The Commanders have a clear advantage against the Chargers, and they must lean into it to help a struggling unit
The Commanders need to cancel out Justin Herbert on Sunday.
The Washington Commanders are looking to bounce back against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday and show that they can play on the road.
The biggest issue in both road losses has been with double-digit deficits early in the game. Quarterback Jayden Daniels coming back will provide a boost on offense, even with wide receivers Terry McLaurin and Noah Brown out, but the defense has a lot to prove to pull its own weight.
They can’t have the same performance as last week, or the results will be the same, and that goes for the pass rush that disappeared against the Atlanta Falcons.
The Commanders’ pass rush stayed home last week
Falcons’ quarterback Michael Penix Jr. had all the time in the world last week to pick apart the Commanders’ secondary, and the results showed as he finished with a career high of 313 yards. The Commanders have been one of the top pass-rushing teams in the league with a 45.4% pass rush rate heading into last Sunday, but last week they disappeared when they were needed the most, with only eight pressures.
The defense only pressured Penix Jr. at a 25% rate, which was the ninth lowest in the league, and they can’t let that happen again. Justin Herbert is obviously a much better passer with weapons all over the field, and the Commanders need to take away his time in the pocket. Even when he’s pressured, though, Herbert can make some ridiculous throws, so the secondary has to help out as well.
The Commanders will have many opportunities
The hits have been coming for Herbert, who lost one staple offensive tackle in Rashawn Slater before the season even started, and then the worst-case scenario happened last week. Joe Alt seamlessly moved from right tackle to left tackle to fill in for Slater, and he was performing at a high level as expected before he suffered a high ankle sprain last week. Herbert is the fifth-most pressured quarterback in the league, but it’s recently gotten worse, and he’s been pressured 46 times over the last two weeks, which is the most in that time span.
That was before Alt went down, so he’s as vulnerable as he will ever be back in the pocket with a target on his back for the Commanders’ pass rusher. All eyes will be on Dorance Armstrong, who has a massive opportunity to do what he does best on Sunday.
Even after having only two pressures against the Falcons, Armstrong is second in the league in pressure rate at 21.6% with 19 total pressures. He will have to add to his total on Sunday for the Commanders’ defense to have any chance against one of the best passing offenses in the league right now.
Washington Commanders News
One game-deciding matchup on Sunday will show if the Commanders addressed a major issue after getting embarrassed last week
Will the Commanders fix this issue, or show the same results?
