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Week 4 - Washington Commanders (2-1) @ Arizona Cardinals (1-2)
Nuts & Bolts
Date: September 29, 2024
Time: 4:05 p.m. ET
Venue: State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ
How to Watch: FOX
Matchup History: Washington leads all-time series 77-47-2
Last Meeting: Washington def. Arizona 20-16 on 9/10/23
Betting Lines: Via DraftKings
Spread: Washington +3
Over/Under: 50.5
Prediction: Washington 22, Arizona 27
Official Game Notes: HERE
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Head Coach: Dan Quinn (1st season, 2-1 record in Washington)
Record: 2-1 (1-0, 1st in NFC East)
Last Time Out: Won @ Cincinnati 38-33 on 9/23/24
Highlights HERE
Player to Watch: Jayden Daniels
Monday night’s win for the Commanders against the desperate Cincinnati Bengals may end up being a ‘where were you?’ night for Washington fans.
The long-suffering fan-base watched their team take down a perennial favorite on the road while not punting for the second consecutive game. Oh, and they did it with a rookie quarterback making his third ever NFL start.
Through three weeks, Jayden Daniels has been a revelation. He showed flashes of greatness in his first two games, but was on another level in Monday’s win over the Bengals.
Daniels completed a rookie-record 91% of his passes in the win (21/23) for 254 yards and 2 touchdowns to go along with 39 rushing yards on 12 carries and a score. Under his direction, the Commanders were 5-9 on third down and 3-3 on fourth down while not committing a turnover.
Late in the game, with the Commanders leading 31-26 with just over two minutes to play, Daniels threw a deep ball on 3rd and 7 to Terry McLaurin for a 27 yard touchdown to ultimately put the game out of reach. It was his most impressive play of the night and he saved the best for last.
Walking away from that game and looking ahead to Sunday’s matchup in Arizona, it’s hard not to feel giddy about the future of the team with Daniels at QB. However, patience, especially with the defense, may be required.
On Monday, the offense could not have played better, and the Commanders barely won the game, holding on for a 38-33 win. This is mainly due to the fact that the Bengals put up 436 yards of offense and averaged 7.3 yards per play. The difference in the game was that Washington went 3-3 in the red zone in scoring touchdowns while Cincinnati went 2-4.
In a future game where the offense isn’t playing quite as well, can the defense step up and help the young quarterback a bit more?
We’ll start with a great test on Sunday afternoon in the desert against Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals.
Head Coach: Jonathan Gannon (2nd season, 5-14 record in Arizona)
Record: 1-2 (1-0, 2nd in NFC West)
Last Time Out: Lost vs. Detroit 20-13 on 9/22/24
Highlights HERE
Player to Watch: Kyler Murray
The Arizona Cardinals enter Sunday’s matchup with Washington coming off a disappointing loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 3.
Through three weeks, the Cardinals are 1-2 with close losses to Buffalo and Detroit and a blowout 41-10 win over the Rams in Week 2.
Last week, Arizona could not keep the momentum going and came up just short against the Lions.
In the 20-13 loss, Arizona scored its only touchdown of the day on its first offensive possession. From there, the Cardinals offense led drives that led to two field goals, five punts, one interception, and twice failing to convert on 4th down.
The highlight of the day was Arizona’s defense, which clamped down in the second half and shut out the Lions for the final 30 minutes of the game. Yet, it still was not enough to secure a victory.
Now, Arizona welcomes back its former head coach and current Washington Offensive Coordinator Kliff Kingsbury to take on second-year Head Coach Jonathan Gannon.
Through three weeks, the Cardinals have been one of the more up-and-down teams in the NFL. However, in Week’s 2 and 3, the defense stepped up and looked significantly improved from a season ago. On Sunday, they’ll get their toughest test yet in Jayden Daniels and the Commanders offense which hasn’t punted since Week 1.
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