Key numbers from Commanders' walk-off victory against NY Giants in Week 2

After struggling to find a dependable option all offseason and having Cade York stink it up en route to getting cut in Week 1, it was fitting that the Washington Commanders new kicker, Austin Seibert, played hero in their home opening victory against the New York Giants.

Seibert made a 30-yarder as time expired to give Washington a 21-18 triumph, adding to his busy day where he set a single-game franchise record with seven field goals. And he got a hero's recognition for his work, getting lifted by his teammates amid jubilant scenes across Northwest Stadium.

Adding to the special teams' irony was the fact that the Giants, who have had a solid kicker for years in Graham Gano, found themselves kickerless after the veteran was injured on the opening kick-off.

This forced New York to go for it on 4th-and-4 from the Commanders 22-yard line with just over two minutes remaining. Instead of potentially taking a three-point lead, the Giants turned it over on downs after their sure-handed rookie, Malik Nabers, failed to bring in a wide-open pass.

The Commanders' defense caught a break, and Washington was in a position to put the game away. The offense delivered, doing what they did best all game, driving down the field and settling for a field goal.

Yes, the red zone offense is a mess. But all jokes aside, a win is a win.

At 1-1, the odds of making the playoffs (46 percent) are much higher than at 0-2 (6%), as mentioned by commentator Chris Myers during the game (cue Jim Mora's infamous playoffs speech).

This team has a lot of issues to clean up before it can be considered a playoff contender, but starting 1-0 in the NFC East is not a bad foundation to build from. Let's take a look at the key numbers from the Week 2 win against the Giants.

Key numbers from Commanders' Week 2 win over the Giants

52: The Brian Robinson-Austin Ekeler two-headed monster is a problem for defenses. The duo combined for 52 percent of Washington's offense, with 221 total yards.

Robinson finished the game with a career-high 133 yards rushing (with a commanding 7.8 yards/carry), adding in a three-yard reception. Ekeler, whose 98-yard game-opening kickoff return was nullified by a penalty, finished with 38 rushing yards while adding three receptions for 47 yards.

18.7: The Commanders have missed a deep presence among their receivers and as predicted, Noah Brown helped fill that gap, averaging 18.7 yards per catch. Two of his three receptions went for first downs, with the last reception getting Washington into Giants territory on the game-winning drive.

Brown was also open for a touchdown early in the game. Unfortunately, rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels didn't have enough time to find the receiver.

Giants'69: The Commanders had 10 penalties for 69 yards in the game, which has been an issue that plagued the team throughout Ron Rivera's tenure as well. Nick Bellore, who was brought up from the practice squad, had a holding penalty that nullified Ekeler's 98-yard opening kickoff return, followed by a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

The team also had five false start penalties in the red zone. This led to the team's inability to punch it into the end zone.

0: The Commanders got into the red zone six times (not including the game-winning drive) and ended each of those drives with a field goal.

During those six drives, once Washington got inside the 20, they effectively had 0 net yards. The team had 37 rushing yards and zero passing yards, as Daniels went 0-for-4 in the red zone. Washington also lost 12 yards on three sacks and had five penalties for 25 yards.

It is rare to go 0-for-6 in the red zone and come out on top. The Commanders need to get that cleaned up, or it will come back to haunt them throughout the season.

3: After having 16 rushing attempts in Week 1, Daniels cut down his attempts to 10 against the Giants. He had three straight scrambles midway through the second quarter, getting briefly knocked out of the game on the third attempt. After returning, he played a smarter game, sticking in the pocket and only attempting three scrambles through the remainder of the contest.

Daniels finished with 44 rushing yards but needs to do a better job of protecting himself. Outside of his rushing attempts, the signal-caller was also sacked five times and suffered seven quarterback hits. Having their potential star quarterback knocked out of his second career game, albeit for just one play, should give Dan Quinn and Kliff Kingsbury pause.

8: The big play counter is back.

The Commanders' defense gave up eight big plays (passes of 15+ yards/runs of 10+ yards) against the Giants. They had runs of 11, 15, 18, and 22 yards and passes of 19, 21, 25, and 28 yards. These eight plays accounted for over 52 percent of their total offense.

Malik Nabers had a field day, finishing with 10 receptions for 127 receiving yards and a touchdown. Devin Singletary added 95 rushing yards and one score after finishing Week 1 with just 37 rushing yards against the Minnesota Vikings.

There were a few bright spots on defense, with Frankie Luvu and Bobby Wagner leading the team in tackles and making plays across the field. Benjamin St-Juste also had three passes defended, which was much needed while the team figured out what to do in the secondary. The much-heralded defensive line continues to disappoint with only two sacks across two games, both courtesy of free-agent signing Clelin Ferrell.

66%: After only throwing two passes over 10 yards past the line of scrimmage in Week 1, Daniels finished 6-for-9 (66.66%) on passes over this total in Week, per Next Gen Stats. Zach Ertz, who has become his favorite intermediate to deep target, finished as the Commanders' leading receiver with four receptions for 62 yards.

Daniels did finish with 3.2 completed air yards per pass, which was double last week's total of 1.6. Although it is still among the lowest in the league, it looks like Kingsbury is opening up more of his offense.

With match-ups coming up against the Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals, the Commanders need to solve their red zone issues, find a way to cut down on penalties and find reinforcements on defense, or they could quickly be looking at a 1-3 start.

But for now, let's relish in Quinn and Daniels' first victory as Commanders.

More Commanders news and analysis