The Arizona Cardinals and the Washington Commanders played one another twice a year between 1970 and 2001. And they’ve met several times since the Cardinals started calling the desert home in 1988.
While the Cards have unfortunately only beaten Washington 15 times between 1988 and 2022, they nonetheless have enjoyed some thrilling wins vs. their formal division rival, and the five most thrilling all occurred between 1994 and 2000. Therefore, unlike in previous pieces, each game you’ll find below occurred when the Cards still called the NFC East home.
Arizona Cardinals 5 best wins over the Commanders
5 - Aeneas Williams sets the tone in a narrow Cardinals win
In November 2000, Aeneas Williams scooped up a fumble and returned it 103 yards for a touchdown just over four minutes into the game, but it doesn’t mean Washington didn’t make the game interesting. After Arizona tacked on another field goal to increase their lead to 10, Washington scored 12 unanswered points.
However, Michael Pittman busted through to give the Cards a 16-12 lead. And while Washington tacked on another field goal with just under five minutes left, it wasn’t enough, and the Redbirds cruised to a narrow win.
4 - Jake Plummer leads the Cardinals to a 45-point outing
It seemed as though the entire NFL universe wanted the Arizona Cardinals to go places in 1998, and they got their wish on November 22nd, 1998. Jake Plummer averaged 9.0 yards per pass attempt, throwing for 251 yards and two touchdowns on the day, amassing a 99.0 quarterback rating in the process.
But Plummer wasn’t the only revelation in this one, as Adrian Murrell, Mario Bates, and Larry Centers combined for 178 rushing yards and a touchdown. However, Plummer is the player that everyone remembers here, as he found the end zone three more times on the ground, despite putting up just 10 rushing yards.