The Commanders’ defense is being led by a breakout player who actually leads the NFL in the one thing the team needed him to do
A breakout season from this player is exactly what the Commanders needed.
The Washington Commanders’ defense needed to rebound against the Las Vegas Raiders after surprising a lot of people the week before, and they did just that.
It wasn’t perfect by any means, but the defense rallied behind impressive performances by some key contributors on Sunday. The team hit Ashton Jeanty in the backfield and put pressure on Geno Smith, and finished with five sacks as a team. One player, however, is off to an amazing start and leads the NFL in pressures.
Dorance Armstrong’s breakout season is loading
Dorance Armstrong has been off to a hot start in his second season with the Commanders, and we all wanted him to do one thing: get to the quarterback. Through the first three games, Armstrong has three sacks, 18 pressures, and 11 hurries. His 18 pressures and 25% pressure rate actually lead the NFL right now.
On Sunday, Armstrong finished with five tackles, one sack, two tackles for a loss, and a quarterback hit to help set the tone on defense. A second season with the Commanders after coming over with head coach Dan Quinn and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr from the Dallas Cowboys seems to be paying off massively.
Dorance Armstrong Quick Facts This Season
- Armstrong is one of only seven players in the NFL this season to have a sack in all three games.
- Armstrong becomes the third player in franchise history to start the season with a sack in the first three games, joining only Preston Smith and Matt Ioannidis.
- First time in his career that he has had three straight games with a sack.
He only played on limited snaps with the Cowboys as a rotational player, and came to the Commanders to be an every-down defensive end, and he’s living up to the expectations. Last season, Armstrong finished with 51 pressures, 10 sacks, and 33 hurries, and he’s on pace to clear that by a good margin if he can continue to dominate. The team needs youth to step up, and having a sure starter at an important position at only 28 years old will go a long way for the oldest team in the league.
Not a one-trick pony
Getting to the quarterback is obviously the flashy side of being a defensive end, but you can’t be a liability in the run game like we saw last season. The run defense as a whole is playing much better than last year, and Armstrong is also off to his best start in the run game. Through three games, he has his highest PFF grade in run defense, and he’s up to a 75 grade, which is vastly improved over his 41 grade in 2024.
Landing a starting defensive end was one of the biggest storylines all offseason, but not enough people gave credit to Dorance Armstrong, who has stepped up massively, especially with Deatrich Wise out for the season on the other side of the line. The Commanders can rotate players on one side of the line, and it helps a lot knowing you have Armstrong holding it down and leading by example on the other side.
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