Week 10 had the Commanders on the road again for the second week, this time in Seattle. The hawks claimed a 29-26 nail biter, sending the Commanders further down rankings and have them now at 4-6. Overall, not a terrible day for the Commanders, who were again let down by thier defense, but a loss is a loss and this one was huge. Let’s dive into to this loss shall we.
Sam Howell: A
This game hurts, not just because of the loss, but also because one incredible defensive play prevented Sam from his first A+ and possibly the best game of his young career. Sam sliced and diced a top 10 defense on the road vs a playoff team still fighting for a spot. He completed 29 of his 44 pass attempts for 312 yards and 3 touchdowns and 0 Interceptions. He finished the game with a 50.8 QBR and a rating of 109.3, the latter being the 3rd highest score of his career. His one lone blooper that ruined a perfect game was a play that started off as on heck of a 15-yard run, a run where Sam refused to go down until he couldn’t fight anymore. He couldn’t stay up forever though and finally on the way down a last second peanut punch knocked the ball loose, Seattle football. It is a slippery slope, with these plays you’re seeing the dog in Sam, the competitor in him. He will Paul Crewe this thing if he has too, I truly believe each week there is no one on the field for either team who wants to win more than Sam Howell. Not comparing him to Brady the QB, but as person, he reminds me of Brady in how much he just wants to win. The issue is, you see certain passes thrown that had no business being thrown or runs where you need to slide or get out of bounds, but you fight instead and end up taking punishment and possibly fumble or worse, get injured. Sam still needs to figure out that middle ground. Rewinding to the Heinicke pylon dive, that’s a play where you can dog it out. It was a playoff game, all or nothing, fight or go home. In a regular season game in the middle of the game that you are very much alive in, you do not need to take those lumps. We continue to see the development in the pocket, once he gets that down, I would like to see some improvement on the IQ side. By that, I mean just making the smart play like we just discussed, Sam’s IQ is fine, I do not want anyone to think that was an insult. We likely will be waiting until next season to see some more of his development, these things take some time.
O-Line: B+
I know this is a bit confusing, last week I gave the unit a C+ in a 3-sack win, while this week they get a B in a 3-sack loss. I also said last week and many times throughout the season that sacks are not indicative of an o-lines performance. This week, the line simply had better individual reps and play over the course of the game than compared to last week. Like I mentioned in last week’s wrap-up, this line can play well, and they were relatively solid all-day vs a good defense. It’s a shame that such a solid overall performance was ruined by the defense, but I like to let the love be as loud as the hate.
Running Backs: A+
The running backs seemed to take over the game for the Commanders today, mostly in the passing game. Brian Robinson Jr. had one of his best games as a pro. He rushed for 38 yards but on just 8 carries, he dominated in the passing game catching 6 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown. He was not known as a big-time pass catching back coming out of college, but he has shown he can be a top threat in that facet of the game this season. Antonio Gibson also got a fair share of looks, he rushed for only 13 yards on 4 carries, but like Robinson he was effective in the passing game. He caught 5 passes, 2nd on the team, for 42 yards and a touchdown. Sam Howell also added 2 rushes for 17 yards to the total. The backs stamped their name on the game despite just 12 total rushing attempts for the backs, which to me makes this game more impressive for them resulting in the higest grade possible.
Wide Receivers: C
As we just discussed the backs dominated the passing game, so be default the WRs did not standout this week in anyway. Dyami Brown led the WRs in total yardage catching 2 passes for 41 yards and touchdown. It’s nice to see Dyami getting a little more involved as of late, his connection with Sam Howell should shine, it just hasn’t so far. Terry McLaurin led the WRs in total catches with 4 going for 33 yards. Byron Pringle caught 1 pass for 7 yards and Curtis Samuel caught 2 passes for 6 yards. Jahan Dotson was no where to be found today after catching a little fire for a stretch there. He was targeted just 2 times and that certainly has something to do with it, but he caught 0 passes and made no overall impact today. This team does have talent at the skill positions and this week it was just the running backs turn to eat off screens and slip outs. The WRs on the season have not been nearly as productive as fans expected, but I would not worry much about today’s results for this group.
Tight Ends: B
The tight ends were solid in Seattle today. Logan Thomas caught 5 passes for 40 yards, John Bates hauled in 3 passes for a clutch 21 yards and he was his usual stout self when blocking. Not much has to be said about this group, they played well and did not cost the team in anyway. As we’ve talked about, it would be nice to get game changing production from the TEs but this is about as good as a game as you could ask from this group.
D-Line: C
The d-line was better today than last week. As a unit they registered a sack and 5 QB hits, up from last week’s total of 0 and 1. Outside of Allen and Payne this group consists of rotational players, although I do like what we have seen from 5th round pick KJ Henry. He did have a sack wiped away last week from one of the worst roughing the passer calls in NFL history. If he continues to play well that would be a huge boom for the passing rushing group. Jonathan Allen was the lineman responsible for the sack, he has had a quiet season, so it was nice to see an impact play from him. Overall, I cannot complain, it’s an average group and they had an average game.
Linebackers: C
The linebackers played well for the most part but allowing a Kenneth Walker lll screen to go 64 yards to the house prevents a good grade for them today. Jamin Davis had a good game, he registered a team high 11 total tackles. 6 of those were solo and 2 of them were a tackle for a loss. David Mayo was not as awful as usual, although still not great. He finished with 7 total tackles with 5 being solo. By now, we know that the linebackers need to be completely overhauled. I do like Jamin, and he has improved each season he’s been in the league. I would like to see him in a scheme that benefits his strengths and one that has competent LB play around him. The Commanders desperately need 2 more LBs so until that happens, I will certainly take an average game from them. It’s going to be the best they can do.
DBs: F
If it wasn’t for Kendall Fuller this group would probably get an F every week, but even Fuller could not save them today. DK Metcalf went for 98 yards on 7 catches, Tyler Lockett caught 8 balls for 92 yards and a touchdown, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba grabbed 4 passes for 53 yards. To put the icing on the cake, they let the Seahawks go 50 yards in 52 seconds a kick a game winning field goal right after the offense had just tied the game. This group get routinely cooked like dinner, there is nothing that can save them without a major scheme change, and that likely won’t happen midseason. We just have to ride this season out and overhaul this unit much like the linebackers and o-line.
Special Teams: B
The special teams unit, which is usually stout, can thank Antonio Gibson for the B this week. Gibson retuned 5 kicks today and turned that into 133 yards with a 33 yarder as his longest return. He was steady all day in a game where he got plenty of opportunities thanks to the defense. Joey Slye missed 1 of his 3 PATs today, this is becoming an issue with him. He did however hit both of his field goals which saved his day. Tress Way had his usual day punting 5 times with 2 of them landing inside the 20. Jamison Crowder had a meh day returning just 2 punts for 9 yards, although if the defense could actually stop somebody, he would have had more chances to make an impact there.
Overall, the team actually played well minus the DBs. This was a tough loss because of how well everyone played, just to have one group sabotage it all. Behind both Philly games, also 2 losses, this game was the best game the team has played all season. That is kind of funny, the best 3 games the team has played all season all ended up being a loss, weird. This game also pretty much ended the Commanders playoff hopes. They are not technically eliminated, but they needed a win vs a team like Seattle, and I do not see many wins left on their schedule. I do feel like they admittedly punted on the season when they traded both of their pass rushers, so this loss was probably the best outcome for us unfortunately.