Jordan Phillips was brought to the Cardinals to be a high-octane interior pass-rusher, and he fit that bill in Week 2 against Washington.
The veteran defensive tackle had a strip-sack in the first quarter and finished with a 90.5 pass-rushing grade from Pro Football Focus on his 35 snaps.
Phillips is tied with Myles Garrett, Yannick Ngakoue and Robert Quinn for the second-best pass-rush grade of the week heading into Monday Night Football. Only Steelers defensive end Tyson Alualu earned a higher pass-rushing grade on Sunday.
Other Pro Football Focus observations from the 30-15 victory:
- Haason Reddick has certainly seemed to have found a home at outside linebacker. He finished with the highest PFF grade on the defense Sunday at 84.6, doing a stellar job stopping the run and pressuring the quarterback while holding up in coverage.
- Corey Peters had the best run-stopping grade on the team at 77.0 and a sack helped him finish third on the defense with an overall grade of 80.4.
- Andy Isabella only played 14 snaps but had a pair of catches, including a 54-yarder, which earned him a team-high grade of 85.5.
- Patrick Peterson was given the lowest grade on the defense at 36.7. PFF charged him with four completions allowed on six targets for 66 yards and a touchdown. For what it's worth, Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said after the game that the defense intentionally softened its coverage late to avoid getting hit with big plays.
- Right tackle Kelvin Beachum was given a 71.6 pass-blocking grade, the best among the team's offensive linemen. Guard Justin Pugh (70.4), left tackle D.J. Humphries (70.0) and center Lamont Gaillard (64.6) were also given solid pass-blocking grades, although PFF thought guard J.R. Sweezy (10.5 grade) really struggled.
- Kyler Murray was given an overall grade of 67.4, but Pro Football Focus was not as enamored with Murray's rushing performance as everyone else, as he was given just a 66.2 rushing grade despite averaging 8.4 yards per carry and scoring two touchdowns on the ground.
