THIS WEEK’ S PREVIEW
The Cardinals kick off the 2023 regular season with a trip to the nation’s capital where they will face the Washington Commanders at FedEx Field.
Sunday’s game opens a new era for the Cardinals – marking the first regular season contest for a team constructed by first-year GM Monti Ossenfort and led by first-year head coach Jonathan Gannon.
Ossenfort joined the Cardinals following a highly-successful three-year tenure as Director of Player Personnel with the Tennessee Titans that was preceded by 15 seasons with the New England Patriots. Gannon begins his NFL head coaching career following a two-year stint as the Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator. Prior
to his Ɵ me with Philadelphia, Gannon spent 13 years as an assistant with the Colts, Vikings, Titans, Rams and Falcons.
A new GM and head coach has meant significant change throughout the Cardinals organization. Gannon is joined by 23 assistant coaches who are new to Arizona, while the team’s roster features 27 players newly-acquired during the off season. Among that group is 11 rookies, including eight 2023 draft picks and three rookie free agents.
Also new to the roster is the QB who will start the season-opener for the Cardinals. Newly-acquired veteran Josh Dobbs and rookie fifth-round pick Clayton Tune are competing to fill-in for two-Ɵ me Pro Bowl signal-caller Kyler Murray, who begins the 2023 season on the reserve/PUP list.
Arizona and Washington are meeting for the 126th Ɵ me in a rivalry that dates back to 1932 when the Cardinals were based in Chicago and the Washington franchise was located in Boston. Arizona is making its first visit to FedEx Field since 2017, and its 11Ǧǚ all-Ɵ me visit to the venue, which opened in 1997. The Cardinals have won three of the last five vs. the Commanders, including a 30-15 victory in 2020 at State Farm Stadium in the last meeting.
Following this week’s game against the Commanders, the Cardinals will return home for back-to-back contests vs. the Giants (Week 2) and Cowboys (Week 3). Washington will makes its way West, traveling to Denver for a showdown with the Broncos.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
The Cardinals open the 2023 regular season with a visit to Washington. Arizona will be looking for its first road win against the Commanders since 1998.
Sunday’s game is also the first of three-straight games vs. teams from the NFC East to begin the year for Arizona. The 2023 season marks the first time since 1993 the Cardinals open with three straight games vs. the NFC East (when Arizona was a member of that division).
The Cardinals and Commanders are meeting in the first game of a season for the 10Ǧǚ Ɵ me – and for the first time since 2018. Arizona is playing at Washington in Week 1 for the first Ɵ me since 2002.
Arizona’s six team captains for 2023 are: OL D.J. Humphries, QB Kyler Murray, RB James Conner, S Budda Baker, LB Kyzir White and LB Dennis Gardeck.
TE Zach Ertz will face Washington – his former NFC East rival during his Ɵ me with Philly – for the 17Ǧǚ Ɵ me on Sunday. Ertz has 87 receptions for 867 yards and three TDs vs. the Commanders. He has more receptions and receiving yards vs. Washington than he has against any other team in his career.
GM MonƟ Ossenfort kept busy in his first off season with Arizona, orchestrating seven trades. The Cardinals made four draft-day trades and three more during training camp/preseason – transactions that netted QB Josh Dobbs and six picks in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Arizona’s Jonathan Gannon, Houston’s DeMeco Ryans and Indianapolis’ Shane Steichen are all making their NFL head coaching debut in Week 1.
Arizona starts the 2023 campaign with 11 rookies on the active roster. This marks just the second time (12 in 2019) in the last 20 seasons that the Cardinals have had at least 11 rookies on the Week 1 roster.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN WEEK 1
WITH A WIN THIS WEEK…
Jonathan Gannon would become the first Cardinals full-Ɵ me head coach to earn a win in his first-ever game since Don Coryell in 1973.
Arizona would have wins in each of its last three Week 1 road games.
The Cardinals would improve to 4-2 in their last six games vs. Washington.
Arizona would earn its first road win vs. the Commanders since 1998.
If he starts, QB Clayton Tune would become the first rookie QB to win a season opener for the Cardinals since Bud Schwenk led the team to a 7-0 victory over the Cleveland Rams on 9/13/42.
