The ultimate fan’s guide for Commanders-Cardinals game day

About the Cardinals Return to menu Arizona is coming off a 20-13 home loss to the Lions in which Detroit quarterback Jared Goff completed 18 of 23 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns. The Cardinals were 1 for 9 on third down and running back James Conner was limited to 17 yards on nine carries, his lowest total in 44 career games with Arizona. Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, who missed last year's game against Washington while recovering from a torn ACL, is off to a strong start, with five touchdown passes and only one interception. He has a new favorite target in rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr . The No. 4 overall pick has 10 catches for 198 yards and three touchdowns, including a 130-yard, two-score performance in a 41-10 win over the Rams in Week 2.

Q&A with Theo Mackie, Cardinals beat reporter for the Arizona Republic

The Cardinals' pass defense has unsurprisingly been one of the worst in the league. Their best cornerback is Sean Murphy-Bunting, a journeyman who struggled last year with Tennessee. Their best pass rusher is Dennis Gardeck, a creative but undersized edge who has 17 sacks in seven seasons. Their linebackers are okay, but they've struggled heavily with quick passes over the middle. The talent just isn't there yet in Year 2 under GM Monti Ossenfort.

Harrison should be in for a big day against Washington's secondary, but 2023 third-round pick Michael Wilson is another receiver to watch. After a slow start to the year, he led the Cardinals with eight catches for 64 yards last week. Wilson has excellent contested catch ability and is a comfortable target for Murray. He's hauled in 11 of 13 targets, whereas Harrison has caught just 10 of 22 balls thrown his way as he and Murray work to develop a rapport.

Both quarterbacks go for over 300 total yards. In Week 1, the Cardinals simply couldn't keep Josh Allen in the pocket, enabling him to escape and either use his legs or find open receivers downfield. A repeat of that performance would be disastrous against Daniels. On the other side, offensive coordinator Drew Petzing clearly wants to use Harrison as a deep threat. That should be much easier against Washington than it was against Buffalo or Detroit. And against a weak Rams secondary in Week 2, Harrison had four catches for 130 yards, helping Murray to a career day.

More on the Cardinals: Mackie breaks down the Cardinals' defense , which has shown signs of progress after allowing the second-most points per game last season, and takes a closer look at Murray's game against the Lions .

Game day grub Return to menu

Could we get away with just sharing a different regional hot dog in this space each week? Yeah, probably, but the bacon-wrapped Sonoran hot dog is next level. The most authentic version of the Southwest specialty features a bolillo-style bun, beans, onions, tomatoes, mayo, crema and salsa. Find the recipe here . For a more involved game day meal, consider this colorful chile relleno casserole , which can be easily adapted to suit vegetarian tastes.

You won't often find Arizona-brewed beers in the DMV, so grab an AriZona Iced Tea (yes, the company is based in New York, and yes, a can still costs 99 cents ) or spice things up with a Oxaca Old Fashioned .

Trivia answer: Rex Grossman won a training camp battle with John Beck in 2011 and led Washington to three wins in its first four games in Coach Mike Shanahan's second season. Then the wheels came off. Grossman, who barely completed 50 percent of his passes and threw two interceptions against the Rams, was benched in the second half of Washington's next game, which marked the first of six consecutive losses. The burgundy and gold finished 5-11.

Emoji rebus answer: Dave Butz was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1973, but signed with Washington as a free agent in 1975 after a knee injury limited him to one game in his second season. An all-pro in 1983, Butz was the veteran leader of the defensive line that sacked John Elway five times in Super Bowl XXII in January 1988. Butz died at 72 in 2022 . Check out the Diet Coke commercial he co-starred in with teammate Charles Mann: