Redskins vs. Cardinals Recap: By the Skin of their teeth?

Sep 18, 2011

After a somewhat comfortable and very encouraging victory over the Giants in Week 1, the Washington Redskins prepared for the Arizona Cardinals to visit them – fresh off of a win versus the Carolina Panthers. While the Cardinals defense had it’s struggles last week, the offense touts highly dangerous Larry Fitzgerald, new (capable, real) quarterback Kevin Kolb, and a special teams unit that last week scored the game winner. Would the Redskins be able to sway a few more of the non believers their way, or would the weight of all their own kool-aid end up drowning them? Without further ado, Game number two… Redskins 22 – Cardinals 21.

Why did the Redskins win?

To boil the victory down unnecessarily to one sentence would require the following: simply put, the Redskins won this game by fighting, clawing, grasping, and coming through in the big moments. Upon closer examination, I have to give the team credit in several areas. 1) The ground game came alive, allowing the Redskins to hang their hat on something while Grossman struggled and to dominate time of possession for long stretches. 2) The offensive line handled blitzes well and provided some huge holes for several Redskins running backs. 3) The team, especially Rex Grossman and the Redskins secondary, relied on their counterparts (the running game, and the linebacking corps, respectively) to keep things steady until they could come around, eventually eeking out an ugly win — but a come-from-behind, 4th-quarter-comeback win as well.

Why did the Cardinals lose?

The Cardinals defense is still a work in progress – while Grossman wasn’t playing well, turning the ball over, and generally giving the Cardinals opportunities in the first half to really tighten their grip on the game, the Cardinals allowed the Redskins to keep the game close on defense (including turning it over themselves) and were unable to slow down or stop the run for large stretches of time allowing the Redskins to steady themselves, and eventually, complete the comeback. As for the Cardinals offense, their general inability and unwillingness to run the ball left them one dimensional. While Fitzgerald is a world class talent, the Cardinals had no answer for the Redskins linebacking corps. Three of the Redskins four starting linebackers recorded a sack, while Brian Orakpo forced a fumble, Ryan Kerrigan had two sacks and a few tipped balls, and London Fletcher orchestrated several big hits on quarterback Kevin Kolb. The Cardinals appear to be a work in progress in need of more work, especially on the road.

Three causes for celebration

This team has swagger back. See that? Swagger.

Redskins running game: Fedex Ground deliveries were the theme of the day for the Redskins offense for long stretches, as RBs Tim Hightower and Roy Helu repeatedly gashed the Cardinals defense with an assortment of stretches, traps, cutbacks and screen receptions.
Redskins linebackers: Ryan Kerrigan (two sacks, two big pass deflections, one tipped pass that was intercepted) Rocky McIntosh (sack, 8 tackles) Brian Orakpo (sack, forced fumble) and London Fletcher (generally everywhere) caused more than headaches for the Cardinals offense. Kerrigan, in particular, was a disruptive force and game-changing player for the second week in a row.
Bad Rex…and a win: The team played smart, penalty-free football and got contributions from Brandon Banks on several big returns, the aforementioned defense, TE Fred Davis with another huge day, an efficient running game, and a game-winning field goal from Graham Gano that helped the team overcome a fairly ugly and at times approaching-disastrous performance from QB Rex Grossman. Bad Rex made some appearances, but the team found a way to win anyway. Say thanks, Redskins fans.

Three reasons to worry

Graham Gano: Oh, my, kid. You simply have to make the kick that was blocked and you should nearly expect a beheading for that atrocious kickoff out of bounds to start the second half. Yes, you made the game winner. At some point you need to start helping this team, rather than hurting it or zeroing out.
Bad Rex and the wideouts: The first interception by Grossman was horrendous — stared down the receiver, threw late over the middle, and had no shot for anything good to happen on that target anyway. The second interception contained a repeating factor throughout the day — unless the play design got them wide open, the receivers didn’t beat ANYONE. These same Cardinals secondary was absolutely torched last week and the Redskins WRs really need to find ways to get themselves open and provide Rex with targets to throw to — the scheme and play design cannot be counted on to constantly deliver wide-open targets.
Missed opportunities: Lots of time in the redzone, few points. Big yardage on the ground, no large play-action hits. The Cardinals weren’t quite up to making the Redskins pay (though, quite nearly!) but other teams will be. Including next week’s opponents…

Simply Put

Yes, a win is a win is a win and the Redskins now stand 2-0 for the first time since 2007 — facts that should please coaches, management, players, and fans alike. That said, this team still has a lot to work toward. While there are causes for celebration and reasons to worry aplenty, most important the Redskins continue to shoe that they are an improving organization and team with a lot of character – few penalties, never-say-die – and a steadily improving roster of talent. Next up: Dallas Week, Monday Night Football…are you ready?

Photos courtesy of NBC Washington, AP and Getty Images