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Commanders take 17-7 halftime lead over Cardinals as Arizona offense goes stagnant

© Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

After scoring a touchdown on the opening drive for the fourth-straight game, the Arizona Cardinals let up 17 unanswered points to the Washington Commanders and trail 17-7 at halftime.

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The Commanders (2-1) outgained the Cardinals (1-2) 220-122 in total yards in the first half, including 124 team rushing yards to 64 for Arizona.

Kyler Murray connected on 9-of-13 passes for 70 yards and a touchdown and was sacked twice. James Conner started off strong with over 30 yards on the opening drive, ending the half with 12 carries on 55 yards. Marvin Harrison Jr. caught another touchdown pass and recorded three receptions for 21 yards in the half.

For Washington, Jayden Daniels completed his first nine passes before throwing his first career interception to Cardinals cornerback Garrett Williams in the second quarter. Daniels ended the half 11-of-13 for 96 passing yards and rushed six time for 28 yards. Brian Robinson Jr. ran 12 times for 58 yards and a touchdown, while third-string running back Jeremy McNichols had three carries for 38 yards and a touchdown as he fills in for the injured Austin Ekeler.

Here is how the first half played out:

Game Flow

First Quarter

The Cardinals returned the opening kickoff all the way to the their own 45-yard line. The very first play, Murray found Harrison for a nine-yard gain. Conner then quickly got Arizona all the way to the Washington 11-yard line with his first three rushes going for over 30 yards combined. The Commanders were able to force Arizona into a fourth-and-inches at the one-yard line, when Murray found Harrison along the right sideline of the end zone for the fourth receiving touchdown of his young NFL career.

This pass was Murray’s 100th career touchdown pass. The Cardinals led 7-0 after Matt Prater’s extra point with 9:54 left in the first quarter.

Arizona forced two early third downs for the Commanders, but they were able to pick up both of them. Using a hurry up offense, Washington quickly got into the red zone and capped off a nine-play, 70-yard drive with a six-yard touchdown rush by Brian Robinson Jr. to tie the game at 7 with 5:13 remaining in the first quarter.

Arizona advanced the ball beyond midfield on its second drive, but Murray overshot Michael Wilson on third-and-nine, forcing the Cardinals to punt the ball away. Blake Gillikin had a nice punt, pinning the ball at the Washington seven-yard line with 2:39 to go in the period.

Washington’s offense continued to click despite the poor field position, as it converted a third-and-four and had the ball at its 29-yard line as time expired in the first quarter with the game tied at 7.

At the end of the quarter, Murray was 5-for-7 for 36 yards and a touchdown. Conner rushed seven times for 44 yards and Harrison caught three passes for 21 yards.

Daniels was perfect through the air, completing all five of his throws for 43 yards. Robinson had seven carries for 45 yards and a touchdown.

Second Quarter

The Commanders converted their fourth third down on four tries on the second play of the second quarter on a third-and-two. After another third down conversion, McNichols ran into the end zone from 27 yards out on only his second carry of the game to put Washington ahead 14-7 with 10:18 left in the first half.

The Cardinals went three-and-out after the kickoff, as Murray once again could not connect with Wilson on third-and-one.

Washington started its next drive at its 20-yard line after the punt and looked to be driving once again. However, Daniels threw an errant pass over Terry McLaurin on a seam route and Williams was able to highpoint the ball with one hand for an interception to give Arizona the ball at its 18-yard line with under seven minutes to go in the half.

The Cardinals could not capitalize on the interception after Murray was sacked for a five-yard loss on second-and-10, and a screen pass to Greg Dortch on third down only got them seven yards. Arizona had to punt for the third time in four drives.

The interception gave the Arizona defense some juice, as the Cardinals were able to stuff Robinson for no gain and then a five-yard tackle for loss. The next play, they forced an incompletion, as Daniels looked for McLaurin deep over the middle on third-and-15. Washington had to punt for the first time since the fourth quarter of Week 1.

Arizona took over at its 30-yard line with 3:07 remaining in the quarter after the punt. With just over a minute left, Murray hit Wilson along the sideline for 11 yards to advance the ball to the Washington 45. Arizona then found itself in a fourth-and-one from the Washington 35 and Murray got sacked from behind for eight yards for a bad turnover on downs.

With only 29 seconds left, the Commanders were still able to quickly march down to the Arizona 27-yard line and drilled a 45-yard field goal as time expired to take a 17-7 halftime lead.

Washington will receive the opening kickoff of the second half.

7 players inactive for the Cardinals in their Week 4 matchup against the Washington Commanders

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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau

 

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