Multiple Commanders players agree that the Week 5 win over the Browns could've been a lot worse for Cleveland
If you watched the entirety of the Washington Commanders' dominant Week 5 win over the Cleveland Browns, you know exactly how bad it was for the likes of Deshaun Watson and co. They barely stood a chance, even if the Commanders got off to a bit of a slow start. Washington's defense harassed the Browns offense […]
If you watched the entirety of the Washington Commanders' dominant Week 5 win over the Cleveland Browns, you know exactly how bad it was for the likes of Deshaun Watson and co.
They barely stood a chance, even if the Commanders got off to a bit of a slow start. Washington's defense harassed the Browns offense from the start and never let up, which allowed Jayden Daniels and co. to find their footing. And then, once that happened, they never let up, and the end result was the dominant 34-13 win.
The wild part, though, is the score could've been much worse. There were several plays left out on the field and Commanders leadership wasn't shying away from that after the game.
"We left a lot on the field and me, personally, I just, I want to be better," Commanders star receiver Terry McLaurin said after the game. "I mean, like having a fumble, giving them three points, having a dropped touchdown [and] taking six points [off the board]. Me personally, everybody knows I'm going to be better for that, but at the end of the day, we won the game, so that's my main focus.
"But I think when you have a team that is able to pick each other up, when some mistakes are made, and you're still able to put up 30, points, and hold a team under 20, that gives a lot of excitement going forward."
"That's just a testament to how we were able to persevere through our adversity and battle through some things," Daniels told reporters. "Like Terry said, we left the stuff out there on the table a lot, so I'm happy to get back and watch the film. It's always better to go back and review stuff after a win, but you know, we got to improve…
"… I just missed some throws – that's it. Some throws I wish I had back, but we're able to capitalize on some plays."
Sure, it's great to think of the Commanders scoring even more points, but the key with both McLaurin's and Daniels' comments is their accountability after a big win. They're not pushing the victory to the side and only focusing on the negatives – they're certainly celebrating Sunday's performance. At the same time, though, they're well aware that their next opponent is the Baltimore Ravens, a Super Bowl contender, which means every single play will matter even more than they did against the Browns in Week 5.
That's not just the offense's mindset, though, even the defense feels like it left plays on the field despite holding Cleveland touchdown-less for most of the game, recording 7.0 sacks, and allowing just one third down conversion out of 13 total attempts.
"I mean we're getting close, but then again, there are still a lot of plays that were left out there [that] we could improve on," Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu said after the game. "There's always room for improvement, and us as a defense, we're just getting started. The arrow's pointed up, and that's the direction we want to go."
A major component in the Commanders' win was the complementary aspect of things. Whenever the defense forced a big stop, the offense turned the next possession into points, on most occasion, and vice-versa: When the offense scored a touchdown or was able to put a solid drive together, the defense did its job and held the Browns in check on their subsequent possession.
That, in itself, is a necessary characteristic for playoff teams. If the Commanders can continue to improve in that department, and take advantage off situations like the missed opportunities on Sunday, then it's easy to see this team in the final hunt come January.
