Arizona Cardinals unable to hold halftime lead with second-half struggles

LANDOVER, Md. — Two things stood out from the Arizona Cardinals' 20-16 loss to the Washington Commanders on Sunday at sometimes rainy, sometimes sunny FedEx Field.

It's been written before, but the Cardinals' defense is going to be relied upon to keep the team in games, at least early in the season with Kyler Murray out and Josh Dobbs as the starting quarterback, as he was Sunday.

That defense had six sacks, scored a touchdown and forced three turnovers.

"Defense did their thing today, we just didn't do enough on offense," running back James Conner said.

Secondly, the Cardinals are challenged on offense with Josh Dobbs at quarterback trying to do all he can but still picking up the scheme. The Cardinals didn't run the ball as well as they would have liked and scored only nine points as an offense, as seven were from a fumble recovery for a touchdown.

Arizona Cardinals at Washington Commanders - NFL Box Score - Sep 10, 2023 | USA TODAY

Offensive shortcomings stood out. The offensive line couldn't protect Dobbs as well in the second half and the running game wasn't very effective.

To take pressure off Dobbs, the Cardinals have to run the ball with more success. Keaontay Ingram couldn't find much room at all with his touches, gaining minus-4 yards on five carries.

"I thought we had some good runs in there a couple times. They creased us a couple times and had some negative yardage plays, which is tough because you're calling a run thinking you're gonna get four or five (yards) and you go a little bit backwards," head coach Jonathan Gannon said. "It puts us behind the sticks a little bit, but it's a good front. You gotta give them credit."

In the end, the turnovers the Cardinals didn't make and instead created to take a 13-10 halftime lead happened in the second half. A pair of Dobbs fumbles, one while being sacked and the other on a mishandled snap with 4:44 to play, ended drives in Cardinals territory.

"As a quarterback, you gotta secure every single exchange, so that's on me, that's something we worked on, you know, specifically a wet ball in practice, right?" Dobbs said. "Knowing the weather for the game. So in that situation, I gotta secure the snap and get the ball to the running back."

The Cardinals scored only three points in the second half and those came with their first possession of the half, a drive in which Dobbs looked sharp and the team moved the ball with a faster tempo. Their defense could only carry them so far.

The team was left not with an empty feeling from a loss. There seemed to be recognition of what can be fixed and how all three phases of the game are needed to win.

"A lot to learn from. I think that, you know, we're on our way as far as hey, we've got to know it'll be very black and white on a tape. what we got to do to get better," Gannon said.

"We're learning together. We've only been together with each other now for about two weeks playing. We see the game similarly," tight end Zach Ertz said of Dobbs. "So we're just going to keep working, keep stacking. It should be the worst performance we have as an offense."

In review:

What went right

There was a pass rush: Spanning the second and third quarter, the Cardinals pass rush could hardly be stopped. Dennis Gardeck had two sacks and forced a fumble, and three defensive linemen had sacks (Leki Fotu, Carlos Watkins, Jonathan Ledbetter). Victor Dimukeje, a sixth-round pick in 2021, had a breakout game with a sack and forced fumble.

Matt Prater hit three field goals: The Cardinals kicker was the only one to score offensive points with his three field goals on three attempts. One was for 54 yards.

Zaven Collins made impact plays: Collins had a fumble recovery and an interception in his first game at a new position, outside linebacker.

What went wrong

Short fields doomed defense in second half: As good as the Cardinals were for much of the game, the defense could only do so much when the Commanders got short fields after both of Dobbs' fumbles. Washington got the ball at the Arizona 29 after the first sack and fumble and scored a touchdown. They got the ball at the Arizona 37 after another lost ball, and after a 15-yard penalty against Paris Johnson Jr. for throwing a Commanders players off the pile, the drive started at the Cardinals' 22. A field goal was the result.

Little success on third down: The Cardinals were 4-of-14 on third down and 0-for-1 on fourth down (at the end of the game). They faced far too many third-and-long situations throughout the game.

Zero in red zone: The Cardinals had two drives get into the red zone and they came away with no touchdowns.

What to watch this week

What Josh Dobbs learned from Week 1: Dobbs wished he could have done some things better on Sunday, but he said he will benefit from a game under his belt. He took the responsibility for his two lost fumbles.

"I think a huge jump is in store, you know, just getting out there, getting the flow of the game, right? Getting in the flow with the guys, timing, rhythm in the game is always different than practice," Dobbs said. "Just getting there, you know, playing ball can definitely make a huge jump. And I expect to make a huge jump, especially situationally. We'll go back, we'll watch the film... we'll look at the things we do well, we'll look at things we can improve and what we'll hone in on, those things that we can do better and keep improving on what we do well."

An emphasis on eliminating penalties: The Cardinals committed nine infractions for 122 yards. Some hurt more than others, but two personal fouls for leading with the helmet on tackles and a pass interference call almost handed the Commanders their first touchdown.

"It falls on me, the one drive with the penalties. You know, we wanted to be violent, aggressive, but we gotta get that cleaned up because we kind of shot ourselves in the foot that one drive, but that falls on me," Gannon said. "So we gotta play smarter. You gotta be smart. ... I gotta educate them and make sure that we're playing within the rules."

The grades

Offense (D+): The Cardinals had just 211 total yards of total offense. Conner never really got going, Dobbs was fairly accurate but didn't have big plays and the offensive line couldn't keep Dobbs from being sacked three times two that resulted in lost fumbles.

Defense (B): The Cardinals defense was the biggest reason the team had a chance to win. The Commanders gained 248 total yards and Arizona's pass rush was strong for part of the game. Only penalties were a negative.

Special teams (B+): Prater made his kicks, Nolan Cooney punted for an average of 47 yards a kick and the Commanders were held to 31 return yards total. Punt coverage was solid, with backup cornerback Christian Matthew making a hustle play on one punt.

Personnel notes

Tight end Zach Ertz played in his first game since suffering knee injuries in a game last November, which led to season-ending surgery and a rehab process that lasted months before he was finally cleared to practice and play.

Ertz had a team high 10 targets with six catches for 21 yards. He had a chance for a touchdown catch just before the end of the first quarter on a ball thrown high, but it went off his hands.

"Obviously fun to be out there with the guys. But a long road, a lot of hard work a lot of great people helping me out through this process. One day, we'll get into more detail of how it actually went. But for now, it was awesome to be out there," Ertz said. "I felt like myself, I felt like I was able to get in and out of my breaks like I wanted to ... And overall, I've just got to play better."

Three Cardinals suffered injuries during the game but DL Kevin Strong Jr. and S Jalen Thompson were able to return.

Up next

The Cardinals host another NFC East team, the New York Giants, next Sunday at 1:05 p.m. at State Farm Stadium in the 2023 home opener. The Giants played the Dallas Cowboys Sunday night.

The Cardinals are 46-80-2 all time against the Giants. Former Cardinal first-round pick Isaiah Simmons was traded to the Giants last month and gets a shot at his former team.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cardinals can't keep six-point lead, drop season opener to Commanders