3 simple changes Commanders must make after humbling Week 2 loss
By Jerry Trotta
The Washington Commanders fell to 1-1 on the year following their demeaning loss to the Detroit Lions Sunday at Ford Field. The defeat could serve as a blessing in disguise for Washington moving forward. Hopefully it serves as a reality check that one win over an inferior opponent doesn’t mean you accomplished anything.
Of course, that’ll only happen if players (and coaches) are held accountable and Ron Rivera’s excuse-littered postgame press conference wasn’t an encouraging sign in that regard. Hopefully Rivera reprimanded his players behind the scene.
The entire coaching staff isn’t on great terms with the fan base after that performance, and rightfully so. However, there’s a way — several, actually — for Rivera and Co. to get back in their good graces: make immediate changes.
Here are a few simple changes we’d make for Week 3 and beyond.
3 simple changes the Commanders must make after Week 2 loss
3. More first half targets for Terry McLaurin
The offensive line was so putrid in the first half Sunday that targeting McLaurin might not have made a difference. But we’ll never know, will we? Instead, Scott Turner went ultra-conservative with his playbook hoping that the offense would register a couple first downs and switch the field back in the Commanders’ favor.
Regardless, McLaurin should never finish a first half with zero catches.
In the first half against Jacksonville, he managed one catch for 9 yards over the first two quarters. Anyone else notice Detroit making it a point of emphasis to feed their best playmakers Sunday? How many times did Amon-Ra St. Brown and DeAndre Swift burn Washington in the first half?
In Turner’s defense, his play-calling had the Lions chasing shadows for most of the second half, but it was too little, too late. At the end of the day, it was the offense’s first half ineptitude that put the Commanders behind the eight ball.
The defense was awful overall, but Detroit managed just three points on their first three offensive possessions. We’re not saying targeting McLaurin would’ve changed anything, but he needs the ball more early in games.
It’s not rocket science.