The Arizona Cardinals got beat up by the Commanders Sunday in a 42-14 loss and were outscored 25-7 in the second half.
Washington totaled a whopping 449 yards on offense, including 216 rushing and converted 9-of-12 third-down plays.
There were very few bright spots to discuss as we examine the defense and special teams.
Gashed by the run … again
After the Lions rushed for 187 yards last week with running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs totaling 188 on 39 carries, head coach Jonathan Gannon said games can’t be won when that occurs.
Well, it happened again Sunday, as the Cardinals’ defense allowed 216 yards rushing on 37 attempts (5.8 average) and four touchdowns. They had no answers for running backs Brian Robinson Jr. (21-101) and Jeremy McNichols (8-68), who combined for 169 yards on 29 carries (5.8 average) and three scores, two by McNichols.
Yes, the same Jeremy McNichols, who has played for five teams in his career and entered Sunday’s game with one carry for one yard in the first three games this season. Notably, he had 365 total yards in his career with a long of 20 and one touchdown. His best previous game was 5-51 with the Titans against the Texans in 2020. Sunday, he had two touchdowns including a 27-yard score.
Quarterback Jayden Daniels added eight attempts for 47 yards and a touchdown.
Gannon said afterward, “We haven’t done a good enough job stopping the run, so we’re playing behind the eight-ball on defense all day and it’s a hard way to go. And give those guys credit. That’s a good offense. They’re well-coached and they made a bunch of plays; they obviously made a lot more than us, but we gotta tweak some things in the run game, make sure we’re doing a better job.
“And then, we do have to do like the little easy things better: set edges, tackle, get off blocks, be in the right spot. So I know we’ll be able to fix those things.”
Going the distance
After the Cardinals showed some offensive life and scored a touchdown with 11 seconds remaining in the third quarter, the score was 27-14.
The defense needed a stop to provide a chance of making it a one-score game.
Not only did the Commanders march 70 yards in 12 plays for a crushing touchdown and a three-score lead with 8:30 to play, but it lasted 6:41 and they overcame three penalties for 30 yards. Washington actually had 100 yards from scrimmage in the possession and reached third down only once, which resulted in a 10-yard touchdown to wide receiver Terry McLaurin on third-and-goal. In the fourth quarter, Washington had 157 yards on 19 plays (8.3 average).
Daniels was 7-for-7 for 73 yards in the drive. He ran for 10 yards and Robinson added 17 yards on four carries.
Meaningless numbers
Rarely have tackle statistics meant so little.
Safety Budda Baker had 14 tackles (10 solo), linebacker Kyzir White had nine with six solos and safety Jalen Thomspon nine with three solos.
There was only one tackle for loss (by defensive lineman Roy Lopez) and no sacks of Daniels.
Can’t stop Daniels
Then again, no one else has.
The Commanders quarterback completed 86.7 percent of his passes (26-for-30) after setting an NFL rookie record with 91.3 percent last Monday night against the Bengals. In his last three games, Daniels is 70-for-82 (85.4 percent). His passer rating was 96.3 Sunday and it would have been much higher had he not thrown his first interception of the season in the second quarter on a remarkable play by cornerback Garrett Williams.
It did little good because the Cardinals went three-and-out on the ensuing possession.
For Daniels, it was his fourth consecutive game with a completion percentage of 70 or better coupled with a passer rating of 90 or higher. The only NFL rookie to ever do that four straight times was Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott in 2016.
Daniels also had his fourth rushing touchdown of the season joining Robert Griffin III, Cam Newton and Anthony Richardson as the only quarterbacks in the Super Bowl era to have four rushing scores in their first four games.
“That’s a good player,” Gannon said. “He’s dynamic. We had a couple times we had him wrapped up; he got out of it, made some plays with his legs. He gets the ball out and he’s accurate. He’s a good player, give him a lot of credit. But we gotta do a better job affecting the quarterback.”
DeeJay gets some action
Teams had been banging the ball in the end zone after DeeJay Dallas returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown in the season opener against the Bills.
On seven kickoffs, the Commanders kicked only two into the end zone and Dallas returned four for 114 yards including one for 39 yards on the opening kickoff. He did fumble on the return, but Emari Demercado recovered. Demercado had a 16-yard return on a short kickoff late in the game.
All three of Matt Prater’s kickoffs were touchbacks.
Punter Blake Gillikin had another solid game, averaging 48.0 yards per kick with a 44.0 net. One was downed inside the 20 and a 62-yarder was returned for 16 yards by Olamide Zaccheaus, who had two fair catches. Zaccheaus also was big in the passing game, catching all six of his targets for 85 yards and six first downs, including three on third down.
The Commanders’ Tress Way punted once for 51 yards and it was returned four yards by Greg Dortch.
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