Week 6 had your Washington Commanders take on the Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta. The Commanders picked up a much needed win beating Atlanta 24-16, in a nailbiter per usual. Let’s dive into how the fellas did.
Sam Howell: C+
Sam had a solid day, he played mistake free and put points on the board. He finished the game with 151 passing yards completing 14/23, or 60% of his passes. He tossed 3 Touchdowns on the day 1 each to Curtis Samuel, Brian Robinson Jr, and Antonio Gibson. His rating on the day was 119.7, but his passer rating was 39.2. His lower passer rating likely had to do with the 5 sacks, and some turnover worthy throws. Overall, this was a positive game for Sam to build off of, he still needs to work on how he operates the pocket, his pre-snap reads, and learning when to just throw the ball away. He played well enough to win a football game today, and his team did win that’s all you can ask for some weeks.
Running Backs: B
Brian Robinson Jr. lead the way for the Commanders running back committee with 10 carries for 31 yards. BRob did not have a great day rushing the ball, he did however catch 2 passes for 25 yards and a touchdown. He is starting to become more of a threat as a pass catcher out of the backfield, which will only help open up the Commanders offense. Chris Rodriguez Jr. is starting to earn some more playing time, he saw 4 carries which he took for 23 yards or a 5.8 yar per carry average. That was the best YPC on the team, it is a small sample size, but Rodriguez Jr. is a hard runner, he should continue to see more snaps in this offense. Antonio Gibson had a decent day with limited snaps, he rushed just 3 times but went for 15 yards, 5 YPC. He also caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Sam Howell, scoring points is always going to get you more looks, a win for Gibby.
Wide Receivers: B
Terry McLaurin finally got his chance to shine and shine he did. He saw 11 total targets on the day, a season high. He hauled in 6 of them for 81 yards, but unfortunately, he could not get into the endzone. His impact was still felt, whenever a big play is needed, this offense can count on Terry to make it happen, and the Commanders finally have a QB who can get him the ball. There has been a lot of talk about Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy not scheming Terry into the gameplan enough target wise. He made sure to change that today and it yielded positive results for the offense. Hopefully we can expect more of this moving forward. Curtis Samuel was his usual steady presence. He saw 4 targets; he caught all 4 passes for 42 yards and a touchdown. I wrote in last week’s check-in that Curtis has quietly been the best WR for Washington this season, and this game helped him continue down that path, even with Terrys solid day. Jahan Dotson struggles continued in Atlanta, he saw just 1 target, he did not catch that target and spent most of his snaps either blocking or getting in some cardio. I do expect him to snap out of it and start to become a factor in this offense again, it did not hurt the team today, but we need him moving forward.
Tight Ends: N/A
Logan Thomas had a quiet day he saw just 1 target which he caught for a total of 2 yards. Thomas was the only tight end for the Commanders to see a target, it was a WR/RB parade for Washington in Atlanta.
O-Line: D+
The O-line was its usual self today. Sam Howell was sacked 5 times, losing 30 total yards in the process. Sam and the line never seem to help each other, we talk about this each week it seems. We know by now that Sam does create some of these sacks himself, but the line often fails to hold up, especially in critical situations. If they do not find a way to get it together or swap out players for different combinations to see if that helps, then the season will likely end in mediocrity at best.
D-Line: C+
The d-line was so-so today, they did shut down Bijan Robinson who had 13 total rushes but amassed just 37 yards, translating to just 2.8 YPC. Overall, they held the Falcons to 106 yards but on 29 total carries that comes to a decent 3.7 YPC. The pass rush got home for 3 sacks today resulting in 11 yards lost for the Falcons, you would still like to see more from a d-line featuring Montez Sweat, Chase Young, Jonathan Allen, and Daron Payne. This unit is a force when they’re all in synch, they must get there.
Linebackers: C+
Cody Barton led the team with 15 total tackles, 5 of them being solo and 1 being a tackle for loss. The Commanders had just 2 TFLs on the day, a number that needs to improve. The Commanders were torched by backs and tight ends in the passing game, and that oftentimes falls on your linebackers. Jamin Davis had one of his best days as a pro, which saved the overall grade for the unit. He still has hiccups in his game, some of them result in penalties but he had the game winning interception today on a pass he defended as if he was running the route instead. This is a big game that you can build off of if your Davis, and I hope he continues to develop for the Commanders.
DBs: C
The DBs had an up and down day. They were once again torched in the air by the oppositions number 1 WR. Atlanta’s Drake London hauled in 9 passes for 125 yards. Mack Hollins added another 3 catches for 41 yards. It would certainly help if the Commanders d-line could create a little more havoc for opposing QB’s but the DBs get burnt weekly, it’s a major weak point that teams are starting to exploit with ease. Kendall Fuller continues to be a stud this season, he did have a rough game vs the Bears, but he’s played at an all-pro level otherwise. That level of play continued today as he added a 2nd interception to his season total. Benjamin St. Juste also hauled in an interception today, which saved points as the INT came in their own endzone ending a drive for Atlanta that was looking all too easy for them. The defense came away with 3 INTs today, the DBs had two of those, and the Commanders still only won by 8 points. This defense allows teams to score too easily, and you expected a turnover party like todays to result in a big win, it was a good day, but the Commanders still need more from their defense.
Special Teams: A+
Special teams was likely the difference in the win today. Jamison Crowder took a punt 61 yards, which resulted in points for the Commanders on the ensuing drive due to the excellent field position. Joey Slye booted in a 31-yard FG as well as making all his PATs. Tress Way also punted 6 times for 260 net yards and 3 of those punts being downed inside the 20. Excellent day for the Commanders Special Teams unit.