expected Logan Thomas to be Tony Gonzalez or even Jordan Reed. Thomas is an unknown commodity that transitioned from quarterback to tight end when he was drafted. At age 29, he is certainly getting his opportunity to breakout and show he can be a low end TE1. Haskins clearly trusts Thomas, because he targeted the tight end 8 times resulting in 4 catches for 37 yards receiving and 1 touchdown (remember when I said last week that Thomas is a redzone threat?).
As Washington went with more of a fast-paced offense, Thomas’ targets started to increase. There is a trust that has been built between Haskins and Thomas. Getting Thomas involved and comfortable allows for Terry McLaurin to get freed up for more opportunities along with Dontrelle Inman and Steven Sims, Jr. over the middle. Going up tempo and focusing on Thomas will be key to an efficient and effective passing game.
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Score Prediction: It is easy to come off the high of the game Washington had and just say, “yeah, they’ll go 2-0 easily.” Call me a pessimist all you want—but realistically—this is the NFL. That is not how it works. Not unless you are the New England Patriots or Kansas City Chiefs. Washington’s defense will find a way to slow down Arizona’s offense, but the offensive line is going to continue to be a liability.
As predicted right here last week, running back Peyton Barber would vulture a couple of touchdowns at the goal line, I think this is the week that Antonio Gibson scores his first rushing touchdown. But a solid showing from Gibson will not be enough. Arizona wins and Washington will be heading into Week 3 looking to get back above .500 against the embarrassment that is the Cleveland Brown.
Washington 17 Arizona 21
Game Info: Time: 4:00 PM EST – State Farm Stadium; Glendale, AZ
TV: Fox; Radio: The Team 980 AM
AZ -6.5; O/U 46.5
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Alan Lepore joins "Washington Football" on SI.com, while still doing outstanding work as an editor/writer at FullPressCoverage.com or @FPC_Redskins. You can follow him on Twitter @AlanLepore or on instagram @leporealan. Alan is a Villanova University MPA Nonprofit Management candidate and is a fundraising/development professional.
