Dan Quinn has a takeaway board outside of his office at the Commanders training complex highlighting defenders creating turnovers.
It was, as Washington’s head coach put it, “devastatingly empty.”
He’ll have some big plays to put on the board after Sunday’s 33-31 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.
After failing to take the ball away in the first two games, they had three (plus a turnover on downs inside the 2-yard line) in this one.
The first two were generated by first-round pick Sonny Styles. The last
one came from backup linebacker Kain Medrano, who had a fourth-quarter pick six to help secure the improbable victory.
“The whole defensive emphasis was to get after the ball,” Styles said. “We went through the first two weeks with no turnovers. …That’s how you win games.”
Let’s start the takeaway discussion with Styles, the No. 7 overall pick and athletic freak expected to make an immediate and profound impact.
He certainly did in this one, as a team’s primary defensive catalyst.
Check out the stat line: five tackles, an interception, a forced fumble, two passes defensed and a quarterback hit.
Styles punched the ball free from Jadarian Price. Tim Settle recovered it and the Commanders turned that into points.
A Sam Darnold pass ricocheted off Settle’s helmet in the third quarter and Styles picked it off.
“He’s capable of producing the ball, based upon his speed and length,” Quinn told on-site reporters in his postgame press conference. “For that to come to fruition, I thought that was a big deal.”
Styles came through in more subtle ways as well. He covered Price well deep down the sideline for a PBU, in a way that few other linebackers can.
Styles is also helping his team from a mental standpoint. He has worn the green dot since Frankie Luvu got hurt in Week 1 and done well with it. And, even in a moment where he deserved glory, Medrano mentioned that Styles made a pre-snap check that helped set up his pick six.
“We’re hunting certain things, man, and he made the right check,” Medrano said on the Commanders postgame show. “We were all on the same page and that put me in the right spot.”
Medrano deserves some praise for stepping in after Leo Chenal suffered a scary neck injury. The second-year pro earned his first NFL defensive snaps and made the most of them with that huge interception.
“I was on the tight end and about to get the PBU, and he just stepped in front of me,” Styles said. “I’m like, ‘Oh, my gosh,’ as I’m running down the sideline with my hands up. It was a crazy play and I’m glad he was able to make it.”
