Jayden Daniels’ return to the starting lineup brought fireworks back to the Commanders’ offense. Four of Washington’s five plays of 20 yards or more came by way of Daniels’ arm, and it helped lead Washington to 27
points against the Los Angeles Chargers, who are sixth-best in the league in points allowed. The trio of Daniels, Deebo Samuel, and Jacory Croskey-Merritt accounted for essentially the entire offensive day. Daniels and Croskey-Merritt accounted for 381 of Washington’s 389 yards, with Samuel accounting for 96 receiving yards.
Washington’s offensive line excelled in the run game with its execution and high-level mental processing. They won in their power run game by consistently gaining number advantages on the play-side. Center Tyler Biadasz had one of his better performances of this young season. Offensive Coordinator Kliff Kingsbury utilized the offensive line’s athleticism with misdirection calls in the run game, with several lead-pulls into playside gaps. In turn, Croskey-Merritt’s breakout game was sensational, and he made a strong case that he is capable of taking on a heavier workload.
With an effective run game, the play-action and misdirection upfront created opportunities downfield for Daniels. Furthermore, while Jayden Daniels was cold on the first two drives, his fortune changed following an excellent read on a third-and-16 early in the second quarter, which led to Washington’s first scoring drive.
In this Trap or Dive film session, I broke down Washington’s key plays against the Los Angeles Chargers defense and why they were successful against one of the league’s better defenses early on.
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