Commanders have a painfully obvious Week 3 danger staring them in the face

After letting Tucker Kraft have a Rob Gronkowski-esque performance in Week 2, the Washington Commanders are going to have to face off against another prolific tight end when the Las Vegas Raiders come to town.

In just his second year, Brock Bowers has already put himself among the top active tight ends in the league. He finished his rookie year with 112 catches for 1,194 receiving yards and five touchdowns, leading all players at the position in receptions and yards.

The pass-catcher continued to grow on last year's performance, finishing Week 1 with five receptions for 103 receiving yards. Bowers' numbers did fall off in Week 2, as he played through an injury, restricting him to five catches for just 38 yards.

Commanders must restrict Brock Bowers' influence to stand any chance of Week 3 success

Veteran quarterback Geno Smith had one of the worst games of his career, finishing with three interceptions and going 0-for-12 when throwing more than 10 yards downfield. He also only targeted Bowers, one of his best receiving options, once in the entire first half. That's not a formula for success.

If Washington's defense has a similar performance to Week 2, Smith won't have a problem moving the ball. The Commanders allowed Packers quarterback Jordan Love to complete 61.5 percent of his passes that went beyond 10 yards, which placed the NFL in the 99th percentile for average depth of target (ADot).

Bowers is an atypical tight end, which poses match-up challenges for defenses. In college, he lined up in the slot or as an outside receiver for more snaps than he did at an in-line tight end position. That diversity in his route running has continued with the Raiders.

Defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. called Bowers "a dynamic young tight end" and said you "have to almost treat him like a receiver." He's not wrong.

After watching Kraft torch the Commanders in Week 2, burning veteran linebacker Bobby Wagner for a 57-yard catch and later stiff-arming safety Will Harris on a 17-yard gain, Washington’s defense could be in for another tough test in Week 3. Seeing the Georgia product line up as a receiver might be even worse, given how Marshon Lattimore and Mike Sainristil have been struggling.

Kraft had a 12.3 yards after catch per reception average against the Commanders. Coming out of college, Bowers was known for his YAC ability. He maintained that consistency in his rookie year, leading all tight ends with 596 yards.

Washington’s run-defense issues also resurfaced at Lambeau Field. Bowers’ blocking ability could pose an additional challenge, potentially creating openings for rookie running back Ashton Jeanty, who’s gotten off to a slow start.

Commanders head coach Dan Quinn acknowledged the challenge those two players could pose in Week 3 when asked about what he thinks of the Raiders' offense.

"And [there's] a lot to like in terms of who they are, and certainly with the running back and the tight end, these are some really talented guys, you know who are young guys just kind of on their way up, so we’ll have our hands full."

Dan Quinn

The saving grace for Washington could be the fact that Bowers might be less in Week 3. He participated in a limited capacity this week in practice. He also missed time before the Week 2 match-up with the Los Angeles Chargers, wearing a knee brace throughout the contest.

With quarterback Jayden Daniels unavailable in Week 3, the Commanders’ margin for error shrinks considerably. This puts even more pressure on the defense to deliver.

Objective No. 1 will be to find a way to slow down Bowers.

More Commanders news and analysis