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.
2. William Jackson III
It was a rough day all-around for the secondary and Jackson belongs in that conversation. The $40.5 million corner led the Commanders with eight tackles, but that’s because he allowed six catches on seven targets, according to PFF, so he was having to tackle the receivers who made catches on his watch.
A silver lining is Jackson’s six catches only went for 57 yards and he didn’t experience any back-breaking blown assignments, but that’s really grasping at straws. Trevor Lawrence boasted a 100.6 passer rating when he targeted Jackson. Only Jamin Davis surrendered a higher passer rating to the Jags quarterback.
Jackson was called for a penalty on the first play of the game and fans surely thought they were in for a repeat of early last season.
Additionally, Jackson was torched on a double move by Marvin Jones that Lawrence grossly underthrew. Upon further review, Montez Sweat may have grazed Lawrence’s arm just as he released the rock, so Jackson might owe Sweat a steak dinner for saving him from a potential long touchdown.
Not a great start for Jackson after his inconsistent 2021.
1. Kendall Fuller
Fuller was one of Washington’s most consistent defenders last season and was arguably the team’s best defensive performer in training camp so it was pretty shocking to see him struggle to the extent he did against the Jaguars.
According to PFF, Fuller was the Commanders’ lowest-graded defender on Sunday with a 31.9 player grade. We take PFF’s grades with a grain of salt (Patrick Mahomes was somehow the eighth-highest graded QB this week), but Fuller’s lowly 31.9 mark checks out after that performance.
The veteran corner only allowed four catches on seven targets, but they went for 74 yards, meaning he allowed 24.7 yards per reception. Fuller got burned deep a couple times, including on a 49-yard completion to Kirk, and was flagged twice on one drive; once for defensive pass interference and once for illegal contact.
Perhaps Fuller needed a game to get back up to speed, but that’s a pretty lame excuse for a team’s No. 1 cornerback. It’s not like the Jaguars have a world-beater receiving corps, making it even more of a head-scratcher. Fuller needs to be better against Detroit and he’d probably be the first one to tell you that.