The Arizona Cardinals entered Week 1 as the biggest underdogs of the week. They finished with a 26-14 road win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
It was a fantastic performance in all three phases.
On offense
They scored on the opening drive of the game and never trailed. They didn't turn the ball over, and they didn't punt the ball until the third quarter. They had a solid game from quarterback Jacoby Brissett, who completed 27-of-37 passes for 277 yards and a touchdown. The ball went to six different receivers, led by tight end Trey McBride's nine catches for 95 yards and a touchdown. Receiver Kendrick Bourne had eight receptions for 75 yards.
The run game was balanced and steady. They rushed for 116 yards and got 102 from their running back duo of Tyler Allgeier
and Jeremiyah Love. Allgeier led with 61 yards on 17 carries, while Love had 41 on 11 attempts and a touchdown.
On defense
The oft-criticized defense of Nick Rallis was solid. They held the Chargers to 268 total yards. They held them to 2-of-8 on third down and 0-for-3 on fourth down. They had three sacks and two takeaways. They had a fourth-down stop in a goal-to-go situation.
They had five tackles for loss and six pass breakups.
On special teams
They had the most uneven performance on special teams. Kicker Chad Ryland missed one field goal, but he made three others and two extra points. He also had a kickoff go out of bounds and punter Blake Gillikin had two punts end up as touchbacks, but there were big plays on special teams.
Simi Fehoko blocked a punt.
But it was complementary football. The Cardinals haven't done that in a while.
Welcome to 1-0.
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Cardinals 26, Chargers 14: Arizona wins with solid play in all 3 phases
