3 players the Commanders must keep quiet vs. Bills in Week 3
By James Dudko
Commanders OL must contain Leonard Floyd
Washington Commanders' offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy would be wise to give left tackle Charles Leno Jr. some help against Buffalo Bills' edge-rusher Leonard Floyd. The offensive lineman struggled mightily against Randy Gregory last week, with the outside linebacker recording a sack, one pressure, another quarterback hit, and two tackles for loss.
Floyd could take over this game in the same way. He's already logged 1.5 sacks this season and still knows how to collapse the edge.
What the Commanders need is a plan for slowing Floyd down in obvious passing situations. The scheme needn't be too complicated. It's simply a matter of chipping the pass-rusher on the outside.
Where things get tricky is with Antonio Gibson. The running back most likely to be on the field for Bieniemy's offense on third downs isn't much of a blocker.
Gibson's shortcomings should prompt Bieniemy to keep a tight end over Floyd and take away the Bills' best means of creating outside pressure on quarterback Sam Howell. He'll have enough to deal with trying to avoid underrated defensive tackles Ed Oliver and Jordan Phillips.
If the Bills are allowed to collapse the pocket from every angle, Howell will taste his first defeat as a pro.
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