Dissecting Most Crucial Matchups in Redskins' Week 6 Contest with the Cardinals

Responding to their blowout Week 4 loss at the hands of the New York Giants, the Washington Redskins gave a valiant effort in their bid to upset the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football. Although the team came up short, losing 27-17 to the defending Super Bowl champs, it took an MVP-caliber performance from Russell Wilson for the Seahawks to win.

Set to face the Arizona Cardinals in its sixth game of the season, it can be safely said that Washington won't be encountering a player of Wilson's caliber. Nonetheless, there still remains a set of matchups the team has to win if it's to end its three-game losing streak.

With that said, here are the most crucial matchups in the Redskins' Week 6 contest with the Cardinals:

WR Pierre Garcon vs. CB Antonio Cromartie

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Entering their Week 6 matchup, both Pierre Garcon and Antonio Cromartie are coming off forgettable performances.

While there's no shame in losing a matchup with the great Demaryius Thomas, Cromartie getting beat to the tune of over 200 receiving yards was a tad erroneous. And mind you, a 77-yard touchdown by Thomas was taken off the board by a penalty.

As for Garcon, his lackluster showing Monday night against the Seahawks highlighted the struggles he's undergone this season. Matched up with Byron Maxwell and Richard Sherman on occasion, Garcon was held to two catches for 23 yards. This was the third game in 2014 in which he was held to two receptions or less.

Never shy when it comes to expressing himself, Sherman didn't mince words in comments he made to CSN Washington's JP Finlay about Garcon.

"Pierre doesn't matter in this league," he said. Asked to clarify his comments, Sherman replied, "I mean exactly what I said."

Discussing a minor altercation that he and Garcon had involving his hair getting pulled, Sherman's criticism didn't end there.

"Pierre did a few things. When you can't get open, you got to do whatever you can. The crowd is acting like I'm holding him. Obviously the TV copy you can see what happened."

A moment that clearly illustrated Garcon's level of frustration, there's reason to believe that he could recapture his 2013 form against Cromartie.

Despite his middling numbers of 26 receptions and 278 yards on the year, Garcon is still Washington's most targeted receiver. Factor in Cromartie's penchant for missing tackles with the fact that nearly half of Garcon's yardage last season came after the catch, and the ingredients for a breakout game are there.

LB Keenan Robinson vs. RB Andre Ellington

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Down Carson Palmer and a concussed Drew Stanton against the Denver Broncos, the centerpiece of the Cardinals offense was one Andre Ellington. While he gained little traction on the ground, with just 32 rushing yards, Ellington did lead the team in receiving.

For the game, he had four receptions and 112 yards, with an 81-yard touchdown being the highlight.

With rookie Logan Thomas in line to start if Palmer and Stanton remain sidelined, the onus will fall on Keenan Robinson to limit Ellington's impact as a receiver.

As Washington's best cover linebacker, as ESPN.com's John Keim notes—although, that's not saying much with Perry Riley as the alternative option—Robinson's earlier matchup with Darren Sproles should have him prepared to deal with a player of Ellington's ilk. 

A week after catching seven passes for 152 yards against the Indianapolis Colts, Sproles was held to three catches and 30 yards in the Philadelphia Eagles' 37-34 win over Washington.

While Robinson was undressed a bit—and the same goes for the entire Washington defense—by Larry Donnell in Week 4's loss to the New York Giants, it's Robinson's open-field tackling that enables him to limit the impact of scat backs like Ellington in the passing game.

Citing Pro Football Focus' missed tackle statistic from earlier in the season, ESPN's Chris Russell highlighted this fact:

"

Did you know: @KeenanRobinson1 has exactly ZERO credited missed tackles in three games per the greatness of @PFF. #Redskins

— Chris Russell (@Russellmania980) September 24, 2014"

Facing a Cardinals offense that hasn't topped 25 points this season, Washington could exit Arizona victorious if Robinson neutralizes Ellington.

CB Bashaud Breeland vs. WR Michael Floyd

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Regardless of who suits up at quarterback for the Cardinals, you can be rest assured that head coach Bruce Arians will push the ball downfield. Between Palmer and Stanton, 47 of their 125 pass attempts have traveled more than 10 yards from the line of scrimmage. Lauded for his arm strength coming out of Virginia Tech, Thomas is likely to continue this trend if he finds himself under center.

Averaging 21.6 yards per reception, oftentimes it's Michael Floyd who is the target on these strikes downfield. With David Amerson likely to draw the assignment of covering Larry Fitzgerald, the onus will fall on rookie Bashaud Breeland to contain Floyd.

In the mold of the big physical cornerbacks who have taken the league by storm the past few seasons, Breeland is at his best in press coverage. A solid tackler as well, Breeland's physicality has made some wonder if he's better suited at safety. While this is a compliment in some regards, this line of thinking also highlights some deficiencies he has in coverage.

Lacking in speed, Breeland can be given fits by quicker and smaller receivers. Going against Percy Harvin, this clearly was the case in Week 5:

"

Per @PFF, Bashaud Breeland had a 88.9 QBR against him, second best among WSH DBs to Amerson, allowing 4 catches, 3 to Harvin.

— Eli Bookstaber (@Ebookstaber) October 7, 2014"

Additionally, because he struggles to change directions coming out of breaks, Breeland's made a habit out of grabbing opposing receivers in an effort to keep them at arm's length. As a result, the rookie leads the team's defensive backs in penalties with four.

While Floyd doesn't match the profile of receivers who give him trouble, Breeland's penchant for being too hands-on with receivers could be detrimental to Washington if it saddles the team with multiple pass-interference penalties deep downfield.

With Floyd unlikely to hurt the team with his work after the catch—less than 27 percent of his total yardage last season was garnered in this manner—the best course of action for Breeland is to keep Floyd in front of him. He may concede some receptions in the process, but in doing so he strips Arizona of its best deep threat.