3 harsh lessons from Commanders Week 4 loss to the Cowboys
By Jerry Trotta
In Week 1, the Washington Commanders had the makings of a potential offensive juggernaut and opportunistic defense. Since then, the Commanders’ defense has incredibly become the strength of the team. Maybe it’s less of a weakness because the offense has been that bad and they’re still making too many mistakes.
Wherever you stand, the bottom line is Washington is a 1-3 football team. Remember after Week 1 when fans were talking playoffs? After the last three games, they look more like a potential lottery team than a wild card side.
The problems go way beyond the players. The coaching staff and front office need to be held accountable. In light of the Commanders’ third-straight defeat, let’s highlight some harsh lessons we learned from the game.
3 things we learned from Commanders third-straight loss
3. William Jackson signing was a failure by the front office
No, Jackson wasn’t the reason the Commanders lost this game, but we’ve seen enough to know this signing just isn’t going to work out. Jackson’s debut season in 2021 was marred by injuries, penalties and miscommunication. While he finished the year strong, 2022 has been much of the same for the cornerback.
On Sunday, Jackson was flagged for two more penalties, one of which negated a gorgeous interception by Kam Curl. In the third quarter, Jackson was in coverage on the CeeDee Lamb touchdown that put the nail in Washington’s coffin.
A simple head fake was all it took for the Cowboys receiver to bamboozle Jackson, who showed minimal effort on the play. We don’t doubt that Jackson is a talented cornerback — his Bengals tenure proved he can play the position at a high level — but he’s proven to be a woeful fit in Jack Del Rio’s zone scheme.
The Commanders coaches can’t go out there and execute the game plan themselves, but it’s more than fair to question why the front office signed a press-man corner to play a zone scheme. We’re only 15 games into Jackson’s Commanders career and his three-year, $40.5 million contract, which included $26 million guaranteed, is reaching disaster territory.
Is that more on the player or the front office?