Game Recap: Commanders take control of the NFC East with 42-14 road victory over Arizona Cardinals

With the Eagles getting whipped by the Buccaneers 33-16 in the early game, Washington entered this matchup with a 4:05 p.m. kickoff in Arizona in sole possession of first place in the NFC East.

First Quarter

The Cardinals got the ball first, and had a good return to start the first series at the 45-yard line. After earning 3 first downs, the Cardinals had 1st & 10 at the Commanders 11-yard line. Two plays later, they had 3rd & 1 at the 2-yard line, but the run was stuffed to bring up 4th and inches. Kyler Murray hit rookie receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. for a TD with Igbinoghene in coverage. The drive lasted 9 plays and covered 55 yards to give Arizona the first lead of the game at 7-0.

Washington’s offense had gone 17-straight drives without a punt or a turnover, scoring on 14 consecutive possessions (not counting end-of-half kneeldowns). Jayden Daniels led his group onto the field to start their first series at the 30-yard line following the touchback. On 3rd & 4, Daniels hit Olamide Zaccheaus for an easy first down on a 16-yard gain that took the ball across midfield.

Two plays later, the Commanders faced 3rd & 1 at the Arizona 40-yard line. Working from under center, Daniels pitched the ball to Brian Robinson, who scampered 9 yards off the left tackle for another first-down pickup.

Running a no-huddle offense, the Commanders reached 1st & goal at the 6-yard line. With a 3-tight end set, Brian Robinson went straight up the middle for the touchdown to complete the team’s 15th consecutive scoring drive as punter Tress Way napped on the sideline. The score was tied at 7-7 after the 9-play, 70-yard drive.

Arizona, following a touchback, took over at the 30-yard line for the Cards’ second offensive series of the game. Again, the Washington offense was not able to contain the Cardinals offense, and the home team soon had 1st & 10 at the Washington 43-yard-line. However, after two more plays, it was 3rd & 9 at the 42-yard line. The attempted pass by Kyler Murray was incomplete, and the Cardinals punted. Blake Gillikin, the Arizona punter, dropped the ball inside the 10-yard line, and Washington set up for their second offensive possession a their own 7-yard line with just 02:39 left in the first quarter.

After a run and a short pass, it was 3rd & 4 at the 12-yard line. Once again, Jayden Daniels looked for Zaccheaus, hitting him on the right side of the field for 5 yards to pick up a critical first-down.

The next play was a beautiful pass to Terry McLaurin on the right sideline for 11 yards. The quarter ended on a 6-yard run by Brian Robinson, bringing up 2nd & 4 at the Washington 35-yard line.

Second Quarter

After a short scramble by Daniels, the Commanders faced 3rd & 2 at the 37. This time, Daniels went to Terry McLaurin for a 5-yard gain, setting up another series of downs across the Washington 40-yard line.

The next play was another big pass, hitting Zaccheaus for his 3rd reception of the game that went for 14 yards and another first down in Arizona territory. At this point, Daniels was 7 for 7 and 62 yards.

Another two plays brought up 3rd & 1; Brian Robinson got the tough 2 yards off left guard for the needed first down at the Arizona 33 yard line. The offense was in field goal range and marching.

Under pressure on first down, Daniels sloughed off a would-be sack, and scrambled for 6 yards.

On the next play, backup running back Jeremy McNichols took the ball 27 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown. Following the PAT, which resulted from the perfect Tress Way hold, the score stood at 14-7. The scoring drive lasted 07:31, taking 13 plays and covering 93 yards.

With a short kickoff and a shorter return, Arizona started their 3rd offensive drive at the 28-yard line. After 2 plays, it was 3rd & 1. Kyler Murray was unable to complete the pass to Michael Wilson on a play well-defended by Noah Igbinoghene, forcing the game’s first 3 & out.

Olamide Zaccheaus fair caught the ball at the 20-yard line, where the Commanders began their 3rd offensive drive of the game, leading by 7 points.

After first-downs that took Washington into Cardinals territory, the offense faced 1st & 10 at the Arizona 49 yard line. On the pass attempt which targeted Terry McLaurin, Daniels suffered his first career interception (Garrett Williams), giving the Cards the ball at their own 18-yard line.

Kyler Murray was sacked on 2nd down, bringing up 3rd & 15 at the 13-yard line. A short catch & run earned 7 yards, forcing the second 3 & out of the game.

The subsequent punt resulted in another fair catch by Zaccheaus, this time at the 28-yard line. Washington’s streak of scoring drives had come to an end, though Tress Way still hadn’t punted since the 4th quarter of the Tampa Bay game in Week 1.

A pair of unsuccessful Brian Robinson runs lost 5 yards, resulting in 3rd & 15 at the Washington 23-yard line with about 4 minutes left in the half.

The 3rd-down pass attempt was incomplete — a bit to high for Terry McLaurin, skimming off his outstretched fingertips. For the first time in a looong time, Tress Way cam on to punt. With a 51-yard punt and a 4-yard return, the result was that the Cardinals set up for business at their own 30-yard line.

Two plays later, the Cardinals faced 3rd & 1 at the two-minute warning.

Following the time out, James Conner gained 4 yards to pick up an important 1st-down for the home team. On the next play, Kyler Murray beat the blitz for an 11-yard gain, but two plays later faced 3rd & 10 at the Washington 44-yard line. After an 8-yard gain on 3rd down, the Cardinals faced 4th & 1 with 00:34 left in the half.

Head Coach Jonathan Gannon decided to go for it. The Commanders defense came up big-time, as Dorance Armstrong recorded his first sack as a Commander — burying Kyler Murray for an 8-yard loss. The defense decided to join the game this week. By halftime, the Cardinals were just 1-6 on third down conversions, and had produced 100 fewer yards of offense than had Washington.

Washington took over, 1st & 10 at their own 43 yard line with 00:29 on the clock and 3 timeouts in hand. Two quick pass completions — the second to Zach Ertz for 13 yards to the Arizona 39-yard line put Washington in scoring position.

On 1st down, Daniels scrambled for 7 yards to the 32-yard line. With 9 seconds left on the clock, Jeremy McNichols carried the ball to the Arizona 27, and Austin Seibert came on to attempt his 9th field goal as a Commander.

His 45-yard kick was perfect — well, good enough — making the score 17-7 as the first half came to an end. The scoring drive lasted 29 seconds, covering 31 yards in 5 plays.

Halftime Stats

Statistics via ESPN

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Third Quarter

The Commanders received the kickoff to start the second half with a chance to add to their 10-point lead. They started their 6th offensive drive of the game at the 30-yard line following another touchback.

The Commanders earned a first down, and then, on a 47-yard pass to Noah Brown, Sean Murphy-Bunting got called for pass interference, setting up 1st & goal at the 9-yard line.

Jayden Daniels ran the ball to the right side for an easy touchdown. The 3-play drive covered 70 yards, with the DPI call being the key play. The Commanders lead increased to 24-7 just 68 seconds into the third quarter.

After another touchback, the Cardinals started a fresh offensive drive at the 30-yard line, but a holding call on the first play created 1st & 16; another holding call brought up 1st & 26 at the 14-yard line.

After an incomplete pass, the Commanders defense got home for the third sack of the day, with Bobby Wagner and Daron Payne combining to drop Kyler Murray at the 6 yard line.

The Cardinals had to punt following an 8-yard gain on 3rd down. Olamide Zaccheaus fielded the 62-yard punt and returned it 16 yards to the Washington 40-yard line.

Jayden Daniels, who had completed 12 of 14 passes to this point in the game, led the offense onto the field to try to add to their 17-point lead.

After two unsuccessful plays and a penalty, Washington faced 3rd & 13 at the 35-yard line. Cool as a cucumber, Jayden Daniels hit Noah Brown for 14 yards and another first down at the Arizona 49-yard line.

Two plays later, it was 3rd & 5 at the 44-yard line. A pass to Terry McLaurin came up just short of the line to gain. Faced with 4th & less than a yard near the 40-yard-line, Dan Quinn, unsurprisingly, elected to go for it.

On the 4th down carry, Jeremy McNichols exploded up the middle for 15 yards.

Washington was again in scoring position with less than 7 minutes left in the third quarter.

Two plays later, it was 3rd & 8 at the Arizona 23-yard line. Under pressure from a strong Cardinals pass rush, Daniels hit Brian Robinson on a dump off pass for a 4-yard gain.

Austin Seibert came on to attempt — and make — a 38-yard field goal to extend the lead to 20 points at 27-7 with just over 5 minutes remaining in the quarter.

At this point, Kyler Murray was 9-14 for 70 yards, 1 TD, and he’d been sacked 3 times. Washington’s defense was doing what it needed to do to help the offense.

Arizona, after a short return, set up for its next offensive drive at the 26-yard line, badly needing a touchdown drive to stay in the game.

On 2nd & 5, James Conner burst up the middle for a 20-yard gain to the Washington 49-yard line.

Two plays later, on another 2nd & 5, the Commanders got to Kyler Murray for the 4th time, with Jonathan Allen collecting his first sack of the season.

The Cardinals decided to go for it on 4th & 12 at their own 49-yard line, and Murray completed an out route to Marvin Harrison Jr. for 19 yards to convert an improbable first down.

Following another first down, the Arizona offense reached the red zone, with 1st & 10 at Washington’s 20-yard line. Three plays later, James Conner went straight up the middle on 1st & goal from the 6-yard line to cut into Washington’s lead. With 11 seconds left in the 3rd period, the score was 27-14.

Following the kickoff, Washington took over at the 30 yard line with enough time remaining in the quarter for just one play — a 4-yard run by Brian Robinson.

Fourth Quarter

With a two-score lead, Washington needed another good drive to use some clock and expand the margin on the scoreboard. The first play of the 4th quarter was a line-drive pass from Daniels to McLaurin for 15 yards to generate another set of downs.

Two plays later, Daniels rolled to his right and kept the ball himself, running for 1 yards to the Arizona 34-yard line for a fresh set of downs.

On the next play — 1st & 10 — Zaccheaus gained 14 yards, but was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The first-down still counted, but Washington was now set up on the 35-yard line.

It didn’t slow down the Daniels-led offense. The Commanders converted another first down on another reception by Zaccheaus to the Arizona 21-yard line.

A holding penalty against Sam Cosmi on the next play pushed the ball back to 1st & 20 at the 31-yard line. On 2nd & 15, Luke McCaffrey got his first target and reception of the game, gaining 17 yards to set up 1st & goal at the 9-yard line. Like last week, Washington was struggling with penalties in a 4th quarter drive, but they were also eating up time on the clock.

Then, there was another flag – this one for 12 men in the huddle, pushing the ball back to the 13-yard line.

On 3rd & goal from the 10-yard line, Daniels hit a wide-open Terry McLaurin in the middle of the end zone for a killing shot.

With a 19-point lead, Dan Quinn decided to go for 2 in an effort to achieve a 21-point margin. Daniels hit Zach Ertz in the end zone to push the score to 35-14.

Arizona set up for the next drive at the 24-yard line. They earned a pair of first downs before Michael Wilson appeared to fumble the ball with a Washington recovery with 07:14 remaining in the game. The officials ruled Wilson down by contact, but the call was reversed on a challenge by Dan Quinn.

With just over 7 minutes left in the game, the Commanders had possession of the ball at their own 24-yard line and a three-score lead.

Two plays later, the Commanders faced 3rd & 9, and Brian Robinson broke through for an 18-yard gain. An unnecessary roughness penalty called against the Cardinals added 15 yards, pushing the ball all the way to the Arizona 42-yard line.

The Cardinals called their final timeout with 06:48 remaining on the clock, and the outcome of the game all but certain.

The Commanders drove the nails deeper into the Arizona coffin with a 27-yard catch & run by Zaccheaus, setting up another 1st & goal for the Commanders at the 10-yard line, with the opportunity to achieve a 4-score lead.

Jeremy McNichols took two handoffs; the second one was a touchdown run of 7 yards, but drew an unsportsmanlike conduct flag for his touchdown celebration (shooting a bow & arrow). The subsequent long PAT went between the uprights, and the Commanders had hit their first 40-burger of the year, and sportswriters all over America raced to re-write their next Power Rankings article.

With just 04:30 remaining in the game, players on both sides just needed to run out the clock and go home. For Washington, the return home would mark the end of a week-long trip that saw them win two games to achieve a 3-1 record. There were plenty of smiles on the Washington sideline.

The Cardinals, mercifully, focused on running the ball. James Conner broke 100 rushing yards with his 18th carry of the game, joining the Commanders lead back, Brian Robinson, who had 101 yards and a TD on 21 carries.

For Washington, Terry McLaurin had the most targets (10) and receptions (7); he also scored the only Commanders receiving touchdown. However, Olamide Zaccheaus led the WRs in yards, with 85.

Jayden Daniels had another impressive statistical performance, completing 26 of 30 attempts for 233 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. He also ran 8 times for 47 yards and another TD.

The Cardinals were able to convert three first downs, and ended their final drive of the game at Washington’s 30-yard line.

Full Game Stats

Statistics via ESPN

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