Category: Cardinals vs. Commanders

Zach Ertz, Kliff Kingsbury reunited in Washington

Ertz gets a one-year contract worth up to $5 million to play for the Washington Commanders in 2024, where Kingsbury is OC.

The Arizona Cardinals fired Kliff Kingsbury as head coach over a year ago and released tight end Zach Ertz last season. The two will work together again.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Ertz has agreed to a one-year contract to sign with the Washington Commanders, where Kingsbury is now the offensive coordinator under new head coach Dan Quinn.

Ertz, 33 years old, played in seven games for the Cardinals in 2023, catching 27 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown. He went on injured reserve with a quad injury before asking for his release, which was granted. He later signed with the Detroit Lions’ practice squad in the playoffs but was never elevated and did not play for them.

Kingsbury loved Ertz when he coached him in Arizona. After the Cardinals acquired him via trade in 2021, he caught 56 passes in 11 games, which give him a tie for the franchise single-season record for receptions by a tight end before Trey McBride broke that record last season.

The one-year deal is worth up to $5 million, Pelissero reports.

The Cardinals will face Ertz, Kingsbury and the Commanders at State Farm Stadium in 2024.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Kliff Kingsbury to return to Arizona in 2024 as Commanders’ OC

Kingsbury is the new OC in Washington, working with head coach Dan Quinn. The Cardinals host the Commanders in 2024.

Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury is back in the NFL. After it appeared he was going to be the offensive coordinator for the Las Vegas Raiders last week, contract talk broke down. However, he has already landed another position. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Kingsbury has been hired as the offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders.

He now works for new Commanders head coach Dan Quinn, formerly the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys.

Kingsbury will likely be given weapons to work with. The Commanders have the second pick in the 2024 NFL draft and roughly $70 million in cap space. He will likely get to coach a top rookie quarterback like he did when he became the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals in 2019.

Kingsbury will get to face the Cardinals. The Commanders will play the Cardinals at State Farm Stadium in 2024, giving Kingsbury a homecoming of sorts and a revenge game.

Kingsbury was 28-37-1 in four seasons and took the Cardinals to the playoffs for the first time in 2021 since 2015. However, things fell apart in 2022 and he was fired after the season despite signing a five-year contract extension before the season.

Kingsbury was an offensive analyst and coached quarterbacks at USC for the last year. He worked with quarterback Caleb Williams, who will likely be drafted in the top two or three selections of the draft. Kingsbury potentially could get to coach Williams again.

Kingsbury’s new job likely means the Cardinals will save some money. They are on the hook for the four years of salary remaining on the contract extension they gave him but most coach contracts have offset language, meaning the Cardinals will only have to pay him the difference between his new salary in Washington and what he was owed by the Cardinals in his contract.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Kliff Kingsbury emerges as leading OC candidate for Commanders

After backing out of consideration for the OC job with the Raiders, he is now a favorite to join Dan Quinn’s staff in Washington.

Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury appeared to be set to become the newest offensive coordinator for the Las Vegas Raiders as part of the staff of head coach Antonio Pierce. Contract talks broke down and he withdrew from consideration.

However, he now appears to be a favorite for another team looking for an offensive coordinator.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, he is now a leading candidate to be the offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders. The Commanders just hired former Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn to be their new head coach.

Should Kingsbury end up with the job, he would likely get to work with a top rookie quarterback. The Commanders have the second pick in the 2024 draft.

The Cardinals will face the Commanders in 2024, so Kingsbury would also get to have a revenge game.

Arizona is still on the hook for the remaining four years of the contract he had with the team. Likely offset language means that, if he got hired by the Commanders, the Cardinals would only have to pay him the difference between what he is owed and what the Commanders pay him.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Cardinals to face 5 of 8 new head coaches hired in 2024

Six of the Cardinals’ 17 games in 2024 will be against teams who hired new head coaches this offseason.

The NFL has wrapped up its new head coaching cycle. All eight teams who needed to hire a head coach has done so. The last to do so were the Washington Commanders, who are hiring Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.

The eight new head coaches in the NFL in 2024 are as follows:

  • Dan Quinn, Washington Commanders
  • Mike Macdonald, Seattle Seahawks
  • Raheem Morris, Atlanta Falcons
  • Dave Canales, Carolina Panthers
  • Jim Harbaugh, Los Angeles Chargers
  • Brian Callahan, Tennessee Titans
  • Antonio Pierce, Las Vegas Raiders
  • Jerod Mayo, New England Patriots

Of those new head coaches, the Arizona Cardinals will face five of them in 2024 in six games.

PODCAST: Takeaways, reactions to Cardinals’ Week 1 loss to Commanders

Jess and Seth look back at the Cardinals’ 2023 season opener.

The Arizona Cardinals lost their season opener to the Washington Commanders. Seth Cox and I discussed everything from the game in the newest edition of the podcast.

We talked about the defense, the offense and more.

Enjoy the show!

Enjoy the show with the embedded player above or by subscribing to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform, so you never miss a show. Make sure as well to give it a five-star rating!

(1:00) Takeaways from the defensive performance

(23:09) Takeaways from the offensive performance

(34:19) Other takeaways

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What we learned about the Cardinals’ defense in Week 1

The defense was fantastic in Week 1 against the Commanders. We know a little more than we did about how they plan to play this year.

The Arizona Cardinals lost their season opener in Week 1 in a 20-16 road loss to the Washington Commanders.

The offense was bad and the defense was good.

The offensive struggles were expected, especially against one of the league’s best defensive front fours.

But we learned a lot about the defense.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

 

Close Week 1 loss doesn’t change Cardinals’ spot in power rankings

The Cardinals ultimately lost in Week 1 but it didn’t earn them any respect.

The Arizona Cardinals opened the season in last place in power rankings before any games were played. After Week 1, nothing has changed.

In new power rankings by Touchdown Wire’s Jarrett Bailey, Arizona still comes in at No. 32 out of 32 teams.

One down, 17 to go. Yes, the game came down to the final minutes, but it was against a first-time starter and new offensive coordinator. Many a blowout still await the Cardinals.

The Cardinals lost in Week 1 20-16 on the road to the Washington Commanders. They had a fantastic defensive performance with six sacks, there takeaways and a defensive score, but the offense was abysmal. They had 210 total yards and turned the ball over twice.

Even the Houston Texans, ranked 30th, come in higher than the Cardinals and they lost 25-9 in their season opener.

Washington was ranked 16th and remains there.

It will apparently take an actual win to budge the Cardinals and not just a close loss.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Cardinals Week 1 defensive snap counts and observations vs. Commanders

See how the Cardinals’ 71 defensive snaps were divided up on Sunday.

In the Arizona Cardinals’ season-opening 20-16 loss to the Washington Commanders, they played a total of 71 snaps on defense.

How did the playing time get divided up?

Below are snap counts for individual players, grouped by position group.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

 

Cardinals Week 1 offensive snap counts, observations vs. Commanders

Check out how the Cardinals’ 62 offensive snaps were divided up on Sunday.

In the Arizona Cardinals’ 20-16 Week 1 loss on the road to the Washington Commanders, the offense was on the field for 62 snaps, according to the league stat sheet.

How was the playing time divided up?

Below are the individual snap count for every player who came into the game on offense, separated by position group.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

Josh Dobbs to start at QB for Cardinals vs. Giants in Week 2

Dobbs struggled in the Cardinals’ season opening loss to the Commanders but will get the start against the Giants in Week 2.

After one week of the season, the Arizona Cardinals will not be changing their starting quarterback. Head coach Jonathan Gannon told reporters Monday that Josh Dobbs would start again in Week 2 against the New York Giants, Arizona’s home opener.

“I’m excited about seeing what he does this week,” Gannon said.

Dobbs and the offense struggled on Sunday in a 20-16 loss to the Washington Commanders.

The offense did not score a touchdown and mustered only 210 total yards.

Dobbs was 21-for-30 passing for only 132 yards. He was sacked three times and turned the ball over twice on fumbles.

31 of those passing yards came on one play in the first quarter.

The Cardinals don’t have great options at quarterback, at least until the eventual return of Kyler Murray, other than to hope Dobbs improves and that many of the issues he had were the result of a very talented and tough Washington defensive front.

Their only other options are rookie Clayton Tune and veteran Jeff Driskel, who is on the practice squad.

Including his start against the Commanders in the season opener, Dobbs has played in only nine NFL games and has started three times. He is 0-3 in those starts.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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