Know The Enemy: Arizona Cardinals

On Sunday, the Redskins will host the Arizona Cardinals who are still fighting for a playoff spot but if they lose, their chances to play in the postseason will likely end. With that being said, we talked with our good friend Ryan Adverderada of Full Press Coverage Cardinals to get an inside look at what the keys are for both Washington and Arizona are on Sunday.

Our conversation is below.

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What will be the key for Arizona to attack Kirk Cousins and get pressure on him? It’s been proven that under pressure he can makes mistakes. Can the Cardinals defense get to him?

Arizona is a blitz happy team. They typically send five or more rushers on roughly a third of passing attempts. Chandler Jones will be the man to watch as he’s leading the NFL in sacks and has come on strong the last couple of games.

Who is the X-factor on the Cardinals that the Redskins must keep an eye on other than Larry Fitzgerald?

Judging from the season there isn’t an X factor outside of Fitzgerald. No one has consistently step up but that also has something to do with an inconsistent offense. All things considered be on the look out for tight end Ricky Seals-Jones. The rookie tight end has had some big catches since Blaine Gabbert became quarterback and he has the physical traits to make an impact.

The secondary has been good this year for Washington, but, they’ve had some blunders as of late with deep balls. Can the beat up offensive line for Arizona give Gabbert enough time to throw deep?

Gabbert can throw a nice deep ball when given time. That said, head coach Bruce Arians enjoys taking chances downfield with any of his receivers, especially deep crossing routes with Fitzgerald. Play action will be where the deep routes are going to come. Outside of that you’ll see shorter and quicker routes to negate the pass rush.

With no Adrian Peterson likely, who will be carrying the load on Sunday?

Rookie Kerwynn Williams will get the bulk of work at running back. He’s filled in the last two games with Peterson’s injured neck. Williams is more of a slashing runner but can also make more plays in the passing game

Are the Cardinals officially scouting Cousins’ Sunday as he could be a free agent and Arizona seems to be in the market for a QB?

There really hasn’t been much said by the organization. That’s not surprising as the team is usually tight lipped and often puts out misinformation. There’s no reason to believe they aren’t looking at Cousins but the issue will be affording the quarterback. If options are picked up, the 2018 cap space would be around $25 million, nowhere near enough to get Cousins and upgrade the rest of the roster.

Lastly, score prediction?

The Cardinals have more to play for with the wild card still a possibility. Ultimately the defense is going to decide this game. Expect a lot of penalties, but it’s Arizona 23-13.