Dan Quinn is taking his time finding an answer to Commanders' key problem against Eagles and it's the right call
The Washington Commanders are the darlings of the NFL as the NFC Championship Game draws near, but getting here came at a rather large cost against the Detroit Lions.Veteran right guard Sam Cosmi suffered a devastating ACL injury in the second quarter and is out for the rest of the playoffs. Now, the Commanders have […]
The Washington Commanders are the darlings of the NFL as the NFC Championship Game draws near, but getting here came at a rather large cost against the Detroit Lions.
Veteran right guard Sam Cosmi suffered a devastating ACL injury in the second quarter and is out for the rest of the playoffs. Now, the Commanders have to take on the extremely talented front seven that resides within the Philadelphia Eagles defense without their best offensive lineman.
"From the talent standpoint inside, they've got a really deep crew of rushers, run stoppers, you know, kind of the whole combination," Commanders head coach Dan Quinn told reporters Wednesday. "And Vic's excellent in terms of mixing the right front with the right coverage. . .
". . . It's twofold – the balance of how to utilize the talent that's there, combined with the scheme that he put in. Because it's different than what they had done [before]."
The Eagles have a very good rotation when it comes to their interior defensive linemen, so figuring out who replaces Cosmi will be absolutely key. Veteran Trent Scott did a good job of filling in on the fly, so it would make sense for the Commanders to go ahead and just plug him in, but that's not the plan. Instead, they're going to let guys battle it out this week in order to find the best five to put on the field Sunday.
"That is absolutely how we go about it, and that would be there or at any spot," Quinn told reporters Wednesday. "[It's] like what I was saying earlier, 'What's the best thing for us to win this game?' And then that is all there is. So, that's really where we're at in terms of the next three days of our practice."
It's the right call. A likely move would be to slide Andrew Wylie inside from right tackle to right guard and then put Cornelius Lucas in at right tackle. Scott had a handful of snaps where he had problems getting to the second level and/or keeping his feet under him, so it's fair to wonder if he'd struggle against the Eagles' big, athletic defensive tackles and fast, athletic linebackers.
It's the right call by Quinn and it should benefit the Commanders at the end of the day. And speaking of the interior defensive line: Quinn's right on that, too. The Eagles have a legit, four-man wrecking crew on the inside and honestly, Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis are just the tip of the iceberg.
Commanders have to pay attention to Milton Williams and Moro Ojomo
Milton Williams and Moro Ojomo are two of the best rotational guys out there and the Commanders need to be 120% aware of when they are on the field, especially on passing downs. Per Pro Football Focus, Williams led the NFL in pass rush win rate out of a true pass set (25.6%) and Ojomo was third (23.1%) out of the 60 qualifying interior DLs with at least 296 pass rush snaps. In terms of overall pass rush win rate in any context, Ojomo finished third overall at 17.6% and Williams was fourth at 17.1%.
Williams has had a really good season and Ojomo has really come on in his second season as a former seventh-round pick. Both guys are going to be factors when the Eagles come out in their subpackages and obviously both will play the vast majority, if not all, of their reps on the inside where Cosmi will be missed.
The good news is the Commanders controlled the Eagles' interior DL for most of the first two matchups, but again, that was with Cosmi in the lineup. Still, there should be enough of a "foundation", so to speak, where Washington can at least scheme up some ways to help offset the loss of their veteran lineman. Either way, we'll see what Kliff Kingsbury and Co. have in store come Sunday.
Dyami Brown has been Commanders’ playoff X-factor and they need him to keep it rolling against Eagles in NFC Championship Game
If you had Dyami Brown as one of the Washington Commanders' most important players during the postseason on your bingo card – congratulations. You probably should look into becoming a psychic or something, too, because that's just impressive. Brown has been a stud through two playoff games, racking up 187 receiving yards and a touchdown […]
