GLENDALE, Ariz. — There will be a temptation to overreact to the Redskins’ dominating win over the Cardinals on Sunday.

For example, one might look at the performances of Adrian Peterson and Chris Thompson and start talking about the team possessing a potent thunder and lightning type of running back combination.

Looking at the numbers from Peterson, who was making his Redskins debut, and Thompson, who was playing in his first game since suffering a broken fibula last year, you might think that the Redskins have something special going on.

Thompson rushed five times for 65 yards and he caught six passes for 63 yards and a touchdown. Peterson had 26 carries and he piled up 96 yards and a TD and had two receptions for 70 yards.

The last time the Redskins had two running backs gain over 125 yards from scrimmage in the same game was on September 24, 2006 when Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts did it against the Texans.

Peterson ran hard both up the middle and around the edge. Thompson found running room outside and it seemed that Alex Smith knew right where to find him when he needed him as the Redskins rolled to 21 unanswered points in the first and second quarters.

Thompson got the Redskins on the board first on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Smith on the first play of the second quarter. He caught the flip from the quarterback and just made it inside the pylon.

“That touchdown play was just a great call by Coach Gruden,” said Thompson.

“We like to call a snag route. Most teams are used to me running choice routes, which I’ll break inside. It’s either a choice for me to break inside, break out, but the snag route is one of those things where I break inside, make it look like I’m going for the in cut and then break it back out. I kind of felt (Cardinals linebacker) Deone Bucannon and he kind of bit a little bit when I broke inside and then I just whipped it back out. Alex just got me the ball and was able to make a good play and get us some points on the board.”

In keeping with the thunder and lightning theme, Peterson scored the second touchdown through brute force. On third and goal at the one, he went up the middle behind a solid lead block from linebacker Ryan Anderson.

He found a crack and broke through and scored easily.

Of course, the Redskins offensive line did the job on the TD and throughout the day. Like any smart running back, Peterson made sure to dish out some credit to the guys up front.

“With this offensive line, they’re coached extremely well,” said Peterson.

“Trent [Williams] is a close friend of mine. I’ve sat back and watched this offensive line the last two years and dreamed about playing behind an offensive line that’s aggressive and plays with the technique that they do. They did a great job of allowing me to slow my game down and take advantage of what they created for me.”

It was an excellent performance by both players, but there is little chance that it can be replicated week after week. If you multiply Peterson’s 26 carries by 16 games, he would have 416 carries. No back has topped 400 carries in a season since the 27-year-old Larry Johnson did it in 2006.

It should be noted that in 1983, John Riggs carried the ball 375 times at age 34. He is the only player over the age of 30 to carry the ball 375 times or more. So perhaps if Peterson stays healthy he can handle a substantial workload.

Thompson’s numbers have him going just over 1,000 yards rushing and just under a thousand receiving. It’s also unlikely that he will keep it up over 16 games. Relying heavily on Thompson and Peterson may not be a week-in, week-out formula for success.

But for this one game, the 1-2 punch at running back got the Redskins a much-needed Week 1 win.

We will see what Peterson and Thompson can do from there.

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