It’s been a rough few days for the Washington Commanders.
Dan Quinn has taken the blame for Jayden Daniels injury, players have taken the blame for not making plays, fans have blamed themselves for getting too excited about a flawed roster being able to run it back in 2025, the list is long and distinguished.
As usual, this column seeks to dive a little deeper into what may have, in this case, caused the game against Seattle to go off the rails so badly that the crowd started heading to the exit after Art Monk was inducted into the Commanders Ring of Honor. We have no idea what play call or scheme might have been in play at any particular moment but several things have once again become an issue for a team struggling to keep a once promising season from turning into a top five draft pick scenario.
The defense appears dazed and confused:
From the outside looking in, this appears to be a coaching problem, and a big one.
All season, Washington’s defensive backs have appeared to not know where to be on the field just seconds before the ball is snapped. Two weeks ago, defensive coordinator Joe Whitt said he would simplify the calls and the schemes so players could play faster. If that’s the case, it hasn’t translated on the field.
The most egregious instance came in the second quarter.
Leading 13-0 midway through the second quarter on the Washington 35 yard line, Seattle’s Sam Darnold brought his team to the line with 3 receivers and a tight end split wide. Running back Zach Charbonnet motions into the backfield, causing mass confusion for the Commanders corners and safeties.
Both Marshon Lattimore and Jeremy Reaves appeared to be confused as to which side to line up on and whom to cover. Lattimore eventually wound up on the right side defending Cody White in the flat. reaves started out as a single high safety but wound up on the line of scrimmage, half heartedly rushing the quarterback. Tory Holton blew past Mike Sainristill for a wide open touchdown pass from Darnold.
It brings up an interesting question. Was Sainristill beaten in man coverage? That has happened plenty of times so far this year or was Reaves in the wrong place? Was he supposed to play deep middle? If not, what about Quan Martin who was also in on the play?
The bottom line is there have been plenty of coverage busts this year, much more than should be expected for a defense that, while not expected to be one of the league’s best was certainly supposed to be better than it has been this year.
Why hasn’t the coaching staff fixed this? It’s a question that needs an answer.
Jayden Daniels has trust issues with his receivers, with good reason:
Daniels was running for his life on more than half his throws against Seattle and the biggest reason was his receivers, they weren’t creating any separation leaving Daniels little choice but to scramble. Already without Terry McLaurin and Noah Brown, the group got yet another blow on the opening kickoff when Luke McCaffrey broke his collarbone.
Daniels completed 16 of 22 passes for 153 yards. Zach Ertz and Deebo Samuel caught nine of those. In past games, drops have been a problem, Sunday it was a simple case of too few receivers winning too few routes.
This allowed Seattle to crowd the box with eight and sometimes even nine defenders. To make matters worse, offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury wasn’t able to call any deep shots because, once again, the receivers couldn’t create any separation. This must change for the offense to have a chance to succeed.
Von Miller was invisible:
It’s probably an unfair criticism since Miller was signed to exclusively rush the passer this year but the best laid plans of mice and men have blown up spectacularly this season. Once again, Miller played in certain situations but had almost no impact on the game, recording just one pressure. The lack of it enabled Darnold to go complete every pass he attempted in the first half and finish the game with a QBR of 97.8. The coaching staff had hoped the future hall of famer had enough left in the tank to put the defense over the top this year, instead, its been a race to the bottom of the statistical pile.
Bob Matthews is a 33 year veteran broadcast journalist, spending the last 29 years of his career in Virginia. Bob has covered both news and sports stories and for the last three seasons, the Washington Commanders. He looks forward to continuing to provide coverage to Sportsjourney.com both on the website and through his podcast, The Bob Matthews Show.
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