In picking up their fourth win, the Arizona Cardinals sent the Washington Redskins to their fifth loss of the young season. A one-point game at the half saw the teams separated by just three points late in the fourth quarter but the fourth Washington turnover in the final frame sealed the game.
Playing the part of the patient home team, Arizona tacked on three field goals after halftime, before finishing things off with a pick-six with just seconds on the clock. The Redskin offense has a frantic feel to it for a large portion of the game and, in the end, they proved to be battling themselves more than their opponent.
Washington Redskins – Performances of Note
Jason Hatcher, DT: +4.6 Pass rushing
Breakdown: Getting back on the good side after a lacking game against Seattle last week and a middling performance against the Giants in Week 4, Hatcher posted his fourth green-graded game of the season. A sack, a hit and five hurries was his tally for the day, making Arizona left guard Ted Larson’s afternoon a sad one as he bore the brunt of it. On the year, Hatcher trails only J.J. Watt in total pressures among his position group.
Signature Play: Coming from the left side this time, Hatcher walked right guard Paul Fanaika back into the quarterback and bowled him over as his feet tangled with the blocker next to him.
Trent Williams, LT: +6.1
Breakdown: Williams turned in positives across the board with a +2.6 in pass blocking, +1.8 in run blocking and even a +1.5 in screen blocking, showing once again that – when at his best – he’s dominant. 2013 saw him pull it off with much more regularity, but this one slots in as his second very strong game in the past four weeks and, including his clean sheet from this game, over the last three he’s surrendered just a single hurry on 107 pass-blocking snaps.
Signature Play: At 4:13 of the third quarter, Williams gets the better of linebacker Larry Foote at the second level, showing a bit of a mean streak in the process.
Kirk Cousins, QB: -7.0
Breakdown: A trio of fourth-quarter interceptions sunk Cousins’ grade, but he wasn’t exactly making a ton of headway before that. With only 76 air yards on the day (on 24 completions), the huge majority of his 354 passing yards were thanks to the YAC ability of his receivers and he managed just three completions over 10 yards downfield with another two of those attempts picked off. It’s been up-and-down with him this season and no middle ground – three games in the green and now his second securely in the red.
Signature Stat: Cousins’ 2.17 average time to throw is currently the week’s lowest mark. Only eight of his attempts came after 2.6 seconds had elapsed, and his passer rating on those? 5.2.
Arizona Cardinals – Performances of Note
Alex Okafor, OLB: +1.3 pass rushing
Breakdown: With the Arizona defense torn apart by injuries as it has been, getting inspired performances from the next man up has been key. Alex Okafor fit the bill in this contest, getting his first start and first significant playing time after missing out on his rookie season with an injury of his own. Okafor notched a pair of sacks and two hurries as he gave the right side of the Washington line trouble throughout.
Signature Play: On the opening play of the second quarter, Okafor’s won’t-be-denied effort was evident as he gave right tackle Tyler Polumbus a ride straight to the top of Cousins’ drop and took the QB down with a reach and one handful of jersey.
Jerraud Powers, CB: +3.0
Breakdown: For the second week in a row – and the third time this season – it was Powers as the Cardinal cornerback to come away with an interception, not the more talked about duo on the outside, Antonio Cromartie and Patrick Peterson. A well-rounded outing, Powers allowed just five of the 10 balls his way to be completed, added a forced fumble and showed off his ability to come up by tossing aside DeSean Jackson on the way to taking down Andre Roberts for a loss on a third-down screen pass.
Signature Stat: Powers has logged more coverage snaps from the slot than any other corner. He’s also seen the most targets, given up the most receptions, yards, and YAC, but leads with three slot interceptions.
Larry Fitzgerald, WR: +1.8
Breakdown: Fitzgerald looked happy to have Carson Palmer back under center as the two seemed on the same page from the early going. Reeling in all six of the passes he saw (a seventh was wiped out by a holding penalty), Fitz racked up his highest yardage total (98) of the year, scored for the first time this season, and the combo of the two produced a perfect 158.3 passer rating on throws his way.
Signature Play: His touchdown in the final minute of the first half (2Q, 0:38) was an impressive display, but the catch that was erased showed off his strength. At 7:01 of the second quarter, Fitzgerald ran a corner route under deep-third coverage and went up for the ball, hauling it in while absorbing a shot in the back from the crashing defender.
PFF Game Ball
Jerraud Powers gets the game ball for his work helping the depleted Arizona defense to a fine performance.
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