The Daily Slop – 18 September 2026
Editor’s note: Each day, Hogs Haven compiles a collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders, the NFC East, the NFL and sports in general, with a sprinkling of other stuff. Enjoy!
Commanders links
Articles
The Athletic (paywall)
Why Commanders rookie receiver Antonio Williams is already capturing attention
The team’s top receivers, Terry McLaurin and Stefon Diggs, combined for only six catches, 69 receiving yards and a touchdown — to go with three drops and one costly unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The spacing of the receivers and their timing
with quarterback Jayden Daniels seemed off for much of the game, and the team gained only 4.8 yards per pass attempt, the third fewest in the league in Week 1.
But Williams’ 1-yard score with a little more than a minute left capped an impressive debut that included four targets, four catches, a team-high 64 receiving yards and the NFL’s rookie of the week honors — a feat made all the more notable considering he played only 11 passing snaps.
Williams’ 2.36 expected points added per target led the league in the first week. He had a hand in all three of the Commanders’ touchdown drives: His 16-yard grab on a post route against Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean set up Jacory Croskey-Merritt’s 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter; his 33-yard catch on a third-and-14 helped set up Diggs’ touchdown in the fourth; and his 14-yard catch on a crosser started the Commanders’ final drive, which ended with his score.
“In the biggest moments, guys make plays like that,” Daniels said. “He showed us all the work that he put in and the type of player that he is and how they scouted him throughout the draft.”
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Pro Football Focus
NFL rookie rankings: Highest-graded players after Week 1
1. WR Antonio Williams, Washington Commanders, 91.2
Williams was impressively productive despite playing just 11 receiving snaps in his first regular-season action. He caught four passes for 64 yards and averaged 5.82 yards per route run, a mark bettered only by Zay Flowers of the Baltimore Ravens among wide receivers with at least 10 receiving snaps in Week 1.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Bullock’s Film Room (subscription)
Commanders Film Review: David Blough’s Offense
[T]here were some positives to take away from this game when evaluating David Blough. The one that stands out the most to me was the clear plan to target Eagles defensive back Cooper DeJean. DeJean has been developing into a very strong defensive back in the Eagles secondary, where he plays a hybrid role splitting time between playing safety and nickel. He’s been one of the Eagles better players on defense over the past two years, but Blough found a way to attack him.
It was pretty clear to see the Commanders went after DeJean when he was playing in the slot, and Blough targeted him with a specific type of receiver. DeJean struggles a little bit with short area quickness, so Blough looked to get the likes of Stefon Diggs and rookie receiver Antonio Williams matched up on DeJean, where they could use their short area quickness to beat him. Diggs had multiple catches against him, including his touchdown pass.
[The following analysis covers the play that is embedded in the tweet from Mark Bullock below]
On this play, the Commanders align in a bunch set to the left with tight end Ben Sinnott joining Diggs and Williams in the bunch. Sinnott runs a shallow cross that is designed to drag inside coverage across the field. Williams runs an out route, designed to drag the outside corner towards the sideline. Those two routes combine to help isolate Diggs against DeJean in space. Diggs aligns as the inside receiver, but at the snap he releases into the trail of Sinnott and Williams.
You can see how Diggs sets up this route and it’s very crafty. It’s gives strong vibes of what Zach Ertz brought to the Commanders offense the past two years. Diggs gets himself into the seam at the snap but takes it nice and slow. He gets DeJean to attach to him and then goes to work. He gives DeJean a nice crossover move, stuttering and giving a jab step outside before crossing over and working back inside. DeJean bites hard on the move and Diggs crosses his face to get inside, where Jayden Daniels finds him for a touchdown.
Diggs had a lot of success against DeJean in this game but he wasn’t the only one. Antonio Williams also had some success.
Commanders.com
NFC East roundup | Commanders face another division battle
Both teams are heading into Sunday afternoon with a division loss, meaning the stakes are that much higher to avoid going 0-2.
Washington has time on its side, as the Cowboys have a quicker turnaround and rest period having played Monday Night Football. Dallas, however, has home=field advantage with the addition of it being the Cowboys’ home opener.
Against the Giants, Dallas not only struggled to defend the run (165 rushing yards allowed) but also couldn’t get their own ground game going against the Giants’ defense (No. 5; 69 rushing yards allowed). Cam Skattebo put up 81 yards and a touchdown with 18 carries against the Cowboys’ defense, which is a good sign for the Commanders run game.
Commanders RB1 Jacory “Bill” Croskey-Merrit finished with similar numbers (63 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries) to Skattebo against a No. 24 Eagles rushing defense that allowed 132 rushing yards.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
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Last Man Standig (paywall)
Commanders-Cowboys preview: Defense faces another explosive test in Dallas
Defensive coordinator Daronte Jones fielded reporters’ questions on Thursday, days after Quinn offered his own assessment of Sainristil. On Monday, the head coach broke from his norm by publicly criticizing a player. He said Sainristil’s miscues stemmed from a lack of focus and were “completely not acceptable.”
Jones’ assessment, while less blunt, was also direct when asked for his coaching message to the third-year defensive back.
“Urgency,” Jones said. “Playing until the whistle blows would be huge.”
For more from Ben Standig, click here
The Athletic (paywall)
Commanders’ Mike Sainristil on his lousy Sunday: ‘I guess you could call it a lack of effort’
“I’m the only one who can fix what I have to fix,” Sainristil said.
There is much to fix. And it’s striking how readily everyone around the Commanders acknowledges that. NFL coaches and NFL locker rooms typically spew some version of “It’s fine, everything’s fine,” when dealing with crises large and small. Singling out a player for an individual gaffe — particularly when it can be hard to lay blame with 100 percent accuracy when assessing the responsibilities of 11 men — is pretty rare.
But here we are with Sainristil, because the Commanders’ third-year cornerback — let’s say it plainly — seems to have regressed from his promising rookie year.
We are here with Sainristil because, of the 89 cornerbacks Pro Football Focus graded in Week 1, Sainristil ranked No. 89.
And we are here with Sainristil because, in the Commanders’ season-opening 24-22 loss at Philadelphia, he allowed two key plays not because he was beaten athletically or because of X’s and O’s. He allowed them because …
Well, let him say it. He knows.
“That wasn’t a coaching thing,” Sainristil said. “That wasn’t a schematic thing. That was just two plays on my end with a …” and he paused, because it’s hard to admit. “I guess you could call it a lack of effort.
“The first one, I just didn’t finish the play. The second one, didn’t really have urgency coming over on the motion. So, that has nothing to do with anything other than myself.”
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Sports Illustrated
Commanders Add Veteran CB Isaac Yiadom to 53-Man Roster, Release Ricky Barber
Adding Yiadom to the room gives the Commanders another veteran option at the position as they head into the game against Dallas. Yiadom has been around the league since Denver selected him in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft out of Boston College. He has appeared in 118 games with 34 starts across stops with the Broncos, Giants, Packers, Texans, Saints, and 49ers, recording three interceptions and 32 passes defended. His best season came with New Orleans in 2023, when he started eight games and finished with 14 passes defended and an interception.
The Dallas Cowboys present a much different passing-game challenge to Washington than Philadelphia did. While it’s still unknown whether Yiadom will be among those who dress Sunday, his presence on the 53-man roster tells me defensive coordinator Daronte Jones wanted another coverage option in his tool shed in case Washington needs more flexibility.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
JP Finlay
Commanders, Cowboys and an NFL that doesn’t care about excuses
There’s a well known saying among NFL players and coaches that certainly applies to the Commanders current schedule. Sure, Washington is the only team in the NFL to open with back to back division games on the road, but guess what?
Nobody cares. Go win the game.
EXPLOSIVES — New coordinator Daronte Jones mostly impressed in his debut against the Eagles but big plays remain a major problem for this Washington defense. Eagles QB Jalen Hurts threw for 203 yards on just 14 completions, good for more than 14 yards-per-completion. More than half of Hurts’ total passing yards came on two plays: a 64-yard bomb to reciever Dontayvion Wicks and a 43-yard touchdown strike to tight end Dallas Goedert.
THE FIX? This is not an easy question. The Cowboys offense features two of the most dynamic wide receivers in the NFL in CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens and the Commanders secondary seems in a troubled spot.
To a man following the Philly game anybody wearing Burgundy and Gold voiced strong support for embattled cornerback Sainristil. But at some point he has to play well, and this week would be a great time.
Slowing down Lamb and Pickens is not just on Sainristil though. Washington’s entire defense needs to perform
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Too Deep Zone
The YAC-Backwards Eagles
The Eagles attempted 12 passes of less than five air yards in Week 1. They completed just five of them. For negative-3 yards. Yes, negative-3 yards.
Dallas Goedert caught one micropass (let’s call them that, for brevity’s sake) for five yards. Saquon Barkley caught one micropass for a loss of three yards, dropping a second one. Rookie Makai Lemon caught three for a total loss of five yards.
One micropass each to Goedert, Lemon and Dontayvion Wicks fell incomplete. Three attempts have unidentified targets in the play-by-play, which is never a good sign, though it’s not as bad a sign as netting negative-3 yards on a dozen plays. At least the passes with unidentified targets (throwaways at the ends of scrambles) netted zero yards.
Here are the teams with the fewest yards on micropasses in Week 1:
- Eagles: 5-of-12, -3 yards
- Vikings: 7-of-8, 40 yards
- Commanders: 11-of-20, 41 yards
- Packers: 7-of-16, 44 yards
- Dolphins: 7-of-9, 44 yards
For those of you who expected to see Bo Nix and the Broncos on this list after Monday night’s Failed Completion Festival: the Broncos went 14-of-20 for 89 yards on micropasses, a middling performance, on par with what Nix often does.
Micropasses can broadly be thought of as an extension of the running game, so 4.5-to-5.0 yards is a good baseline for average production, once other factors are accounted for. (A good team should average at least 4.5 yards per rush once short-yardage plunges and kill-the-clock plays are removed from the data.) The Commanders cannot be happy about averaging 2.0 yards per attempt on so many passes designed to produce YAC. The Packers cannot be happy about averaging just 2.8 yards. But at least neither of those teams averaged -0.3 yards per attempt.
New offensive coordinator Sean Mannion has reimagined the Eagles micropassing game for 2026: more motion, more under-center formations, more throws to the perimeter right after the snap. So instead of the static Eagles offense of yore, fans now get to see Lemon motioning behind Hurts from left to right before the snap, catching a screen well behind the line of scrimmage, then getting swarmed by unblocked defenders. This happened twice in Week 1. For variety, Lemon once jet-motioned to the sideline for a quick out, which sailed out of bounds because Hurts had a free rusher in his face.
The Eagles have serious blocking and timing issues to work out in their micropassing game. I’m also not sure about play designs that require Barkley to backpedal from the line of scrimmage, then wait flatfooted for a pass about five yards deep, with Goedert and Wicks (not to be confused with Walter Jones and Orlando Pace) as his lead blockers. How about, say, a “normal” running back screen instead?
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
From Pro Football Talk:
Eagles rookie wide receiver Makai Lemon had a box score to forget in the first game of his NFL career: Against the Commanders, Lemon caught three passes for minus-5 yards. Lemon knows he needs to do better.
Lemon caught the first pass thrown to him in the flat for a gain of three yards. The Eagles then twice ran a play when Lemon went in motion and Jalen Hurts threw the ball to him behind the line of scrimmage, and on both he was tackled almost immediately, once for minus-three yards and once for minus-five yards.
“Lots to improve on,” Lemon said, via the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Commanders Roundtable
Three matchups that will decide Washington vs Dallas on Sunday
Matchup 1: Jayden Daniels vs. a Cowboys Defense That Has No Answers
Based on what Dallas showed in Week 1, Jayden Daniels should be licking his chops. The Cowboys defense was nothing short of a disaster against the Giants — allowing four points per drive, surrendering nine third-down conversions on 11 attempts, and giving up 394 total yards, including 165 on the ground. Jaxson Dart — a second-year quarterback still finding his footing — threw three touchdown passes and moved the ball at will. The miscommunications were glaring. One touchdown came from a linebacker and a cornerback running the same assignment while the tight end stood wide open in the end zone. It feels very reminiscent of last year under Matt Eberflus. One week in, new coordinator Christian Parker has not fixed this defense but there are plenty of games left.
Daniels is a significantly better quarterback than Dart. His arm talent, mobility, and ability to manipulate coverage with his eyes are the exact attributes that picked apart the Giants’ miscommunication issues in their own secondary a year ago. With a chance to turn the page from an up-and-down week one showing, Blough’s play-action system specifically targets the kind of linebacker-and-safety conflicts that burned Dallas repeatedly on Sunday. The Cowboys allowed the second-most EPA per drive of any defense in the NFL in Week 1. That’s not a defense that has found answers. That’s a defense Washington should be able to exploit in every phase.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
ESPN
NFL Week 2 picks, predictions, schedule, odds, fantasy tips
Commanders (0-1) at Cowboys (0-1)
4:25 p.m. ET | Fox | DAL -4.5 (50.5 O/U)
What we’re hearing on the Commanders: In the opener, Washington allowed four plays of 30 yards or more, accounting for 180 of Philadelphia’s 318 yards. In two games versus Dallas a season ago, Washington allowed four pass plays of 30 yards or longer and two touchdowns — and Cowboy WRs CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens are big-play targets. Another factor: Lamb is 6-foot-2 and Pickens is 6-3 — facing two corners listed at 5-10 (Mike Sainristil) and 5-9 (Amik Robertson). But DC Daronte Jones pointed out, “They’ve dominated DBs in this league regardless of size.” — John Keim
What we’re hearing on the Cowboys: The Cowboys have not started 0-2 since 2010, which eventually led to the first and only in-season coaching change Jerry Jones has ever made. Since 1989, when Jones took over, the Cowboys have opened the season with a loss 13 times and responded with a win in Week 2. Eight of those times they ended up making the playoffs. It might not be must-win, but they can’t let the early season get away from them. “I wouldn’t say so critical to where people are on their tippy toes, but definitely urgent because division games such as the Giants was too,” Pickens said. — Todd Archer
Stat to know: Since division realignment in 2002, 11 teams have started 0-2 with both losses in divisional games. The 2025 Bears are the only one of those teams to make the playoffs. [BiB: So, it happened just last year? I’ll bet none of them involved two ROAD losses inside the division.] — ESPN Research
Bold prediction: There will be 60 or more points scored in this game. Even in a loss, Dak Prescott recorded an 89 QBR last week against the Giants — and the Commanders’ pass rush is certainly less menacing than New York’s. And while the Cowboys might figure out their defense at some point this season, I doubt that change will happen so soon after a rough opening game. — Walder
Viewers rating (out of 10): 7.1. Two 0-1 teams, both with a divisional loss, facing 0-2 … that’s very high stakes. The watchability is hurt here by Dallas’ defense, which was riddled with easy errors in Week 1 — hard to watch. Washington’s defense? Surprisingly plucky. This will be a close one. — Solak
Injuries: Commanders | Cowboys
Fantasy nugget: RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt led Washington’s backfield with 16 carries in Week 1, compared with seven for Rachaad White and four for Kaytron Allen. He now faces a Cowboys defense that surrendered 165 rushing yards to the Giants. Croskey-Merritt also scored 22.5 fantasy points against Dallas in Week 17 last season. He has a chance to deliver RB2 production this week. See Week 2 rankings. — Moody
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Sports Illustrated
Dorance Armstrong’s Long Road Back Ends Where It Began
On Sunday, everything will come full circle for defensive end Dorance Armstrong. The former Dallas Cowboys player will be making his 2026 debut Sunday against his old team after serving a one-game suspension to start the season. To further complicate things, Armstrong will return to Dallas for the first time since suffering a torn ACL that caused him to miss most of the year after starting the season off with 5.5 sacks through seven games. Armstrong is pumped to finally be back: “I’m blessed to be back in this position,” Armstrong said. “I’m thankful for everything that I’ve been through. It’s been almost a year now, so, yeah, I’m super excited.”
Armstrong’s road back hasn’t been an easy one, but he believes he’s physically ready to pick up where he left off last season. “I feel like I’m the same person, if not better,” Armstrong said. Quinn seems to agree, pointing directly to the traits Washington had been waiting to see again. “To see his speed back, his explosion back, that’s a big deal,” Quinn said.
This time around, though, Washington doesn’t need Armstrongto carry the pass rush the way it did before he was injured. Odafe Oweh, K’Lavon Chaisson, Charles Omenihu, Joshua Josephs, and Sonny Styles give Daronte Jones several different ways to create pressure, and that should make Armstrong’s job easier. “That just makes us stronger,” Armstrong said. “I guess the better the pass rushers, the better our team’s gonna be. We didn’t have a lot of help last year, but now we got guys that are young, fresh, and ready to go.”
That depth also means Washington doesn’t have to throw Armstrong back into a massive workload immediately.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Photos
Podcasts & videos
What They’re NOT Telling You About The O-Line & Why This Defense Is DIFFERENT | Film Breakdown | NFL
NFC East links
NJ.com
Titans star takes shot at Eagles’ Jalen Hurts before Week 2: ‘Make [him] be a QB’
Simmons wants to keep Hurts in the pocket. That’s where he believes Hurts is less dangerous.
“We just need to make Jalen Hurts be a QB,”Simmons said on Wednesday. “Stop his runs, make sure Hurts doesn’t get out of the pocket and make plays.”
The Eagles could use these comments as bulletin-board material. What Simmons said could be taken as a jab at Hurts.
Hurts has developed into a good pocket passer, but his running ability makes him even more dangerous.
In his first six seasons, Hurts won a Super Bowl MVP, made three Pro Bowls and one All-Pro team. Despite those accomplishments, he was left off top-10 quarterback lists this offseason.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Big Blue View
NFL Week 2 picks, predictions: Can the Giants upset the Rams?
Week 1 went just about as well as it could have for John Harbaugh’s Giants, and as terribly as it could have for Sean McVay’s Rams. Much has been made of L.A.’s travel decision for its Australia game, and the team should be rested, and primed for a bounce back in what’s suddenly a very important game for one of the top Super Bowl hopefuls.
The Rams are a 7.5-point favorite and I will gladly take the points. In fact, I think Big Blue is going to give them all they want. I don’t want to overreact to Week 1, and maybe the travel was a big factor, but Los Angeles looked old, and the Giants looked hungry, focused, and sharp.
Los Angeles has much better personnel on defense than Dallas, even without Myles Garrett. New York’s offense controlled the game (and the clock) on Sunday night and this will be a much sterner test. I think they’re ready for it.
I’m taking the upset. I don’t think the top-heavy Rams are as good as advertised, while the Giants might be a little better than people think. New York catches the Rams at the right time, and leaves them in panic mode as they stare down 0-2.
Pick: Giants by 4
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
ESPN
McVay: Rams ‘hopeful’ Donald will play against Giants on MNF
Donald, who initially retired in March 2024, came out of retirement Aug. 30. He did not travel to the Rams’ Week 1 loss against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia.
When asked whether there are specific benchmarks the Rams are looking for when determining whether Donald plays this week, McVay said, “It’s more along the line of how does he feel?”
McVay also said defensive end Myles Garrett is “feeling good” after his Monday knee surgery, but the coach said he still doesn’t want to put a timeline on his return.
Garrett, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, missed most of training camp while dealing with what McVay called swelling in his knee. On Monday, McVay said the thought was Garrett could play though the injury, but it was obvious in Week 1 that was not the case.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
ESPN
Eagles’ Jalen Carter to wear cast on injured wrist vs. Titans
Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter expects to wear a cast on his injured right wrist for Sunday’s Week 2 matchup against the Tennessee Titans.
“Pretty much nothing. It’s just a cast,” Carter said, referring to what adjustments he’ll have to make in-game. “I’m still going to have to strike, grab, play the run and pass rush. That’s pretty much it. I can’t let it affect me.”
Carter confirmed he sustained the injury against the Commanders last week while trying to punch the ball out of Terry McLaurin’s hands after a fourth-quarter reception.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Upcoming opponent
Bleeding Green Nation
Cowboys fans have the least confidence among the NFC East; Giants fans have the most
After an offseason of evolving philosophies and new personnel, it only took one week and one awful game against the Giants for Cowboys fans to lose their optimism. In this week’s Reacts Polls, only 19% of Cowboys fans were confident in the direction of the team — by comparison, the Eagles had the confidence of 70% of Philly fans.
- Giants — 99% of fans were confident the team is headed in the right direction (Shocking what a competent win will do for a fanbase lol)
- Commanders — 83%
- Eagles — 70%
- Cowboys — 19%
Do you think Dallas fans are overreacting? Or do you similarly expect the team to underperform this season?
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Blogging the Boys
Digging into the numbers to predict Cowboys vs Commanders
The Commanders’ defense forced five three-and-outs and seven Philadelphia punts. 138 of Jalen Hurts’ 203 passing yards came on just three plays. Of Saquon Barkley’s 83 rushing yards, 42 came on one rushing attempt. The Commanders are susceptible to big plays, but without those chunks, their defense was stout against the Eagles. It will be important for Dallas to utilize their weapons on the outside early and often to generate those big plays.
After last week, the Cowboys should decide it’s time to start the game by airing the ball out. Before the season started, Sharp Football had the Commanders’ secondary ranked 31st in the league, and last week’s tape confirmed it. Dallas should target Mike Sainristil as much as possible with CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens as he was the weakest link in week one, giving up over 35 yards per reception.
If Dallas takes the route of attacking the Commanders’ defensive backfield with chunk plays, it’ll be important for the offensive line to hold up against a solid pass rush consisting of Odafe Oweh, Dorance Armstrong, K’Lavon Chaisson and Daron Payne. Dallas will also need to look out for a blitzing Sonny Styles, who absolutely crushed Saquon Barkley on his way to a Jalen Hurts sack last week.
On the other side of the ball, this defense will be looking to redeem themselves after a poor week one outing against the Giants. One key piece of information to keep in mind this week: blitzing Jayden Daniels may not be the best idea. Last week, Daniels struggled when the Eagles forced pressure without sending an extra man, completing just three out of fifteen attempts for 26 yards. However, when they attacked the pocket with the blitz, Daniels threw for two touchdowns and had a completion percentage of 71.4%.
This week, getting home without sending extra blitzers will be one of the most important keys to the game. If this defense can do that in addition to fixing their mental mistakes from week one, they’ll find themselves back on track. [From Bill-in-Bangkok: I love analysis that assumes that your team will evolve and improve while your opponents’ execution will remain static]
Given the history of the Cowboys’ ability to avoid 0-2, and a massive strength on weakness matchup between Dallas’ receivers/Washington’s defensive backs, a bounce-back game is the reasonable expectation in week two. It would be surprising to see the Dallas offense struggle to launch again this week. 27 or more points feels like a lock against the Commanders.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
The Athletic (paywall)
Cowboys’ Christian Parker promises to fix defense after ‘poor performance’ in Week 1
The Cowboys had arguably the worst defense in franchise history last season. Communication was a significant issue. It was alarming to see them carry over at a similar level with a new defensive coaching staff and eight new defensive starters.
“It’s one poor performance,” Parker said Thursday. “It’s one loss that does not equal two. We’re not trying to make excuses for anything. We’re not trying to act like it didn’t happen. We got to look in the mirror. We got to be accountable for what we did wrong and what we did right.
“Correct it and then move on to the next opponent. Because there can’t be a hangover and it can’t linger.”
Another concerning aspect surfaced Wednesday on social media. It was a clip from the sideline in the second half when Parker appears to be trying to calm down a frustrated Jaishawn Barham. At one point, the rookie linebacker appears to be emotional as he walks away from Parker.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
NFL league links
Articles
The Athletic (paywall)
The Lions defense put forth another ‘not acceptable’ performance. What can be done?
The effort we saw from Detroit’s defense was among the worst of the Dan Campbell era. They allowed 41 points and 446 yards of offense. They forced the Bills to punt twice. It’s the type of performance that changes expectations for this team until further notice. Because this can’t happen.
Per Next Gen Stats, the Lions blitzed Allen on 55.3 percent of his dropbacks in Week 2 — the highest blitz rate we’ve seen with defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard calling plays. Allen, of course, is one of the best QBs in football against the blitz. He was 12-of-17 for 137 yards and two touchdowns through the air when the Lions brought it.
Off scrambles, per Next Gen Stats, Allen totaled 49 rushing yards and a touchdown. Ho-hum.
But if you ask defensive players for their assessment, they’ll tell you the Bills didn’t do anything they didn’t expect. They’ll tell you to put it on them.
Those blitzes? Simply weren’t effective. Those explosive runs? Campbell and the linebackers had a handful of poor run fits and edge rushers didn’t contain the pocket. That coverage bust touchdown? Bad communication. Not to mention penalty after penalty.
In the last six quarters, the Lions have allowed 65 points. If you include the overtime period versus the Saints in Week 1, it brings the total to 71. Through two games, they’ve allowed an average of 35.5 points and 458.5 yards.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
