John Matthews
WMAL.com
GLENDALE, AZ — (WMAL) The Redskins spent much of the second half Sunday trading leads with Arizona before ultimately falling, 31 – 23, but coach Jay Gruden was most upset not with the end of the game, but the beginning.
““I don’t like the way we came out,” he told reporters after the game. “I don’t like the way they had a [15]-play drive right down our throat to start the game. I don’t like the way our offense answered with two penalties in the first drive and having to punt. That’s not the way we want to come out of a football game, getting ready for a good team on the road,” Gruden told reporters.
The Redskins’ slow start ultimately proved to keep Arizona in the game throughout, as the Redskins offense needed until the opening drive of the third quarter to grab their first lead of the game, driving 74 yards in five plays, highlighted by Kirk Cousins’ 59-yard center-of-field bomb to DeSean Jackson that set up Cousins’ quarterback sneak for a 13-10 lead.
That lead didn’t last, of course, not on a day when the Redskins’ defense allowed the Cardinals to move at will – especially on third down. Arizona was successful on 10 of 16 third down conversions – enough to allow the Cards to go blow-for-blow with Washington until one of the teams could catch a break.
On this Sunday, that team proved to be Arizona.
The Cards were able to get to Kirk Cousins more consistently than any other team so far this season, and with 5:13 left in the third, defensive end Calais Campbell was able to strip sack the Redskins QB on a fumble which ultimately gave Arizona a 17 – 13 lead.
Washington responded with another touchdown drive, as Cousins hit Jamison Crowder for a 26-yard touchdown with a minute left in the third quarter, but the Redskins defense again failed to get off the field, as the Cardinals responded with a 10-play, 75 yard drive culminating in a 25-yard screen pass from Carson Palmer to David Johnson to give Arizona the lead for good at 24 – 20.
“We were playing them well on first and second, we just couldn’t get off really ever on third down,” linebacker Will Compton said. “That’s what we’re going to have to watch as a defense and just be critical. That was the issue today.”
The Redskins did have one last decent shot for victory following the two-minute warning, but the offensive line, which had been bitten by injuries throughout the day, was unable to respond when Arizona dialed up the pressure. Cousins managed to move the Redskins well into Arizona territory, but a blitz with 48 seconds left forced Cousins to dump the ball, which Cards cornerback Patrick Peterson snatched off of his shoetops to intercept and end the game.
The loss, combined with Tampa Bay’s win over San Diego, drops the Redskins a half-game behind the Buccaneers in the battle for the final NFC Wild Card spot.
“There’s no talk of playoffs over here,” said Coach Jay Gruden. “We’re trying to win the next game. We’re not even close to thinking about the playoffs right now. So, a lot’s going to happen these last four games, and if we get an opportunity to play in them, great. If not, we’re going to do the best we can against Philadelphia [next week].”
On paper, the Redskins should be favored in each of the next three games – at Philadelphia, at home against Carolina and in Chicago on Christmas Eve.
But NFL games are played on grass, not on paper.
Copyright 2016 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press)
