Washington Football Team started of the new season with a new name with a new attitude and that garnered a win. But, as they make the trip to Arizona, there is an importance for this team to play two strong halves.
If Washington falls behind early, you can best believe the Cardinals will not be as friendly as the Philadelphia Eagles. Last week, Arizona took it to the San Francisco 49ers. Quarterback Kyler Murray looked like he was ready to take a second year leap against a legitimate defense. He went 26-40 for 230 yards and then he had another 91 yards rushing. He won’t be as accessible as Carson Wentz was last week.
“He’s a heck of a football player and you’re going to have to have guys that are fresh,” Rivera said of Murray. “Guys are going to have to understand that you have to be ready to rotate, you have to be ready to roll and, again, you’ve got to play high energy against a terrific football player like [Murray].”
The Cardinals offense got a shot in the arm when they acquired DeAndre Hopkins during the offense. Hopkins didn’t disappoint in game one when he caught 14 passes for 151 yards.
On the other side of the ball, second half Dwayne Haskins must be there for 60 minutes. Haskins completed 14 of his last 19 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown.
Rivera was really excited about Haskins’ decision making on Sunday.
Example: Sees the blitz is coming, moves McKissic so he can take the ILB out of the play and clear the space for a quick completion to McLaurin. pic.twitter.com/h5p21d0Ofk
— michael phillips (@michaelpRTD) September 17, 2020
“That was one of the things that was really pleasing. Even though he may have missed a couple throws, those throws were headed where they were supposed to, to the right receivers,” said head coach Ron Rivera.
Washington will need help from a running game that was rather ineffective last week. Antonio Gibson and Peyton Barber combined for 26 carries for 65 yards. Washington has committed to Gibson and Barber after letting Adrian Peterson go. Peterson, now with the Detroit Lions, ran for 93 yards on 14 carries.
