Cardinals vs Commanders: Storylines to Watch

Here's what to watch for as the Arizona Cardinals host the Washington Commanders in Week 4.

Sep 22, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) during the second half at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

The Arizona Cardinals are set to host the Washington Commanders today, and there's no shortage of storylines in this game. The 1-2 Cardinals are trying to get to the .500 mark after a disappointing loss to the Lions while the Commanders look to move to 3-1 after upsetting the Bengals.

The two teams have a high-powered offense and mediocre (at best) defenses, so get ready for a lot of points.

The game also features a former Sun Devil that has divided the fan base. How the crowd welcomes him back to the desert will be interesting.

These are among the biggest storylines for this game. Let's break them down.

Jayden Daniels returns to the desert

A long time ago (2019), Daniels, a high four-star/five star QB recruit depending on your source, committed to Arizona State University and became the face of the program and was forever attached to the Herm Edwards era of Sun Devils football.

Daniels had a great start in the desert and became the first true freshman to be the week one starter in program history. He was incredibly successful and productive as a freshman and had good success in a COVID shortened 2020 season. Unfortunately, Daniels fell off a cliff in 2021, the year when ASU was "destined" to dominate college football, and opted to transfer following the season.

His departure left many frustrated and upset and things didn't get any better after the fallout of the COVID violations committed by Edwards and the resulting penalties the university suffered.

Meanwhile, Daniels went to LSU and won a Heisman Trophy on his way to being the number two pick in this year's draft.

Daniels is returning to Arizona for the first time since he left in 2021 and it's hard to imagine that valley fans have forgiven him for his betrayal of the program and leaving the university to rot while he found success elsewhere and seemingly got off scot free.

I anticipate this to be an emotional game for both Daniels and Arizona sports fans. There could be some who welcome Daniels back, but I would venture to guess he will receive lots of boos.

A battle of high-flying offenses

Get ready for a shootout, ladies and gentlemen

The number four scoring offense in the Cardinals takes on the number five scoring offense in the Commanders - and there's little defense to speak of (more on that later). With two dual threat quarterbacks and a host of weapons to get the ball to, we should see quite the battle of offenses in this game. Personally, I am smashing the over in this game.

Kyler Murray and Daniels should have absolute field days on Sunday with points aplenty for both teams. Don't be surprised if the final score were somewhere in the 30s for both teams.

May the better offense win! However...

Which defense steps up?

Unlike on offense, this isn't exactly a battle of heavy-weight defenses. The Cardinals house the 17th overall defense in yards per game, which is far exceeding expectations. On the flip side, the Commanders have the 29th overall defense in YPG, which is about where we expected them to be.

Thankfully for Washington, they've had little trouble putting up points on offense to counter their defense. The Cardinals have done the same, making this a very intriguing matchup.

With this game likely leaning toward a high-scoring affair, the game will likely come down to whose defense plays the best. On paper, Arizona has the clear advantage, but the pure talent of Daniels makes the Commanders about as unpredictable as they come.

This won't be a defensive slugfest, but the better defense, no matter how big a difference it might be, will likely decide the winner of this game.