Game Overview ::
By mike johnson >>
- Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels has led the Washington offense to two straight games without having to punt.
- After a couple weeks of “dink and dunk” from the Commanders, they opened things up in a big way with some downfield shots against the Bengals on Monday night.
- Arizona will likely be without tight end Trey McBride due to his concussion in Week 3.
- The Cardinals offense smashed in their last matchup with a poor secondary, Week 2 against the Rams.
- This game has the potential to turn into an absolute shootout, with dual-threat quarterbacks on both sides and coverage units that rank in the bottom five in the league.
How washington Will Try To Win ::
The Commanders were running the typical Kliff Kingsbury “Horizontal Raid” offense the first two weeks of the season, with most of their pass attempts at or near the line of scrimmage. In Week 3 against the Bengals, however, they hit on some huge plays downfield as Jayden Daniels finally showcased the elite deep ball skills he had shown in college. Washington enters the week with a 2-1 record tied with the Eagles atop the NFC East. A cross-country road trip to face the Cardinals presents an opportunity for first-year head coach Dan Quinn to continue this team’s momentum and establish themselves as a force in the NFC.
The Commanders offense revolves primarily around Jayden Daniels, but their running backs also play a huge role in their success. However, they will be without running back Austin Ekeler this week, presumably leaving the backfield to Brian Robinson, Jr. The backfield is critical to Washington’s offense in many ways. An effective running game helps open things up for Daniels to make plays with his legs, and the threat of Daniels running also opens holes for the RBs. It is a mutually beneficial situation. Washington has also had success throwing the ball to their running backs this season and while Ekeler was a massive part of that, Robinson is more than capable in that area. Near the goal line, the Commanders are likely to try to score on the ground as well, leveraging the dual threat of Daniels and a running back, which, when they spread the formation, becomes very hard to handle both threats inside the 5.
The Bengals made some noise last week as one of their players called the Commanders “a college offense” due to their limited creativity and focus on short passing. To be fair, this was a pretty accurate assessment at the time. However, to the Commanders credit, they opened things up in Week 3. In hindsight, we can see how the teams that the Commanders opened the season against (Bucs and Giants) got more pressure and played better coverage than the Bengals did in Week 3. Now Washington faces Arizona, who has PFF’s 30th graded coverage unit and ranks 27th in QB pressure rate. Daniels should have time to take shots down the field once again, and the Cardinals’ secondary appears on paper to be worse than the Bengals unit that Daniels torched last week. Terry McLaurin is the top option for Daniels, and Noah Brown, who was signed late in the preseason, is also emerging as a consistent option. Those two, along with tight end Zach Ertz (in a homecoming game), should be the primary targets for Daniels when he airs it out, with Robinson and Daniels also providing ample production on the ground.
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