Commanders showed they are a flawed team in a nightmare of a Thursday Night Football loss against the Packers
It couldn’t have gone much worse for the Commanders.
It honestly couldn’t have been a worse Thursday Night Football game for the Washington Commanders, who lost to the Green Bay Packers in a statement game, 27-18.
We knew this would be a measuring stick game for both teams, with the Commanders trying to repeat what they did last season, and the Packers trying to live up to the hype as Super Bowl favorites in the NFC.
The Packers exposed a lot of flaws on both sides of the ball for the Commanders, and the team lost more than just the game on the field.
Worst-case scenario injuries
We saw two big pieces on both sides of the ball get carried off with the cart during the game, as starting defensive end Deatrich Wise left emotionally with a quad injury and was quickly ruled out. Then, starting running back Austin Ekeler left in the fourth quarter with an Achilles injury on a cart as well. Wide receiver Noah Brown and tight end John Bates also left the game at some point and never returned.
Head coach Dan Quinn said he wouldn’t address any injuries until Monday, when the team gets a better idea of each injury. Regardless, this was a nightmare of a game for the team’s health.
Offensive struggles continued
Last week, the Commanders’ passing game struggled to get going, and we thought it was rust, but the offense got a wake-up call against an elite Packers defense. The Packers brought the heat all game and pressured Jayden Daniels on 24 of his 52 dropbacks, which is a 46% rate. The speed and ability to fly around the field popped on the Packers’ defense, and the offense never had an answer for it. Micah Parsons made this Packers defense elite.
Daniels finished with only 200 passing yards and was hit on what seemed like a majority of plays on his dropbacks and scrambles. The run game never got going either, and finished with only 51 yards on the ground after collecting 220 rushing yards last week. It was an overall sloppy performance, but the Packers need credit for their defense as well.
Defense looked gassed
Another group that looked great last week was the defense, and they were a major letdown today. The quick turnaround looked like it was too much for the defense, which was gassed and couldn’t keep up with the Packers’ motion plays and crossing routes. Players were wide open all game, and Jordan Love looked the part with 269 yards through the air with two touchdowns. Tight end Tucker Kraft had a career day with six catches for 124 yards and a touchdown. That’s an average of 20.7 yards per catch. Just completely unacceptable.
Josh Jacobs was stopped for a majority of the game, but he eventually wore down the defense at the end and finished with 23 carries for 84 yards and a touchdown. Even though the Commanders were able to get a few stops or hold them to a field goal, it felt like the Commanders didn’t have an answer for the passing concepts the Packers through at them, and they were scrambling in coverage every play.
This was an awful game for the Commanders on offense, defense, and with the team’s overall health, and they need to take advantage of a long break before they take on the Raiders back home on September 21st.
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