3 Keys to Commanders Week 1 Victory vs. Cardinals
The Washington Commanders are seven-point favorites to beat the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1 of the regular season.
Only the Baltimore Ravens (-10) are bigger favorites than the Commanders to win their Week 1 contest, giving those outside the organization a lot of confidence a win is imminent.
Of course, we all know that is not the case, and wins have to be earned no matter how wide the expectation gap might be.
Here are three things Washington has to do to give new managing partner Josh Harris his first regular season win.
1. DON’T FEED THE GREMLINS
There were three things you didn’t want to do to Gremlins: expose them to sunlight or bright light, get them wet, or feed them after midnight.
The NFL version of Gremlins are underdogs, and in the football world midnight isn’t the end of a day but the beginning of a game.
Coming in, underdogs look soft and agreeable, but if you feed them they become monsters quickly.
Quarterback Sam Howell has been praised for his smart play and ability to keep the ball out of harm’s way.
If he does that on Sunday then the Commanders’ odds of coming through as the favorites in this game go way up.
USA Today
2. KEEP POUNDING
Washington fans don’t like Carolina Panthers influences invading their territory, but this time they might make an exception.
New assistant head coach / offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy’s scheme is new and it’s much more capable of creating free-running receivers than his predecessor’s.
While everyone is anxiously waiting to see the full strength of it in action, it’s best for the team if they can reveal bits of it at a time without giving then next opponent enough information to be too dangerous.
Of course, eventually, almost everything will be on the table. But in Week 1, the Commanders can hold things closer to the vest if they’re working with an early lead.
This isn’t to say the team should just get one dimensional, but with a strong duo of Brian Robinson Jr. and Antonio Gibson leading the running back room, running the ball should be a common sight on Sunday.
If the run is working but the workload is mounting, rookie Chris Rodriguez Jr. has looked solid in the preseason and would be more than happy to contribute.
3. SUSTAIN AND IMPROVE
Washington defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio told us there’s been a big emphasis on creating more takeaways in the coming season.
That much could be seen when the Commanders drafted cornerback Emmanuel Forbes - the NCAA Football record holder for pick sixes - over Christian Gonzalez who many ranked higher in pure talent alone.
Forbes has been impressive, and certainly flashes ability to get to the football like we haven’t seen in many of Washington’s cornerbacks in the past.
And while the Commanders are looking to improve their defense via takeaways, there also needs to be an emphasis on taking calculated risks that don’t raise Arizona’s chances of getting explosive plays and scoring opportunities.
Returning secondary members like cornerbacks Kendall Fuller and Benjamin St-Juste, and safeties Darrick Forrest and Kamren Curl, know what it takes to keep opponents from getting on the scoreboard more often than not, and that ability is important as a launching point for this new defense.
Bottom line up front, Washington had one of the better scoring defenses in the league last year and that needs to remain intact for the unit to get better as a whole.
If the Commanders do these three things, we’ll all be able to look forward to all the Victory Monday content and commentary about to drop.
