The Washington Commanders reached the NFC Championship game against all odds last season. There are still things head coach Dan Quinn needs to clean up before this surprising surge into Super Bowl contention becomes something more sustainable.
Quinn oversaw a sensational culture shift last season. The Commanders were more disciplined and competitive. They came through in crucial situations almost constantly. They were never out of the fight and displayed characteristics that were almost non-existent under previous coaching regimes.
It was the best start imaginable to this exciting new era. What's important for Quinn is rectifying some issues that held them back during a fairytale run.
One at the forefront of his mind was painfully obvious.
Commanders will turn over every stone to improve woeful run defense in 2025
Washington's run defense was nowhere near the level expected in 2024. They conceded almost 2,500 rushing yards throughout the campaign at 143.4 per game. Only the Carolina Panthers' historically bad defense was below them in this key category.
Quinn revealed that the Commanders will be turning over every stone to improve their fortunes against the run next time around. The personnel acquisitions made by Adam Peters this offseason leaned heavily into their run-stopping prowess in the defensive trenches. But make no mistake, the head coach wants this to be a collective effort towards improvement.
"Yeah, there's a lot of things that we want to get better at and that's our expectations. So, run defense was certainly part of that. I think you look at the whole, the full circle of it, what can we do better from a scheme standpoint? How do we position the players in the right spots to do that better? And so, we just want to take a different lens and a different view at everything and what did we do well and what do we need to work on? And so, that's what a lot of the time in the offseason is spent on, whether it's run defense or a certain part of all three phases. And we work really hard at that."Dan Quinn via Yahoo Sports
Nobody wants to get bowled over on running plays. The Commanders endured that all too often in 2024 and still managed to reach the final four. Just imagine what could be accomplished if they become more impactful at stopping opposing teams from gaining substantial yardage on the ground.
The additions of Javon Kinlaw and Deatrich Wise Jr. should help. Whether that's enough remains to be seen, but Quinn will stop at nothing to find the right formula.
Washington has raised expectations to meet moving forward. This sleeping giant woke much sooner than expected. They've gone from the hunter to the hunted in the blink of an eye. That brings a different kind of pressure — one that demands nothing but supreme execution in all phases.
If the Commanders can hold their own on running plays, which also includes preventing so many outside runs from going for lofty gains, they'll be in a good spot. The margins will get tighter, especially with the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles residing within their division, so there is a significant amount of hard work ahead.
Fans will be hoping for rapid growth. And Quinn is the right man for the job.
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