By Noah Ploff
The Washington Commanders begin their season with a loss on the road to the Philadelphia Eagles 24-22. There were some positives and negatives throughout the game. Here are some key takeaways from Week 1.
Antonio Williams impresses
The Antonio Williams hype is very real. Antonio Williams was a second round pick out of Clemson, known for his route running. Through the draft process, training camp, and the preseason, everyone was talking about how great Williams was looking, and how he’d be a difference maker. After his week 1 performance with the Commanders where he racked up four catches for 64 yards and a touchdown. Williams was getting separation from a very quality corner in Cooper DeJean. McLaurin wasn’t able to get open until late in the game, so it was essential for Williams to step up and help Jayden get going.
Defense strong, big lapses
The defense for the most part looked very solid. Aside from the deep pass to Dontayvion Wicks and the Saquon Barkley 42 yard run, the Commanders secondary looked very good. The team managed a total of 10 tackles for loss, three of which being sacks. The Eagles punted a total of seven times in the game, giving the Commanders offense the chance to do some damage.
New signing, and UMD alum Nick Cross looked exactly as advertised. Cross led the team with eight tackles, along with two tackles for loss. Frankie Luvu looked like the player we saw two years ago, managing a sack along with three other tackles. Luvu did end up leaving the game with a groin injury that doesn’t appear to be serious. There was also very solid coverage, aside from a few broken coverage plays by Mike Sainristil, who did not perform up to standards. Amik Robertson was very solid in coverage, only giving up one catch for three yards, and being the highest rated defensive player for the Commanders.
The defensive line was able to get solid pressure on Jalen Hurts, sacking him three times. Aside from the one long run by Barkley, he was held to under three yards per carry on the rest of his attempts. There were a few times when Hurts was under pressure, but he was able to escape through the middle and gain solid yardage.
There were a few surprise defensive standouts as well, including Rasul Douglas and Tyler Owens. Douglas had a few good moments in coverage, including a big hit on Dontayvion Wicks early in the game. The tackle was textbook and popped the ball right out causing a PBU and a punt. Tyler Owens is who everyone is talking about after the game. Owens is widely known across the team and the fans as the fastest player on the team, and he showed that on special teams. Owens had a few good tackles on special teams, but there is one play and tackle that made everybody double-take. Tress Way punted the ball away to the Eagles, and Owens was being double teamed as a gunner. He was being held by both players, but somehow used his strength to get away from both of them and throw them on the ground, and then deliver a monster hit. Owens met the returner Britain Covey, picked him up, and slammed him to the ground. The special teams overall performed very well on both sides of the ball.
The big thing that needs to be cleaned up are the big plays. The big chunk plays are unacceptable, being that those are what really hurt you over the game.
Offense sputters, late surge
The offense waited until late, but started to look dangerous. The Commanders started off the game with an eight play drive that stalled and led to a field goal and Washington taking the lead. That however was the last spark of offense for quite a while. The next scoring drive for the Commanders would come with one minute and 50 seconds left in the first half. Luckily, thanks to their defense, they would only go into halftime losing 14-9. Washington would punt four times in the first half. Jayden Daniels would also have a rough half, completing only six of sixteen passes for 43 yards. It was obvious that the offense was tired after getting little if any playtime in the preseason.
In the third quarter the Commanders would continue their struggle on offense. In their three third quarter drives, they would punt twice and have a 54 yard field goal blocked. Again the defense would come up big, only surrendering a field goal in the third quarter to put Philadelphia up by eight points.
Then, early in the fourth quarter, Washington would put together a 74 yard drive that ended with a 10 yard passing touchdown to Stefon Diggs. This would put the Commanders down two and give them the chance to tie the game right here, but after he scored Diggs jumped and hugged the bottom of the field goal, which is a personal foul and would set them way back if they attempted to go for two. This forced them to settle for the extra point and still be losing by one point. Now the Eagles would score and go back into the lead by eight.
This likely being the last drive of the game for the Commanders with six minutes left in the game, needed to result in a touchdown. Terry McLaurin had been held without a catch up until this point, and came up with two big catches on this drive, especially a fourth down grab at the Philadelphia 10 yard line. Daniels then threw a touchdown to the rookie receiver Antonio Williams who made a great catch by holding onto the ball even as it touched the ground. Now the Commanders were down by two and decided they had to go for it. The ball was snapped and Daniels moved to his left before throwing a shovel pass to the tight end John Bates. That play was read by the Eagle defense and stopped well before the goal line.
This offense ended up getting going late in the game, scoring touchdowns on their last two drives, but it took way too long, and by the time they were able to score, it was too late and they were down by too much. There were also some costly penalties, especially the personal foul on Diggs that could have altered the game, but you can’t blame a win on a few players or a few penalties.
Looking ahead to Dallas
There is still a lot of time left in the season. While the Commanders may not have achieved the outcome they hoped for in this opening game against the Eagles, there are 16 more games that they play, and a lot left to happen. The team will improve their fitness and stamina, Daniels will become the quarterback that he has shown he can be, and there is a lot of time for this offense and defense to greatly improve.
Coach Dan Quinn needs to work with his coaching staff and figure out how to get this team their first win against the Cowboys this Sunday, and how they can stay on a winning track the rest of this season.
