News » 3 takeaways from the Cardinals loss to the Redskins

It was an ugly loss for the Cardinals against Washington Sunday. The offense couldn’t get much going as Sam Bradford threw for under 200 yards. They couldn’t stay with the running game. On defense Youth Chase Edmonds Jersey , tackling and simply being in the correct spot was an issue. Here are my three main takeaways from the game.Bradford’s arm looks shot20/34 for 153 yards, averaging 4.5 yards per attempt is a problem. Bradford is 34 throws into the season and his arm looks shot. He didn’t have much behind the majority of his throws. It showed. That’s the bigger problem. I would chalk up him not being on the same page as his receivers or not willing to continually throw the ball downfield to still being early in the season. His arm? Not so much. Washington’s defense was able to get their hands on five passes. Bradford tried to fit the ball into tight spaces underneath, and it just didn’t work.Fitz and DJ pick up where they left offThe year is 2034 and Larry Fitzgerald is still getting open. He’s so good. Fitzgerald finished with seven catches for 76 yards on 10 targets. One of those shouldn’t have counted and was a hilarious push off.Just watching him find a way to get open at every level and manage to catch it no matter if he’s wide open or if a defender is hanging all over him will forever be impressive to me. In the case of David Johnson, the only reason he didn’t rush for 100 yards is because of his workload. Your best player can’t have nine carries. That just can’t happen, no matter what the score is. If that’s the case, give Johnson 10 catches instead of five. I didn’t get the impression that the offensive line was blocking poorly, against the run anyways. I wouldn’t look at Johnson finishing with 37 rushing yards as if he had a bad game. He didn’t.Unprepared on defenseAll those preseason turnovers feel like they happened years ago. The Cardinals defense I saw looked unprepared and out of control. The Redskins were going to get to the edges in the run game, throw it to Chris Thompson and Jordan Reed, throw quick passes with Alex Smith on the run. Everyone knew that, except Arizona. Thompson caught six of his seven targets. Reed caught four of his five. Adrian Peterson was able to keep Washington’s offense ahead of the chains. I actually didn’t think Alex Smith played that well http://www.cardinalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-jamar-taylor-jersey , the Cardinals just weren’t in a position to make him pay. Take for example that touchdown throw to Reed near the goal line. In the slot it was Tre Boston against Reed. Tre. Boston. Boston is a fine zone defender, but in man coverage? Absolutely not.Speaking of Boston, there was a lot of out of control play. Whether it was him or Deone Bucannon. Too many missed tackles from the defense. If the team wants to be competitive this year, that’s going to have to change.Flags, Picks and Fumbles Do In Cardinals First of all, I am happy that Steve Wilks finally went to Josh Rosen. I and many of you would have started the game today with Rosen—-and before anyone gets carried away with Sam Bradford’s two TDs—-those were easy throws that Rosen could have made and given the fans and his teammates something extra to be excited about.I accept the fact that Rosen is going to struggle at times—-but I also embrace the fact that that his passes come out with better zip and he is the best athlete the Cardinals have at the QB position. I stick by my opinion that had there been a true competition at QB this pre-season, Rosen would have won the job. The coaches have babied and coddled these QBs and it is one of the main reasons why the team is 0-3.By virtue of the fact that the Cardinals are paying Sam Bradford over $300,000 a game, and, even more so—-that Bradford under pressure took a horrible sack that prevented 3 points before the half (on the heels of Chandler Jones’ tipped pass and Tre’ Boston’s interception) Antoine Bethea Jersey , that under pressure—-he fumbled twice and was intercepted twice on poorly thrown passes that weren’t open to begin with—-it’s time to let Sam go. He looked like he was starting to show some promise today—-until the mind-boggling delay of game penalty early in the 2nd quarter—-and after that—-Bradford was back to being the ineffective, chuck and duck QB he was the past two weeks.Please ask OC Mike McCoy to go with him. Any OC—-with the game on the line—-who would call (on 3rd and 2) a late developing off-tackle play to a rookie RB (a play that always runs the risk of giving up a TFL)—-with David Johnson on the bench—-should no longer deserve the privilege of being one of 32 coaches on the planet to call plays in the NFL.Coach Wilks you are right that the blocking on that play was the problem—-but—-the play call was the bigger problem—-when you’ve got two downs to make two yards you go right at them—-and you go right at them with your All Pro RB. The defense under Wilks and Al Holcomb was undisciplined and penalty-prone—-but they played hard for the most part and today they bended a lot, but only gave up one TD. That’s something to build on. The penalties however are tough to ignore or dismiss. Wilks and Holcomb dialed up an array of pressures that were largely successful and which caused turnovers—-so there is hope on the defensive side of the ball. Plus, the pass coverage was improved today—-again—-which was good to see.The special teams were pretty solid with the huge exception of the Bears’ gunner racing past Jamar Taylor to trip up Christian Kirk right off the catch on a 61 yard punt—-and—-at least in my way of thinking, Christian Kirk is a more dynamic threat at punt returner than Patrick Peterson. Peterson is flashing good leadership on defense, but he lost his nerve on punt returns 5 years ago and with Kirk on the roster, let Peterson stick to what he does best.Sad to see State Farm look and sound (in far too many sections) like it was a domed stadium in Illinois—-in a different State altogether.