Redskins Recon - The Cardinals: Flying Low

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Just...Wow!

Reign Blood We throttle them this week I just got this feeling.
Cards 31
Skins 17

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Zounds like somebody's been in the desert picking flowers off of cactus if they think Az will put up 30+ points...

I do think Washington will win however I also think this is toughest match up they have left on the schedule. Az's defense is better than Washington will see the rest of the year and their passing game not quite as bad as one might think (9th) but they just don't know where the end zone is. Still should be rather close with the Cards having 3 of their 4 wins at home (Skins 2-2-1 on the road).

They've already beaten Philly & NY. Doesn't mean they will again but they obviously can. eGals secondary is toast and the Gnats are towards the bottom in giving up passing yardage.
Then there's Carolina & Chicago. Combined 6-16.

We should win this game. With ten days to prepare and rest, being on the road shouldn't matter.

Three of the Cards four wins have been against the 49ers, the 49ers and the Jets. I think their defensive ranking may be a little over-inflated. Their division has no offense this year. They've played only two teams with a top ten offense all season long, the Atlanta Falcons, who just put 38 on them, and the New England Patriots, who scored 23 without Tom Brady.

The Redskins, on the other hand, have played against three top ten defenses this year, all wins.

We should win this game. Doesn't mean we will, but we should.

The one thing that scares me about Cardinals is that running back of theirs. We have trouble against teams that actually run the ball. If we can't stop that guy it could be a long day. If we can keep him in check, it's down to Fitzgerald vs. Norman, and I think our offense can keep up with that. We'll see.

In the predictions vein:

Even more surprising than Cousins’s Broadway affinity has been his emergence as a legitimately good quarterback. In his last five games, Cousins has shed the one-year-wonder label, hitting the 300-yard mark four times and the 400-yard mark twice. He’s emerging as an extreme dark horse MVP candidate and could soon become one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league: As former Browns and Eagles executive Joe Banner points out, he could command around $25 million per year, and if he’s franchised again, he’ll make more money than all but three quarterbacks next season.
Despite his run of success, Sunday will be a massive test, because the Cardinals allow the second-fewest passing yards per game in the league. But the Washington D has an edge here, too: It forced five total turnovers in the three games before facing the Cowboys, who never make mistakes. For a team trying to get back into the habit of creating turnovers, playing Arizona is a great place to start, and Washington will win this late by forcing Carson Palmer to make mistakes.
It won’t be as exciting as Jersey Boys, another Cousins favorite, but he’ll try to provide some entertainment.

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https://theringer.com/nfl-picks-wee...rob-gronkowski-injury-1439ed3c5b55#.ktx0065uc

Cousins as a dark horse MVP? Pretty interesting...

This game comes down to one thing IMO, the ability to pressure the qb.

The Cardinals have the worst pass blocking OL in the NFC and Carson Palmer is a 36 year old stationary target in the pocket who shows clear signs of the yips when he gets pressure.

If Barry doesn't bring pressure early and often and instead chooses to sit back in coverage, he should be fired after the game.

And putting Josh Norman on Larry Fitzgerald, the Cardinals one consistent receiving threat this year, is another no-brainer that a DC like Belichick would never miss.

Having Fuller continue to cover ALL slot receivers even if teams put their #1's like AJ Green or Dez Bryant in the slot is just suicide.

This defense needs to show FLEXIBILITY based on the talent we have.

That's what Petitbon did for Gibbs. That's what Allen did.

If Barry's system can't do that, then he needs to go back to being a linebackers' coach.

I totally agree with Bulldog!

I also think it comes down to stopping their run game. If David Johnson gashes our run defense... which lets face it is poor, it will take pressure of Palmer and allow him to throw on us. Especially if, as Bulldog says, we can't get any pressure.

I think this game is close, but we should take it.

Knightingale said:

I totally agree with Bulldog!

I also think it comes down to stopping their run game. If David Johnson gashes our run defense... which lets face it is poor, it will take pressure of Palmer and allow him to throw on us. Especially if, as Bulldog says, we can't get any pressure.

I think this game is close, but we should take it.

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Yeah, David Johnson's last three games - 5 TDs (including 103 rushing/1 TD and 57 receiving/1 TD against Minn). SF arguably had the best game against him out of those 3 keeping him to 'only' 101 yards from scrimmage and two TD's with 2.9 ypc. Atlanta gave up 1 TD to him; 100+ yd's receiving with 58 yd's running. He can run for 100 yd's, receive for 100 and put points up.

Like you said, Skins not the best against the run. They seem to start OK but run out of gas fairly quickly especially against the better RB's. And they have real defensive issues with pass catching RB's. Their overall stats don't look too bad but they are pretty close to the bottom in giving up 1st downs, TDs, and YPC to opposing RBs.

Palmer doesn't seem to throw much anywhere else except to Fitz. Not as worried about him as WR; he's seeing fewer targets and hasn't had a TD since Week 6 but he is probably the best blocking WR in the league. Last four games Palmer has fallen apart: 16 sacks (of 32 this year); 4 of his 11 fumbles; 8 of his 15 TDs on the year along with 6 of his 8 Ints. He'll toss it up a lot, opportunities for sacks & int's, and has been under 61% on his completions in 4 of his last 5 games. They want to run a lot of plays (#1 in the NFL) but Palmer not that guy you want to air it out 50 times a game. If the Skins can take some time off the clock they can pretty well throttle the Cards.