The Commanders’ defense has the opportunity to take advantage of a struggling young quarterback coming off of blowout loss
The Commanders defense can make a statement on Sunday.
The Washington Commanders bounced back against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday after dropping 41 points, while the Atlanta Falcons got blown out 30-0 against their rivals, the Carolina Panthers.
Marcus Mariota picked up the offense with no problem on Sunday, but second-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. has really struggled this season and was even benched in the shutout. The Falcons’ offense is flawed in many ways, even with all of their talent, and this is the perfect chance for the Commanders to drastically improve one struggling unit as they travel to Atlanta.
Michael Penix Jr. is down bad right now
The expectations were high for Penix Jr. entering his second season after an impressive end to his rookie year, but things aren’t clicking for him. Through three games and 99 passing attempts, Penix Jr. has only found the endzone once. His completion percentage is only 58.6% and he has two interceptions. Both came against the Panthers, which led to him getting pulled, and Kirk Cousins finished the rest of the game.
Penix Jr. looks rattled, and he’s getting picked off on checkdown throws, and the deep passing game is actually much worse. The Falcons have the lowest deep pass rate in the NFL at only 4%, and even when they do try to throw it deep, Penix Jr. has the worst catchable percentage on throws going 20+ yards downfield.
Their play calling is predictable, the offensive line is actually one of the best in the league, they can’t get the run game going, and their young quarterback is rattled in only three weeks. A lot of pressure is on the Falcons, who haven’t scored a touchdown in 23 possessions and have failed to cross the Panthers’ 30-yard line on Sunday. The Commanders’ defense has looked improved, but the passing defense is a struggling unit that needs to make a statement.
The Commanders’ passing defense has to prove itself
The top mission has to be stopping Falcons running back Bijan Robinson, who ran all over the Commanders last season, but the run defense has been much better this season, and the passing defense is the weak link so far. Getting a struggling Penix Jr. can help get the secondary on track, even with a missing Will Harris, who is now on IR. The last thing the Commanders can do is let this be a get-right game for the Falcons’ offense, but the numbers don’t look good.
The Commanders have given up the 10th most passing yards through three games, and allow the third most yards per pass in the league. It’s been a rocky start for Mike Sainristil, Marshon Lattimore, and Quan Martin, and this is the type of test they need to get on the same page and click for the rest of the season.
The Falcons have the fifth-highest graded pass-blocking offensive line by PFF, so the Commanders’ pass rush won’t have the easy test of getting pressure on Penix Jr, so the secondary needs to step up on Sunday, and hopefully get the first turnover of the season in the process.
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