Joshua Dobbs expects ‘huge jump’ from Cardinals offense in Week 2

The Cardinals offense was outshined by both the defense and special teams units in Arizona’s 20-16 season-opening loss to the Washington Commanders on Sunday.

With quarterback Joshua Dobbs under center, the Cardinals offense was held out of the end zone despite a few promising drives and was instead forced to settle with a trio of field goals in the defeat.

If not for Dennis Gardeck’s strip-sack leading to a Cameron Thomas fumble recovery touchdown, Arizona would have been among the only teams on Sunday kept out of pay dirt.

“We left a lot of opportunities out there,” Dobbs told reporters postgame. “We moved the ball at spurts, but we just got to get better situationally in the red zone specifically. You work so hard to get down there, you got to get seven points. That’s what it came down to and our two turnovers on offense.

“On offense, we got to finish drives, we got to score touchdowns and that’s starts with me, especially with the turnovers, just executing better situationally. We have a big week of practice ahead and we’ll continue to push forward.”

Now, it’s about taking the good from the bad in preparation for the New York Giants in Week 2. For Dobbs, that starts with having a better handle on the football.

Despite not throwing an interception in his Cardinals debut, Dobbs lost two second-half fumbles that the Commanders offense turned into 10 points on ensuing drives.

“I wanted to win. There are no excuses,” Dobbs said. “When opportunities come in this league, you got to take advantage of them, so whenever you get the opportunity, you go out, execute and play to win every time you step on the field. … That’s at least my expectation.

“It’s back to the drawing board. I got a long plane ride to watch film, assess it and get a jumpstart on the Giants for next week.”

And while the result isn’t what Dobbs or the rest of the team had in mind walking out of the tunnel pregame, the QB is confident that when he leads the team out in Week 2, they’ll noticeably different now with a game under their belt.

“A huge jump is in store,” Dobbs said. “Just getting out there, getting the flow of the game, the flow with the guys. Timing and rhythm in the game is always different than practice sometimes.

“Just getting to playing ball can definitely make a huge jump and I expect to make a huge jump situationally. I know all of us do.”

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