Commanders head coach Dan Quinn must fix one fatal flaw after Week 1 drubbing

The Dan Quinn era with the Washington Commanders got off to an inauspicious start with a 37-20 loss at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. There were several positives to take away from Jayden Daniels’ first game, but there were a lot more causes for concern.

The Commanders' offense consisted of little more than Daniels scrambling for much of the game. Washington has not solved its kicker problem. But most concerning of all, the biggest bugaboo from 2023 - their wretched third down defense - has yet to be corrected.

The Commanders' defense made a lot of big plays but consistently failed when it mattered most. And the results showed it.

They surrendered 37 points to an offense that averaged 20 last year. In 2023, the Buccaneers averaged 313 total yards per game. They racked up almost 400 in Week 1. Until a few kneeldowns at the end, Tampa Bay averaged 6.7 yards-per-play. Last year, they averaged 5.1.

All in all, it was a dismal defensive day.

Commanders' defense was abysmal on third downs in Week 1

It was most apparent on third down. Tampa Bay converted nine of 13 third downs. That is an astonishing number. Almost 70 percent. In 2023, the Commanders were the fifth-worst defense in the league on third down, allowing opponents to convert on about 42% of their tries. That was awful. And if I’m remembering my high school math correctly, 70% is a lot worse than 42%.

As it turns out, the very first third down set the tone. The Commanders were fortunate when Baker Mayfield overthrew an open receiver, but a hands-to-the-face call on Clelin Ferrell gave Tampa Bay a first down anyway. Washington let the quarterback stay on the field and he responded with the game’s first field goal.

They gave up another third-down conversion on the second drive when another penalty took the Buccaneers out of a third and 11 and gave them a third and six. Mike Evans beat Jeremy Chinn and Quan Martin on the ensuing play for another easy first.

It just kept happening all game. Mayfield scrambled away from a blitz to covert a third and seven with a throw to Chris Godwin on the next drive. The prolific pass-catchers also converted three more third downs, beating Emmanuel Forbes Jr. and Mike Sainsristil rather easily.

Forbes would commit not one, but two penalties on the next third down and set up another Tampa Bay touchdown. He was benched immediately after.

The Commanders finally stopped a third-down attempt with an all-out blitz that created their first sack of the game midway through the third quarter. That also led to Tampa Bay’s first and only punt of the clash.

Jalen McMillan burned Chinn and Sainristil for a 32-yard touchdown catch on a third and seven that effectively ended the game. And then, on Tampa Bay's final real drive, things became downright laughable.

Washington kept making good plays on early downs and dreadful ones on third down. They surrendered three more conversions, the last one being a touchdown to Evans. The first one, though, was the most egregious. On third and eighteen, Godwin took a little screen pass and blew past pretty much everyone on the Washington defense, including both linebackers, for a 24-yard gain.

Giving up a third down is demoralizing. It's tiring. It keeps your offense on the sidelines. It is the mark of poor defenses. Poor coverage. Poor tackling. Last season, Washington displayed all those tendencies and it cost defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio his job.

What was especially frustrating about this performance was that many of the new players - the ones who were brought in to correct this problem - were the main culprits. Bobby Wagner is still great in the trenches against the run but he is a liability in pass coverage. Frankie Luvu looked pretty much the same. Chinn and Sainristil, back-end players who were supposed to clean up breakdowns on third and long, failed repeatedly to do so.

Add to that the returning cornerbacks Forbes and Benjamin St-Juste, who were consistently beaten by Tampa Bay’s admittedly outstanding receivers when it mattered most, and it was a recipe for disaster.

It’s just one game. Quinn and Joe Whitt Jr. will certainly make adjustments to address this problem. But if they cannot fix it, it is going to very long season.

The Commanders made a lot of average offenses look like world-beaters last year. They made Mayfield look like an All-Pro to kick off the 2024 campaign - primarily because they simply could not get him off the field on third downs.

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