On the back of Austin Seibert's franchise record seven field goals against the New York Giants, the Washington Commanders improved to 1-1 on the season and 1-0 in the division. Despite the outcome of the game, a lot of fans are not convinced that they look the part of a winning football club.
And for good reason.
With six trips into the red zone, they did not score a touchdown. To add insult to injury, the defense continued to show signs of struggle against Daniel Jones, Terry McLaurin has under 40 receiving yards combined, and the formerly imposing defensive tackle duo of Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne haven't been consistent enough.
Although the Cincinnati Bengals sit at 0-2 going into the matchup, don't let that fool you. They lost in Week 1 by less than a touchdown to the New England Patriots and then by one point last weekend at the Kansas City Chiefs.
To make matters even worse for the Commanders, stud wide receiver Tee Higgins is returning for Monday Night Football. With the state of the secondary and Washington's lack of pass rush, Joe Burrow can carve up the Washington defense.
A tough challenge awaits. With this in mind, here are three changes Washington's coaching staff must consider in Week 3.
Changes the Commanders' coaching staff must consider in Week 3
Open things up for Jayden Daniels
The New York Giants are not going to be a good team this year. Daniel Jones is likely not their preferred long-term solution at quarterback. Yet, for some reason, the Commanders, though they didn't lose and he didn't put up extraordinary numbers, once again managed to make the signal-caller look better than he was.
Coming on the heels of Baker Mayfield's four-touchdown performance in Week 1, the Commanders simply don't have the fearsome defense many were hoping for when they went out and added key guys like Frankie Luvu, Bobby Wagner, Jeremy Chinn, and Mike Sainristil. The other side of the ball needs to step it up and start putting touchdowns on the board.
In a game that could have a lot of points put up by Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati offense, there's a chance that Washington will simply have to keep up with them. For Jayden Daniels' potential to be achieved, there is going to come a time and a game when the Commanders have to let him loose.
Sooner or later the Commanders are going to have to give it a go and see how the rookie responds. It should be this week.
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.
Commanders must improve discipline
With the red zone woes the Washington Commanders have faced this season, a lot of that can be traced back to the discipline of the offensive line. They got away with it versus the lowly New York Giants, but that won't be the case against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The five false start penalties were drive-killers that should have unquestionably lost them the game. The penalties could have potentially erased 15 points off the board. Without those, the contest is nowhere near as close as it wound up being and the Commanders would have been able to leave the stadium with much more confidence.
This one is on the coaches. There is no excuse for that to keep happening. But it could be a silver lining because now fans everywhere will get to see how this team responds to Dan Quinn and company when he gets on them.
The future of the Commanders could hinge on Quinn and the players' reactions to him. If this problem disappears, it will be a fabulous sight.
The Commanders can't always count on their kicker going 7-for-7 on field goals. But as team leader Jonathan Allen has stated on several occasions, it's better to learn a lesson in victory than through defeat. Good teams do that. Washington is far from a good team yet. A lot of that has to do with the offensive struggles in the red zone.
For a team that ranks No. 10 in the league in yards-per-game after two weeks, and for a team that is struggling - it's the discipline that could eventually help the Commanders receive one of those final playoff spots in the NFC this year and give Jayden Daniels the type of confidence to take this organization where it wants to go.
If something doesn't change up front on the line, the Commanders won't have a shot at achieving any of their 2024 goals.