The Arizona Cardinals battled, but it wasn’t enough. They lost their season opener 20-16 to the Washington Commanders. They covered the seven-point spread but, after having a 16-10 lead after the first possession of the second half, they turned the ball over twice and Washington turned those turnovers into 10 points.
What did we learn in the loss?
Buy Cardinals TicketsThe takeaways are below.
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Surprisingly good defense
The Cardinals were projected by ESPN to give up nearly 460 total points this season. They held the Commanders to only 248 yards, they forced three turnovers, sacked Sam Howell six times and gave up only 4-of-12 on third down.
Variety on offense
The Cardinals ran an end around with Hollywood Brown. They had Rondale Moore running a wheel route down the field. Josh Dobbs was under center, he was in the shotgun. He ran boots.
It was something new to see.
But the offense was bad
They had 60 yards on two plays with their first offensive series.
They had 210 for the entire game. They turned the ball over twice. They were for-14 on third down.
Running backs and tight ends
The Cardinals ran 58 plays. 36 of those plays were directed at the running backs and tight ends.
James Conner ran the ball 14 times and had five receptions on five targets. Keaontay Ingram ran the ball five times
Zach Ertz had six catches on 10 targets. Trey McBride had two catches on two targets.
Defensive rotational surprises
Victor Dimukeje started at outside linebacker instead of Dennis Gardeck. The Cardinals used three safeties a lot, getting K’Von Wallace in the game and having only Kyzir White at inside linebacker.
Cameron Thomas played inside instead of outside.
Gardeck played a lot.
Penalties were a problem
The Cardinals continued with their undisciplined ways even with a new coaching staff that preaches discipline and accountability.
They finished with nine penalties for 122 yards, including three that accounted for 67 of the 91 yards the Commanders got on their first scoring drive of the game.
