4 fatal flaws the Commanders must rectify during their 2024 bye week

Commanders' over-reliance on Terry McLaurin

A smart adjustment from Kliff Kingsbury helped Pro Bowl wide receiver Terry McLaurin get back on track after some worryingly quiet outings versus the Tennessee Titans last time out. Most notably, his anonymous performance at the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday Night Football.

Kingsbury's movement plan re-established the McLaurin and Jayden Daniels connection with a vengeance against the Titans. They combined for two touchdowns. While the positive output was welcome, some gaudy numbers only underlined how often Daniels looks McLaurin's way.

Putting together four 1,000-yard receiving seasons out of five meant McLaurin was destined to be Daniels' go-to guy. The problem is every team on the Washington Commanders' schedule knows the same thing.

Opponents like the Eagles made Daniels look ordinary by rolling double teams toward McLaurin post-snap. Keeping No. 17 on the move made a difference last week, but Kingsbury can't rest on his laurels in pursuit of maintaining offensive efficiency.

Instead, the man with the play sheet needs to make more use of McLaurin from the slot, where he could feast every week. Hiding the playmaker in bunch formations more often would also help.

What would help even more is finding another receiver Daniels can turn to whenever the former third-round pick out of Ohio State is bracketed. There aren't any obvious candidates. Not when prolific pass-catcher out of the backfield Austin Ekeler is dealing with a serious concussion that's landed him on injured reserve.

Ekeler's absence makes it more difficult for the Commanders to compensate for the lack of quality wideouts beyond McLaurin. Established pros Noah Brown and Olamide Zaccheaus have been inconsistent. Third-round rookie Luke McCaffrey is still developing his game and being used sparingly by Kingsbury.

One member of this trio must step up, or else Dyami Brown needs to finally deliver. Looking at his career trajectory since entering the league, that seems highly unlikely.

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