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After a month of being run over, literally, the Washington Commanders defense put its collective foot down.
The unit that gave up more than 30 points four games in a row held the Atlanta Falcons to 16 points, forced three turnovers, and gave the offense a short field in route to a 24-16 win at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was effective.
After being staked to a 3-0 lead courtesy of a Joey Sly 36-yard field goal, the defense allowed Atlanta to take a 7-3 lead as Desmond Ritter threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kyle Pitts.
That would be the last long Falcons drive until late in the game.
The Commanders would take a lead they would never give up in the second quarter. Veteran wide receiver Jameson Crowder, signed just after the season started to give the punt return unit a spark, broke a 63-yard return to the Falcons 11-yard line. Quarterback Sam Howell would need just three plays to find Antonio Gibson in the end zone to make the score 10-7.
The defense then gave Howell a short field, stopping Atlanta on fourth down near midfield. Howell then threw touchdown number two to Curtis Samuel on a short pass from the seven-yard line to increase the lead to 17-7.
Washington started the third quarter with another big defensive play. On the opening drive of the second half, Falcons quarterback Desmond Ritter looked for Van Jefferson on a third-down pass play. Cornerback Kendall Fuller jumped the route and intercepted the ball, returning it to the Atlanta 27-yard line.
Two plays later, Howell threw his third touchdown pass of the afternoon, this time to Brian Robinson Jr. to make the score 24-10.
The defense would then snuff out all Atlanta attempts at a fourth-quarter comeback.
Trailing 24-16 with a little more than five minutes left in the game, Ritter was forced from the pocket by the Commanders’ pass rush, he threw an ill-advised pass into the end zone that was intercepted by Benjamin St-Juste. It was St-Juste’s first career interception.
After forcing the Falcons to turn the ball over on downs (for the second time in the game), the defense was called on one final time to preserve the win.
With 31 seconds left in the game, Ritter tried to hit Bijan Robinson on a slant route. Linebacker Jamin Davis was able to get inside of Robinson and intercept Ritter for the third time on the day, ending the game with a final score of 24-16.
Howell finished the game 14 of 23 for 151 yards, 3 TDs, and no interceptions.
The win improves Washington’s record to 3-3 with a trip to The Meadow Lands to play the hapless Giants on Sunday.
It sets up another weekend in which the Commanders should be the better team on paper. Whether that translates on the field remains to be seen.
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