Three to Focus on – Cardinals @ Redskins
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Last season, the Washington Redskins and the Arizona Cardinals combined for a dismal 11-21 record in 2010, so what can we realistically expect from two teams that are in the middle of the clichéd “rebuilding mode”?
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Both the Redskins and the Cardinals underwent pretty major changes during the offseason, and that could be one of the reasons why both teams have started off the season with a win. For the Redskins, a major face-lift on defense helped them limit the New York Giants’ offense to just two scores, as they were very productive against the former Super Bowl champs, garnering nine pressures, four hits and four sacks. For the Cardinals, they will hope that their pitiful 2010 quarterback situation is well on the mend, with Kevin Kolb in place after he notched up his first win as a Cardinal.
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1) Rex Grossman vs. Kevin Kolb
On paper, there are a lot of positive things about to say about these two guys. Rex Grossman is a quarterback who has already appeared in a Super Bowl, while Kevin Kolb is a player who Andy Reid called a “championship-caliber quarterback.” In addition to that, both of these quarterbacks also finished their week one games with very impressive PFF QB ratings (Grossman 115.11, Kolb 103.23), so they will be brimming with confidence when they take the field on Sunday afternoon.
With that being said, it’s not all such pleasant reading though. Since being defeated in Super Bowl XLI in 2007, Grossman is 3-8 in games he has started, has committed 18 turnovers in those games and has garnered an overall -3.0 grade. Despite the “gunslinger” moniker he developed in Chicago, just 7.5% of Grossman’s passing attempts were aimed more than 20 yards downfield in 2010. For Kolb, when he was asked to step in for the injured Michael Vick mid-way through last season, he only managed to go 2-2 and looked extremely inconsistent over the course of those four weeks. Interestingly enough, Kolb ranked highest of all QB’s with at least 200 drop backs in terms of accuracy under pressure in 2010 – managing 73.3% accurate attempts (though that is somewhat offset by how many of those pressures turned into sacks) – leading the league in this regard. It will be interesting to see how these two quarterbacks will perform after having played well last week.
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2) Redskins Receivers vs. Cardinals Secondary
Hands up if you thought that a guy signed from the practice squad would end up as the Redskins’ second best receiver with over 800 yards last season? Such was the state of affairs in Washington, that Anthony Armstrong, who caught his first ever NFL pass at the age of 27, would go on to play such a big role in the Redskins’ offense, participating in 784 of their offensive snaps. Fixing this situation was clearly high on Mike Shanahan’s agenda, as he went on to draft two receivers and sign two veterans, leading to the unusually high number of eight on the team’s final 53-man roster. Although you may not think that the likes of Jabar Gaffney (-2.0 2010 grade) and Donte Stallworth (-0.1) as world-beaters, it would be difficult to argue that they aren’t upgrades over Roydell Williams (-5.4) and Joey Galloway (-5.3). Along with the aforementioned Armstrong and the ever-reliable Santana Moss, the Redskins receivers will test their wits against an Arizona secondary that is without Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. This is also a defensive unit that has been hit by injures, as starting cornerback Greg Toler suffered a torn ACL during the offseason and was placed on injured reserve, and safety Adrian Wilson also tore a bicep tendon, which he played with in Arizona’s week one win. All things considered, the stat sheet shows that this secondary was torched by a rookie quarterback for 422 passing yards, resulting in a cumulative pass coverage grade of -7.7 (which ranked 27th of all teams from Week one).
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3) Trading Places: Tim Hightower
One of the many trades that took place during the offseason saw Tim Hightower go to Washington in exchange for Vonnie Holliday. Now, just two weeks into the new season, they will face their former employers. Washington seems intent on utilising Hightower as their feature back after an impressive pre-season, while Holliday has proven himself to be an extremely competent defensive lineman, obtaining a +44.3 grade over the past three seasons despite being featured in mostly in limited roles and sub packages. His age (35) means he is likely to feature even less this season, but he forms part of a group who, unlike the Cardinals secondary, was extremely pleased with their Week one performance. The Cardinals’ run defence limited the dangerous Panthers backfield to just 74 yards on 27 carries. While Holliday may not be featured too much, watch out for Dan Williams, who as a rookie managed the 11th best grade against the run of all DT/NT’s last season with +13.2 and will surely be looking forward to taking on Hightower, who averaged just 2.9 yards per carry against the Giants in week one.
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