GLENDALE, Ariz. — Week 1 of the 2018 NFL regular season finally arrived, and the Redskins ran all over the Cardinals en route to an impressive 24-6 victory in the desert.

Alex Smith and Adrian Peterson were incredibly efficient in their debuts, and Quinton Dunbar had a standout performance on defense.

It was mostly good, a little bit of bad and a lot of ugly Cardinals football.

Redskins vs. Cardinals: Good, Bad, and Ugly

FIRST QUARTER:

The Good: The Redskins’ running game was strong. Adrian Peterson got things off to a good start with a five-yard carry and in the quarter and he racked up 43 yards on nine carries. Chris Thompson had runs of 13 and 14 yards during the Redskins’ second possession.

He looked like the quick, fast runner we saw last year.

The Bad: Good opening drive killed by a false start and then pressure up the middle on Alex Smith that forced him into an intentional grounding call made the Redskins come up empty.

The 12 yards on the grounding, which would have happened if Smith had taken the sack, pushed the Redskins out of field goal range.

The Ugly: The defense had some trouble with David Johnson during the Cardinals’ first possession.

He gained 24 yards on four carries including a couple of 10-yard runs.

SECOND QUARTER:

The Good: Just after converting a fourth and short on a sneak, Alex Smith was flushed to his left. He found Jordan Reed wide open about eight yards downfield and the TE turned it upfield for a gain of 22. The drive ended in a one-yard Adrian Peterson TD run.

ANOTHA ONE pic.twitter.com/jF9gOE0Sal — NBC Sports Redskins (@NBCSRedskins) September 9, 2018

The Bad: From the Redskins perspective, absolutely nothing.

The Ugly: Smith ran an odd play that sort of looked like a read option but he never put the ball into the belly of the runner, so nobody was fooled. The QB was tackled for a loss of two. It was about the only mistake the Redskins made in the quarter.

THIRD QUARTER:

The Good: More good running by Peterson, who ran a sweep to the left, cut up field and gained 17 yards. That turned a first-and-20 into a second and three.

The Bad: Penalties ruined a Redskins drive in the middle of the third quarter. They were able to overcome first-and-20 due to a holding call. But after they drove into Arizona territory they got flagged for holding again. This one killed the drive and the Redskins had to punt.

The Ugly: The Redskins first possession of the second half was a dog. Starting from the Arizona eight, Peterson was tackled for a loss of four. A holding penalty was declined on the play. Then Smith threw behind Thompson. On third down from the four, Smith was under heavy pressure and threw one away that was nearly grounding and nearly picked off. Gross.

FOURTH QUARTER:

The Good: The Redskins were able to keep the Cardinals at bay, not allowing any big plays, and wrapping up Jay Gruden’s first season-opening win as a head coach.

The Bad: The Redskins got a little sloppy while trying to run out the clock after the Cardinals scored for the first time. A false start and a fumbled snap, which Smith alertly jumped on, kept the Redskins bottled up in their own end.

The Ugly: The Redskins had a chance to break the NFL’s longest active streak without getting a shutout. A fourth-quarter touchdown run kept that streak, which dates back to 1991, going. We had a really awesome graphic we wanted to use. Thanks for nothing, Cardinals.

MORE REDSKINS NEWS: