3 hurdles Commanders must clear to secure playoff place against the Falcons

The Commanders have the playoffs in sight.

Dan Quinn
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Commanders must force turnovers

It may seem odd to suggest that the Washington Commanders must win the turnover battle to beat the Atlanta Falcons with the primetime spotlight glaring. After all, they are coming off a game against a quality opponent in which they gave up the ball five times themselves and still managed a victory against all odds.

Every Commanders fan recognizes that is an anomaly. Teams don’t win games if they routinely turn the ball over. Only Washington and the Detroit Lions have won games after giving up five turnovers this season.

For a team in playoff contention, Atlanta turns the ball over a lot. The Seattle Seahawks are the only team with a winning record that has surrendered more turnovers this season. And they might not make the playoffs after surrendering their NFC West advantage to the Los Angeles Rams.

The Falcons have only played two games without a turnover in 2024. By comparison, Washington has played eight clean games. In four contests, Atlanta has given up the ball at least three times. They're hoping to improve these numbers without quarterback Kirk Cousins' erratic distribution.

Joe Whitt Jr. has done a fine job in returning the Commanders' defense to respectability in 2024. He took on an entirely new group of players and helped them get better as the campaign went on. His no-nonsense approach and strong leadership have gone over extremely well with players and fans alike.

The one area where he has not been able to get results is turnovers. Whitt built his defensive backfield into a big play machine during his stint with the Dallas Cowboys. That hasn’t happened in Washington yet.

With stud cornerback Marshon Lattimore looking iffy for this week after leaving Sunday's game with a hamstring issue, it may be unrealistic to expect a lot of big plays from the secondary. But they are facing a rookie quarterback making only his second career start. Interceptions and strip sacks could come into play.

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