The Commanders finally saw much-needed improvement from 1 veteran after receiving harsh criticism to start the season
The Commanders need this kind of performance every week.
It hasn’t been pretty, but the Washington Commanders are 3-2 on the season after winning their first road game of the season against the Los Angeles Chargers.
The sky was falling heading into Week 5, but quarterback Jayden Daniels brought the vibes back up with his return, and we finally saw an improved defensive performance. The secondary has been the team’s most criticized group, and rightfully so. One player, in particular, has received the majority of the criticism.
The road losses this season have been a result of explosive plays given up on defense, and plays going toward corner Marshon Lattimore, but he changed the narrative on Sunday.
Not an ideal start for Marshon Lattimore
Calling Lattimore’s start rough would be an understatement, and it seemed like his time in Washington would be coming to an end sooner rather than later after just four games. Going into Week 5, Lattimore was the one player teams seemed to target the most, and he gave up the most explosive plays on defense so far. He was targeted 20 times in the first four games and allowed 11 catches for 173 yards and nine first downs.
Conversations were starting about how the Commanders need to cut their losses and replace Lattimore, and he had a lopsided matchup coming against the Chargers. Justin Herbert was third in the league in passing yards before Sunday, and Quentin Johnston was third among all wide receivers in receiving yards, but the secondary turned a page against the duo.
Marshon Lattimore has a bounce-back performance
Sunday was another real test for the veteran corner, and he passed with flying colors. Lattimore helped out in a major way after recovering the fumble caused by Quan Martin, which changed the trajectory of the entire game.
That’s not all he did, though. He held his ground in coverage and didn’t allow a single big play. He only allowed one catch for 6 yards on 41 coverage snaps, according to Next Gen Stats, which is his best performance to date this season. It might not be time to give up on Lattimore just yet.
Head coach Dan Quinn was asked about Lattimore’s performance against the Chargers’ strong passing offense, and he spoke confidently about the veteran, as well as the secondary overall.
“I thought just right from the beginning, he [Lattimore] was involved in the whole thing,” Quinn said. “I thought the technique was on point, going through the whole system, and the fumble recovery. This is a really talented passing offense, with the trio that they have and how they feature them. So, we knew we’d have our work cut out for us. I thought the defensive backs, in particular, communication with the down, with linebackers, how they would go about it. They worked hard on that this week against, like I said, a talented offense, and so you could tell they put in the extra into that space.”
This was the kind of performance we expected from a healthy Lattimore coming into the season. The defense can take a major leap forward if Lattimore, Trey Amos, and Mike Sainristil can all play as well as they did on Sunday, holding Herbert to a season-low 166 passing yards with help from the pass rush. Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze will look to exploit the Commanders’ defense next week, but maybe this is a new secondary we’re seeing.
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