A common theme emerged with the Washington Commanders’ defense in their first two games.
Unfortunately, that common theme was giving up the big plays. Naturally, Commanders’ head coach Dan Quinn was asked about this weakness Wednesday when meeting with the local press. Quinn was asked whether the issue was execution, urgency, or scheme.
“Yes, I wish it was all one; it would be easy to get to it,” expressed Quinn. Quinn stated you always look to see if scheme was the issue. He said sometimes you find it was more execution lacking. “I’m certain the right people in the right spots...we will address to get those adjusted as we like, but it will take really good communication, the urgency and execution, like you were asking about.”
Cowboys quarterback
Dak Prescott repeatedly found open receivers vs. the Commanders’ defense, completing 26 of his 31 passing attempts for 279 yards, four touchdowns, and zero interceptions. The Commanders simply couldn’t cover CeeDee Lamb, who caught eight receptions for 153 yards and two touchdowns. In the red zone, the Commanders again couldn't cover tight end Jake Ferguson, who caught four passes for 43 yards and two touchdowns.
#Cowboys CeeDee Lamb went off after this:
— Law Nation Media (@LawsNation) September 23, 2026
8 receptions on 9 targets
153 receiving yards
2 touchdowns
19.1 yards per catch
Long reception: 38 yards pic.twitter.com/qKBhjfeDMx
One reporter asked Quinn how much of the big plays is due to the new defensive scheme and the growing pains in learning how to execute it. “That’s a fair question,” Quinn responded. “I would say going into it (Week 3), we'll see an uptick in the guys’ communication, and if there's something that doesn't fit or gets beat on a certain scheme, I think the easiest thing to do is to remove that specific call. There’s plenty of ways to play it.”
“He (defensive coordinator Daronte Jones) has high standards, obviously. You are also learning the players: what can we, what can’t we? There will be some things that we have done, and will continue to do, that we have really liked. There will be some other things we will say, ‘Okay, this one is not fitting right now,’ and we’ll hold on that. So, there will be a little bit of adjusting that takes place.”
One of Lamb’s receptions, Sunday, was for 38 yards, while in Week 1 against the Eagles, the Commanders surrendered big passing plays of 64, 43 and 31 yards. Against the run, the Commanders surrendered plays gaining 42 and 22 yards.
Next up: the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Why do the Commanders continue to allow explosive plays?
