It was a shaky day for Washington’s new offense, but its rock-solid defense stepped up to seal the win over the lowly Cardinals.
sellout crowd — for the first time in years at FedEx Field, expected to inaugurate new owner Josh Harris with a defining victory over the lowly Arizona Cardinals to set a tone for a new era.For the first time in decades, Washington NFL’s franchise had honest hope for a turnaround. Chants for former quarterback Robert Griffin III, who hadn’t been back in years, reverberated across the stadium.
Playing without defensive end Chase Young, who suffered a stinger in the preseason, Washington’s star trio of end Montez Sweat and tackles Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne combined to shift the momentum back in Washington’s favor in the second half and sparked a turnaround the offense couldn’t muster on its own.
The defense’s spark ignited a crowd that had fallen silent in the second half after a string of poor plays on offense. Howell, who was intercepted early in the second quarter, was sacked six times, including a strip-sack at Washington’s 12-yard line just before halftime. Arizona recovered and scored to claim the lead.
The responsibility for some of the sacks appeared to fall on Howell, and others resulted from protection breakdowns. Some decisions were sound, like tucking the ball and running with it on his six-yard score. Others led to trouble.“To his credit, I think you never saw him shaken, you never saw him put his head down,” McLaurin said. “I know he took some tough hits out there. I know we want him to protect himself a little bit more, but he’s going to learn and grow.