Key numbers from Week 7: Commanders dominate second half vs Packers

And just like that, the Washington Commanders’ season is off of life support. That’s what two consecutive wins can do for a team. No, this team isn’t going to blow people out, but that grittiness and tenacity to fight through the end of the game is something that you typically see in Ron Rivera-coached teams.

With two nail-biting wins in a row against the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers, the Commanders are back in business. Yes, they are still last in a surprisingly competitive NFC East, but they aren’t far out from the last wild card spot. And with how this season has gone thus far, could we ask for much more?

After a very ugly start in front of a Packer-heavy crowd at FedEx Field, this one looked like it would be over early. But, the Commanders embraced the underdog mentality that their back-up quarterback, Taylor Heinicke epitomizes so well and grinded it out.

After falling behind14-3, Washington scored 20 straight points as the defense stifled Aaron Rodgers. However, three penalties by the Commanders’ defense allowed the Packers to pull within two points.

After pulling within two points, Washington got the ball back and Heinicke was able to find Terry McLaurin for a first down….with his eyes closed.

However, Washington was unable to fully run out the clock and gave Rodgers the ball back with 23 seconds left. Although he hit Sammy Watkins for a big gain, the Packers didn’t have enough time for another play to get into field goal range, and their last-second lateral extravaganza fell short.

It wasn’t pretty, but it was a W.  Heinicke’s post-game quote on his doubters could very well represent how this entire team feels right now.

Let’s take a look at the Week 7 numbers from the Commanders’ 23-21 win over the Packers.

The Good: The Commanders’ defense continues to thrive

70%: After starting 1/7 for 14 yards, a pick-6, and two other near interceptions, Heinicke turned it around and settled in. He went 19/26 (70% completion percentage) for 187 yards and two touchdowns after his pick-6 put the Packers up 14-3 early in the second quarter.

1: The offensive line and Heinicke’s ability to move around the pocket led to only 1 sack the entire game. Washington came into the game allowing the most sacks per game, 3.8, so this was a major improvement.

370: The Commanders’ defense held the Packers to 0-for-6 on third downs. It was the first time in 370 games that the Packers were unable to convert on third down. To put that into perspective, Heinicke, who used to watch Packers games growing up, was six-years-old, the last time this happened. Sam Howell, Jahan Dotson and a few other players weren’t even born at the time. That’s a major accomplishment for Washington’s defense.

14:14: Washington controlled the time of possession in this game, holding the ball for 14:14 longer than the Packers, almost a full quarter longer.

194: Washington held Aaron Rodgers to his lowest passing total of the season at 194 yards.

4.4: The Commanders are figuring out the cadence of using Brian Robinson and Antonio Gibson. The duo averaged 4.4 yards per carry with Gibson adding a sweet receiving touchdown in the back of the end zone.

19.8%: On the 37-yard touchdown from Heinicke to Terry McLaurin, the completion probability was 19.8% and Scary Terry still came down with the pass. Since 2019, he is tied for the most receptions with passes that had a completion probability of 25% or less. This not only shows the level of QB play McLaurin has been dealing with but shows his level of effort to come to the ball, which he displayed throughout the game against the Packers.

The Bad: Penalties and early mistakes continue to plague the Commanders

0: After starting 1-for-7 with a pick-6, Heinicke had a 0.0 passer rating. Although he turned it around, there were a lot of risky throws that could have gone either way but bounced in the Commanders’ favor.

7: Washington is one of the most penalized teams in the NFL, giving up the fifth-most penalty yards in the league while having the 9th most penalty calls. Washington had 7 penalties against the Packers, including 3 on the drive that allowed Green Bay to cut the lead to 2. Two of those penalties on that drive occurred on third downs, keeping the drive alive.

47: Joey Slye missed a 47-yarder and has now missed field goals in two straight games along with a missed PAT this season for Washington. Last season, Washington cut Dustin Hopkins after he went 12-for-14 on field goals with 2 PAT misses.

On the same drive that Slye missed the field goal, Washington was bailed out by an illegal contact penalty on a Heinicke fumble that was returned for a touchdown. That would have put the Packers up 21-10.

21: On Washington’s first three drives, they ran 12 plays and only gained 21 yards. They did get good field position after the special teams unit recovered a muffed punt for the second week in a row.

28.57%: Over their last three games, Washington’s red zone scoring percentage (TDs) is 28.57%, which is third worst in the NFL, behind only Denver and Chicago. Not the best company to be in. Washington got into the red zone four times, but only scored a touchdown once. Scott Turner needs to improve the red zone offense or Washington won’t be able to keep up with higher-scoring opponents.

1: Washington is tied for the NFL-lead in QB hits but only had 1 QB hit and 0 sacks against the Packers, despite Aaron Rodgers playing behind a subpar offensive line.

The Commanders will be taking on the Colts next week in what should have been a rivalry game for Carson Wentz. The ironic part is Wentz is injured and his replacement for the Colts, Matt Ryan, has been benched.

Washington will look to continue their mid-to-late season success under Rivera as the team heads into November. During Rivera’s tenure in the nation’s capital, the team has gone 8-3 in games between November and mid-December. Will that success continue this year?