The Arizona Cardinals and the Washington Commanders meet in week 1 NFL action from Fedex Field on Sunday afternoon.

Arizona Cardinals Team Preview

The Arizona Cardinals are expected to be in rebuild mode in 2023 after going from an 11-win team in 2021 to a 4-13 mark in 2022, finishing at the bottom of the NFC West. Injuries to a lot of starters and inconsistencies on both sides of the ball were key to a seven-game losing skid that closed out the year. To make matters worse, Kyler Murray is out for the foreseeable future, making year one in the Jonathan Gannon era a bit dicey with Joshua Dobbs looking like the starting QB going forward while Clayton Tune, the rookie out of Houston, will be waiting in the wings for his crack to be the starter. The Cards have some other decent skill options, like James Conner and Keaontay Ingram in the backfield and Marquise Brown at receiver. On defense, the Cardinals lost their leader in J.J. Watt, but the Cards still have some solid linebacker depth and Budda Baker is back at safety to bring some veteran leadership to a Cardinals team that’s definitely going to be dealing with growing pains in 2023.

Arizona Cardinals Team Facts

– The Cardinals have lost each of their last seven games.
– The Cardinals have covered the spread in each of their last seven games against NFC East opponents.
– The Cardinals have scored the first touchdown in each of their last four road games against NFC East opponents.
– The Cardinals have lost the first quarter in four of their last five games in September.
– The Cardinals have lost the first half in seven of their last eight September games as underdogs.

Arizona Cardinals Player Prop Facts

– James Conner has scored at least one touchdown in six of his last seven appearances.

Washington Commanders Team Preview

The Washington Commanders come into the 2023 season looking to take another step in the right direction after finishing with their highest win total since 2016, picking up an 8-8-1 record when all was said and done, but missed out on the playoffs for the second straight season, finishing in the basement of the NFC East. The quarterback situation for the Commanders is murky at best to put it nicely, but the Commanders appear ready to move forward with 2022 5th-round pick Sam Howell to take over the reigns, but Jacoby Brissett, a quarterback with plenty of experience starting throughout his career, could be waiting in the wings to take over or could even win the job in preseason. There are still other pieces to be excited about, like Antonio Gibson and Brian Robinson Jr. in the backfield and Terry McLaurin and Curtis Samuel in the receiving corps. The defense needs to make more big plays, after finishing bottom 5 in interceptions with 9 and 26th with 18 takeaways in 2022, but were just outside the top-10 in yards allowed per pass attempt. It’s all about getting a bounce back year from Chase Young and hoping that you can get good seasons from guys like Montez Sweat and Jonathan Allen, but it’s definitely possible. 2023 is just going to be interesting enough to see if there’s a change in culture in Washington now that Dan Snyder is out as team owner.

Washington Commanders Team Facts

– The Commanders have lost five of their last six September games as favorites against NFC opponents.
– The Commanders have failed to cover the spread in seven of their last eight games in September.
– The Commanders have scored the first touchdown in each of their last four games as favorites against NFC West opponents.
– The Commanders have lost the first quarter in each of their last five September games as favorites against NFC opponents.
– The Commanders have lost the first half in seven of their last eight September games against NFC opponents.

Washington Commanders Player Prop Facts

– Jahan Dotson has scored the last touchdown in three of his four previous appearances with the Commanders as favorites against NFC opponents.
– Antonio Gibson has scored a touchdown in three of the Commanders’ last four September games against NFC opponents.
– Terry McLaurin ranked 7th amongst qualified players for Yards Per Reception (15.5) last season

Matchup/League Facts

– The Commanders ranked 3rd in the NFL in yards allowed per game (304.6) last season
– The Commanders ranked 4th in the NFL in passing yards allowed per game (191.3) last season
– The Cardinals ranked 31st in the NFL in points allowed per game (26.4) last season
– The Cardinals ranked T26th in the NFL in turnover differential (-5) last season

Chris’ Pick

I’m rolling with Washington here. I don’t have high hopes for either of these teams right now, but I just think the Cardinals are my early front-runner for most likely to finish with the worst record in 2023. Washington’s at least got a proven coach, some decent quarterback talent in Sam Howell and some solid pieces around him. I also don’t feel like the Cardinals are in a good enough spot to take advantage of whatever deficiencies that Washington’s defense could have. Give me the Commanders here.