3 Commanders who must bounce back in Week 2 vs the Lions

The Washington Commanders will look to move to 2-0 on the season after they defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars at home in Week 1. The Detroit Lions represent another beatable opponent, but they’re not the same pushovers of yesteryear.

If the Commanders perform close to how they did against the Jaguars, they should be in position to beat the Lions. That’s obviously easier said than done, and we could certainly do without three turnovers, but a win is a win at the end of the day.

In terms of standout performers, the offense has nabbed all the postgame headlines, and rightfully so.

Carson Wentz balled out. Curtis Samuel was a monster in the first half, and Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson came through with clutch touchdowns. Though they didn’t find the end zone, Antonio Gibson and Logan Thomas were quietly very important to the Commanders’ offensive explosion.

But which Commanders need to rebound in Week 2 after a lackluster game against Jacksonville? Let’s run through some of them, shall we?

These Commanders must bounce back in Week 2 against the Lions.

3. Jamin Davis

Davis’ celebration followed his sack of Trevor Lawrence. It was a great play, but it was ultimately called back due to a flag in the secondary. Unfortunate for Davis, as this was really his only positive moment from Sunday’s opener.

In fairness to Davis, it made zero sense that he lined up against Christian Kirk as much as he did. That would explain why he allowed four catches for 62 yards on four targets in coverage, but you would expect a player with Davis’ athleticism to perform better in coverage against non-Kirk Jaguars.

That wasn’t the case. In fact, he got burned for what should’ve been a walk-in touchdown for Travis Etienne, but Lawrence missed him in the end zone. It’d be one thing if Davis applied sticky coverage on the play, but he oddly tried to stand Etienne up at the line of scrimmage before the running back blew blast him.

The good news is Davis looked comfortable defending the run, which wasn’t the case during his rookie year. He was impressively the only Commanders defender who finished with a run-defense grade above 70 (76.7).

It was an up and down debut for Davis, but he needs to show better in coverage. Hopefully the coaching staff puts him in better positions to succeed moving forward, because Kirk and Etienne aren’t ideal matchups for any linebacker.