Cardinals Embarrassed by Kliff Kingsbury, Commanders

The Arizona Cardinals were routed by a familiar face at State Farm Stadium.

Sep 29, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury looks on in the first half against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images / Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

STATE FARM STADIUM -- The Arizona Cardinals fired former head coach Kliff Kingsbury at the end of the 2022 season.

Nearly two full years later, he's got his revenge.

Kingsbury's offense propelled the Washington Commanders to a 42-14 win over the Cardinals on Sunday, dropping Arizona to 1-3 on the season with two tough road tests in San Francisco and Green Bay awaiting the next two weeks.

Washington's offense - led by No. 2 overall pick Jayden Daniels (who also has sort of a homecoming after first starting his college career at Arizona State) - scored more than 35 points for a second straight week, running the ball with ease and finding open receivers far too often.

All in all, it was a masterclass by Kingsbury in a stadium that saw few too of those in his previous NFL stint.

As for his rookie quarterback, Daniels finished the game 26-30 passing for 233 yards one touchdown/interception each. He also added 47 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown.

The Commanders scored on 7 of 9 offensive drives totaling 449 net yards. They punted just once and went 9-12 on third downs.

It was clearly personal for Kingsbury, who was having some obvious fun on the sideline.

Looked like Kliff Kingsbury took a long look at the Arizona Cardinals sideline after that last TD FWIW.

— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) September 29, 2024

The Cardinals knew it'd be tough sledding against a player such as Daniels - who can hurt you both on the ground and through the air.

“Obviously a very unique player to game plan against because of his skillset. He’s got a unique skillset, but he can throw it all over the place. He can extend plays. He can throw it down the field. Big time player," said Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon earlier in the week.

Arizona's offense scored on their opening drive and massively stalled afterwards, failing to find the scoreboard again until 11 seconds left in the third quarter. Arizona themselves went 4-11 on third down and completely lost their indentity for most of action.

From start to finish it was a dominant performance from Washington, and the Cardinals now find themselves in an early-season hole thanks to a familiar face.

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