3 things we learned from Commanders Week 2 preseason loss to Chiefs

2. Third-Down Defense Could Be Jack Del Rio’s Undoing

We hate to keep beating a dead horse, but we’ll stop doing that when the Commanders’ defense start showing some fight on third down.

You know the story. Washington finished 31st in opponent conversion rate on third down last season at 48.47 percent. Last week, they allowed Carolina to complete 61.1 percent (11-of-18) of their third down attempts.

On Saturday, Kansas City converted its first three third downs. A third and six resulted in a 14-yard completion. A third and 10 resulted in a pass interference penalty, albeit a questionable one. And a third and 10 resulted in a 40-yard completion.

We know Patrick Mahomes is a human cheat code at quarterback, but Washington allowed Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold and PJ Walker to do the same thing last week. Sure, they offered more resistance relative to Mahomes, but the struggles on third down were eerily similar and fans are right to be worried.

Fact of the matter is Washington didn’t muster a third down stop until Kansas City took out its starters. Through a decent chunk of the second quarter, the Chiefs were 6-for-6 on third down. That cannot happen, but it still is.

The Commanders’ defense has loads of talent, but they’ll get steamrolled — even against lesser competition than KC — if they can’t get off the field on third down. Through two preseason games, it looks as though they haven’t made any improvements from last season. Not a great start for Jack Del Rio.