The Redskins took the ball first and marched down the field with a nice mix of runs and short passes. They steadily moved down the field until RB Clinton Portis pounded it into the end zone from three yards out. After WLB Rocky McIntosh stripped the ball loose from RB Edgerrin James for his first fumble of the year and the Redskins recovered, the offense was stymied and forced to kick a field goal giving the Redskins an early 10-0 lead.
In the second quarter, however, the Cardinals were able to rip off multiple 10+ yard runs and QB Kurt Warner got himself into a rythm with his wide receiving core and lead his team down the field and connecting with WR Anquon Boldin for a 4 yard touchdown and the half ended.
With the help of 2 penalties by CB Fred Smoot and DE Jason Taylor, the Cardinals moved the ball down the field and began the second half with a field goal to tie the game and the shoot out was on.
Back came the Redskins on the very next possession with an 11 play 80 yard drive taking over 6 minutes wearing out the defense with another great mix of run and pass play calling by Jim Zorn leading to a 2 yard TE Todd Yoder touchdown catch.
But Kurt Warner came right back and did what Kurt Warner does best... throw the bomb. With Kurt Warner's arm and top WR Larry Fitzgerald on the opposite burning down the field, the Cardinals can explode for a touchdown at any given moment and that is exactly what happened. On the third play from scrimmage, Kurt Warner launched the ball down field to a wide open Larry Fitzgerald for a 62 yard pass play for a touchdown.
When the Cardinals took the ball again in the fourth quarter, they started deep in their own end at the 19 yard line. On the third play from scrimmage again, Kurt Warner launched another rocket down field, but this time the pass was deflected and CB Carlos Rogers made a great diving effort for the interception at the Washington 43 yard line. After laying out for the catch, Rogers sprung to his feet before being touched and hurdled his way all the way down to the Arizona 15. From there, Jason Campbell hit Santana Moss on a short wide receiver screen and Moss squirmed his way 17 yards into the end zone.
After holding the Cardinals to 4 plays on defense, the Redskins smelled blood and they aired it out to rookie WR Devin Thomas for a 68 yard touchdown that would have sealed the victory, but it was not to be. The play was called back after an inexcusible Unnecesary Roughness call on RT Stephon Heyer. The Redskins were still able to overcome the penalty and move the ball down the field taking precious time off the clock and giving PK Shaun Suisham a chance to seal the game again, but he was unable to hit a 52 yard field goal.
The defense came back on to the field needing one more stop and they is exactly what they got holding Arizona to a quick 3 and out. Needing only one first down to run out the clock, the Redskins pounded the ball with Clinton Portis and Jason Campbell connected with Chris Cooley on a game ending 26 yard pass play.
After losing badly to the Giants in week 1, the Redskins desperately needed to win the next 2 games against two slightly above average teams and that is exactly what they did. They have to be happy with the overall result of this game and they have to be pleased with their steadily improving run defense as well as their outstanding secondary coverage. However, despite getting 2 sacks against the Cardinals, the defense still was not able to generate any kind of consistent pass rush. Kurt Warner simply had too much time the throw the ball on many occasions and, fortunately, the Cardinals were only able to connect on one long touchdown pass play to Larry Fitzgerald. They must find a way to get to the quarterback more consistently. They cannot simply sit back and rely on their coverage units to defend passes. The secondary is too susceptible to injuries and cannot take on that much pressure for an extended period of time so Defensive Coordinator Greg Blache has some adjustments to make. We will see how he does in the coming weeks.
Final Score: Washington 24, Arizona 17
Highlights of the Redskins' Week 3 Win over the Arizona CardinalsJacksGhost
Washington Redskins Hog Blog
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