Washington Rout Arizona Cardinals In Season Opener

By Mark Solway | September 10th, 2018

The final scoreline may not have shown it, but the Washington Redskins dominated the Arizona Cardinals in their 24-6 victory in the season opener. Jay Gruden got his first win in a season opener in five tries, and first-year Redskins Alex Smith and Adrian Peterson made impressive debuts for the burgundy and gold. There was money to be made, so hopefully you had a look at this You Wager review before picking an online betting outlet.

Smith was acquired from the Kansas City Chiefs in the offseason to replace Kirk Cousins, and the 34-year old quarterback came out and shredded the Cardinals defense. The veteran looked poised and in complete control of Gruden’s offense. He had touchdown passes of 13 yards to Jordan Reed and 4 yards to Chris Thompson, and finished 21 of 30 for 255 yards. He looked a lot like the Alex Smith that played for the 49ers.

Peterson

Peterson also looked like the young version of himself, racking up 96 yards on 26 carries. He also had 70 yards receiving out of the backfield on 2 receptions, after busting one for 52 yards.Unfortunately he fumbled at the end of the play. Still, Peterson was solid playing against the team he spent last season with.

28 touches is a busy day for any back, let alone one who is 33-years old, and with the mileage that Peterson has.

How much mileage? His 96 yards moved him past icon Jim Brown into 10th all-time for rushing yards with 12,372.

He also had a 1-yard touchdown run.

“The sky is the limit (for this offense),” Peterson said. “Alex is doing a great job running this offense and for the past couple of weeks I have seen these receivers go out in practice and grind. The offensive line speaks for itself and then you add C.T. (Chris Thompson) in there. That young guy got me going today.”

Thompson only carried the ball five times, but posted an impressive 65 yards and a ridiculous 13 yards per carry. He also stung the Cards defense for 63 more yards on 6 receptions.

In total, the Redskins had 182 yards rushing on the day, and managed to bulldoze Arizona for 429 yards.

Offensive Line

That bulldozing came at the hands of the Redskins offensive line – who absolutely dominated the trenches.

“I thought the way we came out moving the ball, finishing drives in the red zone was big,” Smith said. “It certainly started with running the football. I thought our O-line was dominant.”

Trent Williams and his gang game out and smashed Arizona in the mouth. Washington had touchdown drives of 80, 73 and 92 yards behind a powerful rushing game and the efficient Smith – who was 17 of 20 for 171 yards and two touchdowns through two quarters. The Redskins held the ball for 23 minutes to the Cards 7. The Redskins were up 21-0, and Arizona booed their team into the dressing room at the half. It was pretty much over at that point, bar a miraculous turnaround.

Defense

That turnaround never came as the Redskins defense continually stymied the Arizona offense. The Cards managed just 213 all-purpose yards, and a paltry 68 yards rushing. Sam Bradford finished with just 153 yards passing, and a dismal quarterback rating of 25.9 in his debut as Cardinals quarterback.

Arizona avoided a shutout when David Johnson ran in for a 2-yard touchdown with just 5:47 to play, and the game ostensibly out of reach.

So the Redskins are 1-0 for the first time under Coach Gruden, and looked good doing it. There wasn’t much not to like – their offense was dominant, their defense was staunch, and unlike at times in the past, they never really took their foot off the pedal until the outcome was decided.

The performance made them the top gainers from the data analysts at FiveThirtyEight with a +37.

One game does not a season make.

But it’s nice to not be chasing from the get go.

Up next is the Colts in the home opener at Fed Ex.

Hail!