After a sobering defeat at the hands of a division rival, “5 Questions” is back with an opportunity for revenge. This week, we had the pleasure of connecting with Andrew York of Hogs Haven to give us some
insight into the team responsible for ending the Lions season last year: the Washington Commanders. We talked about how Marcus Mariota takes charge of this offense, the Commanders pass-rush plan after dealing with season-ending injuries, and much more in the lead up to this rematch of the NFL Divisional round.
1. The injury suffered by Jayden Daniels is nothing short of devastating for the Washington Commanders, and it sounds like no one is being harder on themselves about it than head coach Dan Quinn.
With three starts under Marcus Mariota’s belt this year, how confident do you feel about the Commanders offense with him at the helm, and how different do things look from Kliff Kingsbury when Mariota’s quarterbacking the offense?
“I think Commanders fans are reasonably confident in Mariota as a backup and the offense won’t need to adjust at all. The Commanders have made Mariota one of the highest-paid backup QBs at $8M/year because they consider him to be one of the best backups available, and so far he has looked competent whenever coming in to replace Jayden Daniels. He also has a very similar playstyle as Jayden Daniels, with good ability to progress through reads, good accuracy at various levels of the field, and athleticism to threaten as a runner, all of which makes him an excellent fit for Kliff Kingsbury’s offense. In his two starts earlier this season, he led the Commanders to a 41-24 win over the Raiders and managed to score 27 points on a stingy Falcons defense (the second-most scored by an opposing offense on the Falcons this season). He did not look nearly as good in his start against the Chiefs a couple of weeks ago, but the entire team looked overmatched in that game and none of his receivers were getting open.
The main difference between Mariota and Jayden Daniels is that Mariota can execute the full offense and get whatever plays are created by the offensive scheme and his receivers, whereas Jayden Daniels has the additional ability to extend plays and operate outside of structure to get first downs even when the scheme/players didn’t get open. However, that has been an issue recently as receivers aren’t getting open and the offensive scheme doesn’t seem to be creating opportunities, so it’s getting stuck in the mud without Jayden’s ability to make something out of nothing. I don’t blame Mariota for this though, so much as his supporting cast for not getting open.”
2. Reports seem to indicate that Terry McLaurin isn’t expected to be on the field for this week’s matchup with Detroit. How much has his intermittent availability this year impacted the Commanders passing game, who–if anyone–has stepped up in his role, and how has Deebo Samuel been integrated into this offense?
“Terry’s absence has been critical and I think even fans of the team don’t realize how much it is responsible for stalling the offense. Basically, it seems that Terry is the only pass catcher whom teams respect enough to put safeties deep and play honest defense against. All of the other pass catchers, teams seem to think they can assign a single DB to cover in man coverage, which allows them to bring their entire defense closer to the line of scrimmage to either blitz or stack the box against the run, which has both killed our run game and resulted in the OL getting overwhelmed in pass protection. Deebo demands a bit more defensive attention than the rest of the pass catchers, but he’s more of a hybrid WR/RB who specializes in YAC on screens and gadget plays rather than a vertical, route-running threat like Terry. Deebo is an excellent complement to Terry and adds an additional dimension to the offense, stretching it horizontally as well as vertically, but he’s no substitute for Terry.”
3. Frankie Luvu managed to skirt his one-game suspension with an appeal, despite this being the third hip-drop tackle he’s been fined for in the last six weeks. What role does he play in Washington’s defense? Washington’s run defense is right around league average (t-17th in rushing EPA per play allowed, 15th in team defense rushing DVOA), how important in Luvu in their success in run defense?
“Although Washington’s defense may be overall average in run defense, I suspect it’s very different if you divide it between runs up the gut and runs to the edge. Washington has been stout defending runs up the gut, with DT Daron Payne and new additions NT Eddie Goldman and DT Javon Kinlaw acting as anchors up front and LB Bobby Wagner still providing excellent downhill tackling from the middle. However, it’s been a different story defending runs to the edge, with Washington’s top 3 DEs (Dorance Armstrong, Deatrich Wise Jr, and Javontae Jean-Baptiste) all on IR and our DBs having problems making tackles.
As a result of these injuries and problems defending the edge, Luvu’s role in the defense has evolved. Last season, he was used similarly to how Dan Quinn used Micah Parsons while in Dallas, lining up and blitzing from all over the formation to create chaos, netting him 9.0 sacks over the season. This season, he’s been pulled back to function as more of a traditional SAM or WILL linebacker (though his exact role changes play-by-play), in part to help shore up that run defense on the edge and in part because teams had figured out how to better defend against his blitzes. He’s been competent in run defense, but unspectacular. He’ll be replaced by second-year LB Jordan Magee, who finally started taking the field as a rotational LB earlier this season and has flashed good athleticism. In addition, rookie Kain Medrano may see some playing time if they want to go heavy to stop the run.”
4. The Commanders defense was generating a lot of pressure through seven weeks (36.6% of dropbacks) but since losing Dorance Armstrong to a torn ACL, the pressure rate has dipped quite a bit (17.5% pressure rate over the last two weeks).
How has Washington’s pass rush plan changed since Armstrong’s injury, and who is someone the Commanders are looking to provide more pressure in Armstrong’s absence?
“I think the Commanders are still trying to figure that out themselves. They’re in a tough situation because their DBs aren’t good enough to maintain coverage for very long, so they need the DL to get pressure and force the QB to throw the ball away quickly. At the same time, the DL is so decimated by injury that they can’t get pressure without someone from the secondary blitzing, which creates a hole in coverage for the QB to make a quick completion. In addition, there are continuous coverage busts and mistakes, particularly with the safety group, so the defense has been giving up lots of explosive plays. In short, it’s a mess fueled by many injuries and this team doesn’t have enough depth to replace the loss of players like Dorance Armstrong and Deatrich Wise.”
5. At 3-6 and Daniels out for an indefinite amount of time, do you see the Commanders finding a spark this week to keep their season afloat, or do you think this Washington team–losers of four straight games–just doesn’t have the pieces left to be competitive with a playoff contender?
“I hate to say it, but I don’t think Washington has the pieces left to be a playoff contender. Not only has the team lost 4 straight games, but each loss seems more horrific and results in even more injuries. The combination of Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin hid a lot of roster problems last year. Not only did they keep the offense moving, but they maintained time of possession to keep the defense off the field and ran up the score to force opposing offenses to get one-dimensional and easier to play. Last season, Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin played every game together. This season, they have only managed to be on the field together in the first two games of the season.”
