The Commanders’ biggest strength disappeared when the team needed it the most, and it massively cost them against the Falcons
The Commanders didn’t get the usual help on Sunday.
The Washington Commanders’ loss to the Atlanta Falcons is even more frustrating when you watch how bad the defense was in the secondary, but they didn’t get any help either.
There was one clear strength the Commanders have had all season, but for some reason, they didn’t show up on Sunday, and it exposed the flaws in the rest of the defense. If the Commanders want any chance to get things right on defense, they have to get back to pressuring the quarterback and not letting them pick apart the secondary.
Commanders’ pass rush didn’t exist
Going into the Falcons matchup on Sunday, we knew the defense had to make Michael Penix Jr. uncomfortable and force him to make bad throws like he has all season, and that didn’t happen at all. Penix Jr. finished with a career high 313 passing yards and averaged 11.14 yards per dropback, which is the third most by a quarterback in a game this season.
He had way too much time to find his open receivers due to the lack of pressure coming from the defense. The Commanders have the third-highest pressure rate in the league at 45.4%, but on Sunday, they had the ninth-lowest in the league at only 25%. Penix Jr. was able to spread the ball around the field because he was comfortable.
The Commanders only had one sack and eight pressures against a really good Falcons’ pass-protecting offensive line, and it was simply due to execution. The missed tackles obviously didn’t help either, but they were scheming pressure as well, and it didn’t work on the field.
Joe Whitt Jr. tried to bring pressure
Commanders’ defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. has received a lot of heat for the defense’s performance so far this season, and rightfully so. There have been a lot of questionable schemes and matchups on defense, but one thing we can say is that Whitt Jr. tried everything on Sunday, including blitzing.
The Commanders are the 12th-highest blitzing team in the league at 29% and they brought the blitz at a 28.6% rate against the Falcons. Dan Quinn was asked about the lack of pass rush, and his response was simple: they didn’t execute.
“We had a number of chances,” Quinn said. “That would be my main take, and then honestly, like I said at the end of the game, not being able to close on the third downs. I thought that was the biggest factor here. We had some chances here to get them in some third downs that you can get them off the field, and we didn’t. [Defensive Coordinator] Joe [Whitt Jr.] tried three different ones, a zone, a man, a man pressure, and so we have to be able to nail those when those come up, that’s for sure.”
There is a list of things the Commanders’ defense needs to change, but they’re blitzing at a rate that should generate pressure, and they can’t increase that with the lack of coverage from the secondary and linebacker Bobby Wagner. The team just needs to execute, get off blocks, and make the big plays. They are a top pressure team, but only 13th in sack rate, and only caused one turnover this season. That has to change, or the results will be the same.
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