Washington Football Team @ Arizona Cardinals
This game was out of hand early, as Arizona jumped out to a 14-0 lead by the end of the 1st quarter while Dwayne Haskins and the Washington offense struggled to move the ball in the 1st half. Kyler Murray was the star of the show in this one, as he found DeAndre Hopkins for an early touchdown and ended up running two of his own into the end zone later in the game. Washington’s offense started to click late in the 2nd half, as Terry McLaurin scored on a 24-yard pass from Haskins and Antonio Gibson punched in an 11 yard run for a score, but it was too little too late. Arizona easily won this one, 30-15.
Washington Football Team
Quarterback
Dwayne Haskins: 19/33, 223 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs, 4 sacks, 1 fumble | 1 carry, 8 yards
Dwayne Haskins and the Washington offense struggled out of the gate in this one, and the team didn’t fully wake up until the 2nd half when the game was essentially already over. He did lead the team into the red zone once in the first half before fumbling it away.
Dwayne Haskins gonna Dwayne Haskins pic.twitter.com/MtPOjEwVHu
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) September 20, 2020
It isn’t all on Haskins, though, since the offensive line was simply putrid all day and left Haskins scrambling or throwing on the run often. He simply didn’t have a lot of time in the pocket to let plays develop downfield and that was killer in a game when his receivers were unable to create a lot of separation. There are going to be some growing pains for this offense this season as Haskins has to navigate his way behind that poor offensive line while managing to deliver accurate downfield passes while under pressure, but development isn’t linear so he’ll have some bad games here and there.
Running Backs
Antonio Gibson: 13 carries, 55 yards, TD | 2 targets, 1 reception, -3 yards
J.D. McKissic: 8 carries, 53 yards
Peyton Barber: 1 carry, 1 yard
A week after leading this backfield with 17 carries, Peyton Barber disappeared and barely saw the field in Week 2. This backfield is still a bit of a head-scratcher after two weeks but it’s clear that Antonio Gibson is the most talented option, and he got the majority of the looks in this one. He was shifty, ran with good vision, and had a handful of runs over eight yards that looked really nice. He still didn’t get much use in the passing game, but neither did any of the other backs so that aspect simply hasn’t been part of the offense early in the season. J.D. McKissic also contributed eight carries for 53 yards, including a goal-line carry, after a clunker last week, and he looked fresh while providing a nice change of pace with Gibson off the field. Gibson and McKissic are the two backs I’ll be rostering moving forward since their talents best align with what works best in the Washington offense.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Terry McLaurin: 10 targets, 7 receptions, 125 yards, 1 TD
Logan Thomas: 9 targets, 4 receptions, 26 yards
Steven Sims Jr.: 5 targets, 3 receptions, 53 yards, 1 fumble
Dontrelle Inman: 5 targets, 2 receptions, 17 yards
Antonio Gandy-Golden: 1 target, 1 reception, 3 yards
Terry McLaurin is a stud and the offense really started moving once Haskins started forcing the ball his way. Scary Terry is dope and you should feel dope rostering him. Logan Thomas was shadowed by newcomer De’Vondre Campbell for most of this one, and he struggled to gain separation against the improved Arizona defense. Campbell was fantastic in this game, as he was all over Thomas all day and gave him fits.
LB De'Vondre Campbell had 10 tackles, two tackles for loss and two passes defensed today.
Kingsbury: "I think he’s one of the most under-the-radar players in the entire league."
— Kyle Odegard (@Kyle_Odegard) September 21, 2020
My biggest takeaway from this game is that Campbell was brought in to fix the gaping hole that Arizona had against tight ends this season, so streaming TEs against the Cardinals may not work as well this season. Back to Logan Thomas, he was overthrown a couple of times and just missed a diving catch on a poor throw from Haskins, but he was targeted in the red zone again and nine targets overall placed him second on the team. It wasn’t a great statistical week for him, but the opportunities remain for the QB-turned-TE, and there’s still time to jump on the hype train (if you haven’t already).
Steven Sims lost a fumble on a punt return in the 1st quarter which ended up leading to Kyler Murray‘s first of two rushing touchdowns on the day, in what proved to be the turning point in the game. Sims went on to catch three of five targets on offense but, even in an obvious passing situation in the 2nd half, simply wasn’t as involved in the offense as we all hoped. He remains a deep PPR league option with upside.
Arizona Cardinals
Quarterback
Kyler Murray: 26/38, 286 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 3 sacks | 8 carries, 67 yards, 2 TDs
Kyler Murray was easily the best player on the field in this game, throwing for one touchdown and scampering for two long touchdowns on the ground. First, a 14-yard dash to end the 1st quarter.
Kyler Murray: Still ridiculous😳
— PFF (@PFF) September 20, 2020
Then, a 21-yard run to put the game out of reach in the 4th.
This is becoming Kyler's signature play. 💯 @K1 #AZCardinals
📺: #WASvsAZ on FOX
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/PT9nGfNcus pic.twitter.com/3BlHRAlyj8— NFL (@NFL) September 20, 2020
Murray became the 1st QB to ever pass for over 500 yards while also rushing for over 150 yards in the first two weeks of the season. He’s a stud and you should be feeling pretty darn good right about now if you roster him anywhere.
Running Backs
Kenyan Drake: 20 carries, 86 yards | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 9 yards
Chase Edmonds: 3 carries, 4 yards, 1 fumble | 4 targets, 3 receptions, 9 yards
The Washington defense pretty much held Kenyan Drake in check this week, though four yards per carry is still a solid number for most backs. It’s not what you were looking for out of your second-round pick, but it’s pretty clear that the Washington front seven is legit and you should take that into consideration moving forward. Drake is a “start him if you got him” guy, and that’s especially the case next week in a juicy matchup against Detroit.
Chase Edmonds fumbled the ball for the second time in as many weeks, and that’s something worth keeping an eye on moving forward. He also received more targets than Drake for the second week in a row which is promising. He wasn’t in the gameplan for whatever reason this week, but he’s still worth a stash in most leagues.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
DeAndre Hopkins: 9 targets, 8 receptions, 68 yards, 1 TD
Larry Fitzgerald: 7 targets, 7 receptions, 50 yards
Christian Kirk: 4 targets, 2 receptions, 57 yards
Andy Isabella: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 67 yards
Dan Arnold: 4 targets, 2 receptions, 26 yards
DeAndre Hopkins set an NFL record for the most receptions (22) in a player’s first two weeks with their new team, and it’s clear that he’ll be the number one guy for Kyler Murray all season as long as he can avoid the injury bug. Larry Fitzgerald turned back the clocks with seven catches for 50 yards, and while he’s not fantasy-relevant anywhere it’s still nice to see him performing at a high level at this stage in his career. The disappearing act continued this week for Christian Kirk, who only hauled in two of his four targets. One of those catches, however, was a fantastic toe-tapping grab down the sideline near the end of the first half that displayed Kirk’s talent and hopefully reminded the coaching staff that he should be involved more often.
https://twitter.com/AZCardinals/status/1307791020264890368?s=20
Andy Isabella and Dan Arnold both had a handful of targets in this one, and while they’re not fantasy-relevant currently, it’s still a good sign to see them getting involved albeit in a limited role. There was some preseason hype for both of them in the fantasy community but it will take some injuries for them to be worthy of consideration in most leagues.
-Ben Bown (@FelixTheDog23)