Kyler Murray settled back in the pocket at the Washington Commanders' 44-yard line on fourth-and-1 in the closing seconds of the first half. In the first three weeks, and last season, for that matter, this likely would have been followed by a scramble, broken coverage or some other backbreaking play.

Instead, something completely different occurred: a good break for the Commanders. Murray pump faked, and before Murray could reset to survey his options, he was engulfed by Dorance Armstrong, who beat his man off the edge for a seven-yard sack.

It was the Cardinals' last chance before the half to tie the score, and it ended up being the closest they got to catching up with the Commanders for the rest of the day.

The pundits will look at the Commanders' 42-14 win over the Cardinals and point to how impressive the offense looked in their third consecutive win, and they were. The unit put up 400-plus yards for the second time in four weeks and converted nine of 12 third down attempts. But in what was expected to be a high-scoring game against two of the NFL's most efficient offenses, the defense showed up and largely shut down Murray and the Cardinals' offense.

For the first time this season, the Commanders played a complete game, and it was a sign that the roster is starting to grow up. After the first four games, the team stands alone atop the NFC East.

Coach Dan Quinn said before one of the team's practices at Arizona State that while the defense was improving, the unit still wasn't playing to the speed that he and the coaching staff expected from them. One has to imagine that Sunday's performance against the Cardinals, who came into the matchup ranked seventh in total offense and fourth in points per game, is closer to that standard. The Cardinals were held to 296 yards and 4-of-11 on third downs. Murray, who completed 16 of 22 passes for 142 yards, was held to his lowest passing total of the season.

Some of Washington's problems on defense were still there, as James Conner rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, but many of the areas that the unit struggled with were non-factors against the Cardinals. Murray was bottled up in the pocket and held to just one rushing attempt for three yards; Harrison led his team with 45 yards but only had one go for longer than 10 yards. Murray was also sacked four times, by the far a season-high for the Commanders,

After forcing just three punts in the first three games, Washington surpassed that total in one afternoon against the Cardinals with four forced punted. They even forced a turnover in the fourth quarter that took even more air out of the Cardinals' sails.

All this took pressure off the Commanders' offense to not score on almost every drive, although they still did it anyway. It wasn't the same historic performance that Jayden Daniels and the unit put up against the Cincinnati Bengals (Tress Way actually had to punt), and Daniels did have his first career interception. It was, however, the first time since 1991 that Washington scored at least 38 points in back-to-back weeks, and while the pick and punts were speed bumps the unit would inevitably meet, they weren't enough to stop it from putting up 449 yards and 29 first downs.

Things certainly started the way many expected they would at State Farm Stadium. Murray and the Cardinals (1-3) zoomed 55 yards downfield on nine plays, capping things off with a two-yard touchdown pass from Murray to Marvin Harrison Jr. From that point on, however, the Cardinals hit a wall, as they punted on three consecutive drives and were limited to just 39 yards in that stretch.

The Commanders, meanwhile, were rolling as they have done for most of the year. They matched the Cardinals' touchdown with one of their own, marching 70 yards on nine plays, most of which were a credit to Brian Robinson Jr., who had his second 100-yard game of the season and punched in the six-yard score.

Next, it was game captain Jeremy McNichols who got in on the action. The veteran capped off a 93-yard drive following the first Cardinals punt with a 27-yard sprint to the end zone, tip-toeing the sideline for the final five yards. McNichols, who received more snaps because of Austin Ekeler being in the concussion protocol, had a career-high 68 yards on eight carries.

After Armstrong's sack on Murray, Daniels, whose 82.1% completion rate is the highest in NFL history among quarterbacks with at least 75 attempts in that span, put the Commanders and Austin Seibert in range for a 45-yard field goal that put the Washington up 17-7 at halftime.

It was all Commanders from there. A pass interference call on Sean Murphy-Bunting moved the Commanders to the Cardinals' 9-yard line on their opening drive of the third quarter. Daniels ran it in from there, following his blocker to the right and crossing the goal line untouched for his fourth rushing touchdown. After another field goal from Seibert, Daniels connected with Terry McLaurin for his second score of the season, which also helped give him 52 yards for the afternoon.

The Cardinals were not as productive. They lost 16 yards on their opening drive of the second half, helped by an eight-yard sack from Bobby Wagner and Daron Payne. They did manage to score again, converting a fourth-and-12 en route to six-yard score from Conner, but with the Commanders dominating the time of possession, 33:22 – 26:38, time was not in their favor.

The Cardinals got to the Commanders' 46-yard line before Michael Wilson's fumble, which was recovered by Frankie Luvu, all but put them in the grave. McNichols, who ran in a seven-yard touchdown eight plays later, officially buried them.

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