The Washington Commanders are stepping up in weight class today against the Buffalo Bills. The Commanders’ previous two opponentnes, the Arizona Cardinals and Denver Broncos will most likely end up with top ten picks in next year’s NFL draft.
The Buffalo Bills, on the other hand, will most likely end up in this year’s postseason.
That makes the Week 3 matchup at Fed Ex Field an important milepost to gauge the Burgundy and Gold’s progress.
A win or a close defeat means the team has leveled up. A bad loss means the questions about the organization are still there.
Today is a ‘quiz’ of sorts for the @Commanders against Buffalo and next week is the first ‘exam’ against Philadelphia. These next two games will say a lot about where Washington truly is as a team. I think they will surprise many that they can compete on a big stage. #httc #NFL pic.twitter.com/mVUdGw9sn8
— Lake Lewis Jr (@LakeLewis) September 24, 2023
Here are some players to watch to see which way the trend is headed.
OL Saahdiq Charles
Coaches have maintained for three seasons that Charles could be an impact player if he could stay healthy. So far, so good in 2023.
A case can be made that Charles wasn’t just the best offensive lineman on the field against Denver, he was the best player on the field against Denver. The third-year guard from LSU was a monster blocking in the run game. A review of the All-22 tape shows his man never got close to the ball carrier and his PFF grade bares that out, performing at an all-pro level. If he can repeat this performance, the Commanders will be on the way to solving at least one question mark on the offensive line.
DE Chase Young
As season debuts go, you couldn’t ask for much better from the former second-overall pick. Young had one and a half sacks, three tackles, one TFL, and two quarterback hits.
Young’s performance has been talked about to death but if Young is fully healthy, the defensive line will go from great to elite.
TE John Bates
The backup tight end is known more as a blocker than a pass catcher but starter Logan Thomas is out of today’s contest against the Bills.
Last week, Bates was targeted five times, which means he’s getting open. He also dropped two of those passes and that’s not good. Eric Bieniemy’s offense depends on reliable, pass-catching tight ends.
Bates must improve.
CB Emmanuel Forbes Jr
The rookie looked good at times last week, picking off Russell Wilson for his first career interception. He also got beat, giving up 125 yards to the players he covered. Today, he will draw
Bills star wideout Stefan Diggs on several occasions and how he holds up could determine the game.
FedEx Field Crowd
The week one sellout against Arizona was almost all Burgundy and Gold faithful. The Bills Mafia fanbase travels and travels well. A good gauge of how far along the Commanders are when it comes to winning the fan base back will be today for their homecoming festivities.
Does FedEx Field sound more like last year or this year?
We’ll find out today at 1:00 p.m.