The preseason is over and it's time for football that actually counts. The Redskins travel west to face the Arizona Cardinals Sunday afternoon. Arizona has made a lot of changes since former Redskins Junior Galette and Anthony Lanier feasted on Blaine Gabbert last year. New coaches, new schemes, new QBs.
The Redskins need to start off the season with a win, something they haven't done under Head Coach Jay Gruden. New starting QB Alex Smith, RB Adrian Peterson, and WR Paul Richardson Jr. will need to get on the same page quickly against Arizona's defense. Jamison Crowder and Chris Thompson look to have big seasons with Smith under center, and will need to start Sunday after limited preseason work.
The Redskins defense is looking stout up front with Jonathan Allen and Matt Ioannidis returning healthy, and DaRon Payne and Tim Settle added in the draft this year. They will be needed to stop a returning David Johnson. Preston Smith is also really looking forward to reintroducing himself to Sam Bradford.
Larry Fitzgerald is still going strong in the slot for the Cardinals, and the Redskins new CB depth chart will be tested quickly. Quinton Dunbar has seen plenty of action with the Redskins since switching from WR to CB as an UDFA rookie, but now steps into the #2 spot. 2nd-year CB jump into the slot after seeing limited time on defense his rookie year.
The Redskins are 1 point underdogs in an opening weekend away game and will show the rest of the NFL what kind of team the 2018 version is on Sunday.
Matchup: Washington Redskins(0-0) vs Arizona Cardinals(0-0)
Date/Time: Sunday, Sept. 9 | 4:25 p.m. ET
Location: State Farm Stadium (65,000) | Glendale, Ariz.
TELEVISION: FOX
Thom Brennaman (play-by-play)
Chris Spielman (color)
Shannon Spake (sidelines)
(via 506sports)
RADIO: Redskins Radio Network
Larry Michael (play-by-play)
Chris Cooley (analysis)
Rick “Doc” Walker (sidelines)
Live Streaming: NFL Sunday Ticket, NFL.com Game Pass, fuboTV
Odds: Redskins +1
Series history, news and notes
Prediction: Redskins 24 - Cardinals 20
Enemy Blog: Revenge of the Birds