Arizona Cardinals Bold Predictions for Week 4 vs. Commanders

Through the first three weeks of the 2024 season, the Arizona Cardinals have been one of the most confusing teams in the NFL.

In week one, they looked bad, with fans wondering if Jonathan Gannon would make it through the year with such an ineffective defense. In Week 2, they looked unbeatable, with the Los Angeles Rams effectively taking the L before the end of the first quarter as they simply couldn’t overcome a Heisman performance from Kyler Murray. And during week 3? Well, it sort of fell somewhere in the middle, with the Lions ultimately securing the victory, but the end result was much closer overall.

So who are the cardinals? Are they a bad team punching above their weight, thanks to their better quarterbacks? Or is this a good team that has inherent structural flaws that may, unfortunately, limit their ceiling? Well, in Week 4, fans may find out, as they face an equally interesting Washington Commanders team, who are early in their rebuild but have a great quarterback and enough talent to make waves, even though they might just find out. be too imperfect to do it consistently. If the Cardinals can handle the Commanders, who knows, maybe fans will understand what kind of team they are moving forward.

*Watch NFL games LIVE with fuboTV (click for free trial)*

1. Commanders can’t slow down Kyler Murray

Through the first three weeks of the 2024 NFL season, only one team in the NFLthe Baltimore Ravens, allowed more passing yards than the Commanders.

But why? How can a team with a 2-1 record and a -9 point differential be so bad against the pass? Has new head coach Dan Quinn’s project not yet come to fruition? Or maybe it’s because they just don’t have a great defensive backfield, with none of Benjamin St-Juste, Mike Sainristil or Noah Igbinoghene really striking fear into the hearts of opposing receivers, let alone offensive coordinators.

Regardless, through three matches, the Commanders have allowed 767 passing yards and nine passing touchdowns, leading the NFL. Only one quarterback they played, Daniel Jones, threw for fewer than 200 yards, and Joe Burrow managed 312 in a losing effort in Week 3.

Although Murray has yet to pass for more than 300 yards this season, reaching 258 in the Week 2 win over the Los Angeles Rams, Murray has nearly 800 all-purpose yards through the first three weeks of the season – 796 to be exact – and his play was the deciding factor in whether or not Gannon’s team was victorious week in and week out. When he’s racking up big yards as a passer, running behind the line of scrimmage while making players like Jared Verse look foolish, the Cardinals have looked like one of the most interesting teams in the NFL when even a mediocre game by Murry’s standards led to unfortunate results. For what? Because the Cardinals don’t have much talent on defense, are a work in progress on offense and are still relatively early in the Gannon era.

Fortunately, with one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL in Week 4, along with a not-so-much-better rushing defense, ranking 17th overall with 365 yards allowed and two rushing touchdowns, the Cardinals have a chance to equalize their record. at .500 against a Commanders team that can seemingly only win shootouts due to its lack of consistent defensive scorers.

2. Jayden Daniels turns in another elite performance

In Week 3, Jayden Daniels had one of the greatest single plays in NFL history.

How much? We are talking about 21 completed passes 23 attempts for 254 yards and two touchdowns while hitting tight windows, playing balanced in the pocket and contributing to the ground game, recording 39 yards on 12 attempts to achieve his third touchdown of the game. Daniels looked savvy, smart and downright special and ultimately outplayed legitimate MVP candidate Joe Burrow, even though the former LSU product had a few more yards in a losing effort.

Heading into Week 4, Daniels’ stock is at an all-time high, but will he be able to maintain his success against Gannon’s defense?

Yes.

Now, it’s hard to imagine a world in which Daniels regularly completes over 90 percent of his passes on a consistent basis, because no quarterback in NFL history has maintained that level of accuracy over the course of He’s had a solid career, but through three weeks he’s never completed less than 70 percent of his passes and has an 80.26 completion percentage overall.

Facing a Cardinals team that has allowed opposing teams to complete 75 percent of their passes for 600 yards and four passing touchdowns, the Cardinals have a very middling pass defense but have not allowed more than 200 yards by the way. in the quarterbacks since Week 1, when they lost to the Buffalo Bills.

If the Cardinals can keep Daniels under 200 passing yards in Week 4, that will mean good things for Arizona’s chances of pulling out a win and evening its record at 2-2, but don’t Don’t be surprised if his completion percentage flirts with 80 percent when all is said and done, as former Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury has apparently come up with an ideal plan to maximize his LSU’s efficiency. QB in what was supposed to be a year of growing pains.

3. The Cardinals score a victory over the Commanders

So if the Cardinals are able to put up over 300 yards in Week 4 while keeping Daniels from surpassing 200, it’s safe to assume that Arizona will leave September with a .500 record, wouldn’t it? not ? Yes, if that happens and Murray plays like a sub-6-foot Michael Vick, it will be tough for Gannon’s team not to get that win, but what are the chances of that actually happening?

Since the Commanders have one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL, the Cardinals should be able to throw the ball relatively easily, and if someone like Marvin Harrison Jr. has another massive game, Arizona should be the beneficiary of Washington’s misfortunes along the way. to a balanced balance sheet.