3 changes the Commanders' coaching staff must consider in Week 3 at Bengals

Commanders must alter pressure schemes

The Washington Commanders are one of three teams in the league with under three sacks. The pass-rushing unit was likely going to take some time to build after trading Montez Sweat and Chase Young. But this is probably worth a little more concern than most people are giving to it.

If you take away the fact that Clelin Ferrell, who is unfortunately missing the Week 3 game through injury, has both of the team's sacks, that means nobody else on the roster has registered one yet. Teams know the Commanders do not have serious weapons on the edge, and so they are making life miserable for the interior linemen Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne. Both players are getting double-teamed pretty often, sometimes on the same plays.

Teams are going to continue with this strategy. New defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. needs to start getting a little creative. Whether that's bringing Jeremy Chinn down into the box so that he can play to his strengths, moving Allen outside on occasion as an edge, or giving Jamin Davis more reps, the Commanders have options to solve this complex riddle.

With the secondary struggling, this is where things get shaky. But football is a gamble a lot of the time. If the Commanders can start to generate pressure on the quarterback, that should ease up the stress and tension on the rest of the defense.

If they can't, Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals get back on track with their first win of the 2024 season.

Whitt was brought into the fold to fix the worst defense in the league. Truth be told, he hasn't lived up to his word yet. We will see if that changes soon, but there is a high probability that the change begins with him putting his guys into positions where they can sack the quarterback.