The Washington Commanders’ season-opening win over the Jacksonville Jaguars represented everything fans missed about football during the offseason.
From thumping hits, big-time throws in the clutch, the game script flipping on its head in the second half, untimely turnovers and a stadium going crazy after the home team scored a late go-ahead touchdown, the game had everything.
While the Commanders left fans with more positives than negatives in the game, the negatives were pretty alarming and need to be cleaned up moving forward if the team is to reach its ultimate goal — making the playoffs — this season.
Heading into a tricky road matchup against the Detroit Lions, here are three mistakes from the Week 1 victory that cannot be repeated.
3 mistakes Commanders cannot repeat in Week 2 vs the Lions
3. Penalties/Allowing Big Plays
The Commanders won the penalty battle pretty comfortably, as the Jaguars committed 13 penalties for 90 yards compared to Washington’s six penalties for 63 yards. While that’s great and definitely contributed to the win, there’s no sense celebrating being more discipline (or not as poorly disciplined) than a team that continuously shot itself in the foot.
Of those six penalties, five generated Jaguars first downs. It’s not like they were committing insignificant fouls. From defensive pass interference, illegal contact and illegal hands to the face (looking at you, Andrew Norwell), Washington let a stagnant Jaguars offense off the hook one too many times.
Not only was FedEx Field’s grass littered with yellow laundry, but the Commanders’ were victimized by the big play multiple times against Jacksonville.
Christian Kirk beat Kendall Fuller for a 49-yard gain and averaged a whopping19.5 yards per reception. In total, Washington allowed three completions of 20 or more yards. That stat is inexcusable and they’ll face a Lions team in Week 2 that just hung 35 points on the Eagles’ stacked defense in Week 1.
Time to fix up.
2. Getting gashed against the run
The Commanders’ secondary was up and down against the Jaguars, but they ultimately limited Trevor Lawrence to 24-of-42 (57.1%) for 275 yards and a touchdown and interception apiece. He finished with a 75.0 passer rating and 48.4 QBR.
That’s a job well done, though some players — Kendall Fuller and William Jackson chief among them — need to play better.
One area that must see immediate improvement against the Lions, however, is the run defense. The Jaguars only attempted 18 rushes in the game, but turned them into 123 yards and a touchdown. That’s good for 6.8 yards per carry.
Though a talented duo, the Commanders will face better backfields than James Robinson and Travis Etienne this season. Look no further than this week’s opponent. D’Andre Swift is an ascending running back and fresh off galloping for 144 yards and a touchdown on 9.1 YPC against the Eagles’ vaunted defense.
Jamaal Williams is no slouch, either, but Swift is the centerpiece of Detroit’s offense. Stop (or contain) him and I love Washington’s chances. Let him get into a groove and the Commanders will find it difficult to pick up a road W.
1. Not making Terry Mclaurin a focal point
The Commanders have ample mouths to feed on offense for the first time in several years. That’s duly noted. What I can’t wrap my mind around, though, is how the team’s best offensive weapon, Terry McLaurin, finished Sunday’s game with four targets.
That target share lagged behind Curtis Samuel (11), Antonio Gibson (8), Logan Thomas (6) and Jahan Dotson (5). We’re all for sharing the wealth and it was awesome to see Washington emphasize getting Samuel going early, but McLaurin is too good and too important to finish any game with just four targets.
It’s not like the Jaguars double-teamed McLaurin, either. They probably could’t afford to with all the weaponry on the Commanders’ offense, but McLaurin’s route-running was on point all afternoon. Jacksonville’s defensive backs stood no chance and he finally made them pay with a 49-yard score in the fourth quarter.
Yes, the Commanders won and the offense scored 28 points, but the group looked toothless for a long stretch in the second half; a period McLaurin wasn’t seeing any targets and it came back to haunt them on the scoreboard.
Washington avoided disaster this time, but the coaching staff needs to do better getting Mclaurin the football. He should see now fewer than eight targets against Detroit. Anything less and we riot (not really).