The Commanders offense isn’t a disaster. It isn’t in a perfect spot, either. We’re hovering somewhere in the either, with a dynamic quarterback in Jayden Daniels and an offensive line still (and maybe forever) reeling from Laremy Tunsil’s loss.
The run game can’t get going the way offensive coordinator David Blough would like and the passing game is missing some golden opportunities. Then there’s the issue of situational football and pre-snap penalties, which are killing this unit at the worst possible
times.
What do we make of the offense through six games, besides not good enough. Losing Terry McLaurin is more than a gut punch. It’s a dagger to the belly and the bleeding must be stopped.
We can argue thatAdam Peters didn’t spend his cap space the right way – load up on offensive linemen, bro – but that is of no help to the current crew. What can be done with the offense as currently constructed? That’s what we’ll dive into in this examination of the Commanders at the bye.
The numbers
Total offense: 325.2 ypg (No. 19 overall)
Scoring offense: 22 ppg (No. 21 overall)
Rushing offense: 125.2 ypg (No. 10 overall)
Passing offense: 200.0 ypg (No. 21 overall)
Third-down%: 30.9 (No. 31 overall)
Red-zone%: 50.0 (No. 22 overall
Biggest weakness
Blaming the offensive line is low-hanging fruit. It’s the easiest cop out for skill players not doing their job, and not always the right answer to the question being asked. In this instance, it seems warranted. It’s not, however, the players’ fault. Losing elite left tackle Laremy Tunsil was a haymaker to the dome. It’s hard to recover from that.
The center debacle has been rough, as have injuries to top-tier right guard Sam Cosmi.
The Commanders are allowing pressure 39.9% of the time. Not great. Their rushing yards before contact are skewed by Jayden Daniels, but the backs aren’t getting much time to work before hitting traffic.
Greatest strength
The quarterback, obviously. While it’s clear that Jayden Daniels has left a ton on the table, has made major mistakes in terms of situational awareness and isn’t always seeing open receivers down the field, he’s still top-tier when in his bag.
Even when he’s dealing, it’s clear there’s more in the tank. While that can be frustrating for fans in the moment, it’s also a real plus when we’re thinking long-term. If Daniels cleans some things up and gets on a heater, he can take this team to great heights even after a rough start to the season. Assuming, of course, his elbow stays in its socket.
Problem that must be solved
In a word: efficiency. The Commanders offense too often steps on its own foot, whether through pre-snap penalties or execution errors or game mismanagement or ill-timed play calls or, in Chris Paul’s case on two occasions, literally stepping on his quarterback’s foot.
All that’s why Blough’s taking so much flak. All that’s why the Commanders should’ve hired a sage offensive analyst to help him through all this. And, lest we forget, Jayden Daniels hasn’t played many complete games in a while. He finished two straight in the last two weeks, which quantifies as a low-key miracle these days (Was that an exaggeration? Yeah. We’re having fun with words. Don’t kill me in the comments.) He finished just four games last year. The law of averages was always going out 2024’s late-game heroics, but how he performs through the mundane needs to be tip-top.
So does the interior run blocking. If you can’t get four yards in a cloud of dust, that’s a problem. Russ Grimm and Jeff Bostic won’t come walking through the door tomorrow, but the Commanders must figure out how to do better with what they have.
Let us know what you consider the Commanders’ greatest strength, biggest weakness and problem that must be solved in the comments below.
