Late in the third quarter of Sunday’s game, the Commanders called a blitz, opting to forgo zone coverage on the back end to stay aggressive and knock back the Lions. Washington’s two linebackers moved up to the line, leaving the secondary with four defenders to match with Detroit’s receivers and running back.
Who’s to blame for the Commanders’ defense? There are plenty of culprits.
Had it worked as the Commanders envisioned, their defense would have grabbed an interception or held the Lions to minimal yards. But the blitz failed because someone failed to do his job, Coach Ron Rivera said Monday, ensuring Washington would leave with a loss.
Lions running back D’Andre Swift fell down after catching a short screen pass, but he quickly stood to find not a Commanders defender in sight. So he wove his way toward the end zone, evading at least two tackles before trotting in for the score.
One mistake led to more mistakes and proved costly — the summation of Washington’s play in a 36-27 loss to the Detroit Lions. The list of reasons for the debacle is long and warrants blame from all facets. But after watching the film, Rivera cast most of it on one basic premise: failure to do a job.
The Commanders’ defense allowed six plays of 20 yards or more, including three that spanned at least 49 yards. The run defense was gashed for 191 yards, special teams allowed a 52-yard punt return and a 33-yard kickoff return, and the Lions collected big play after big play. Swift’s touchdown was among them — 22 yards on a “hot” route — a preplanned option route the Lions used because quarterback Jared Goff predicted the blitz.
“Those plays should have been kept to a minimal gain, and because we were out of position, they were able to exploit it,” Rivera said.
But unfortunately for the Commanders, those same plays, those same mistakes, keep cropping up on defense. Dating back to 2020, when Washington had a top-ranked defense in most statistical categories, the team has struggled to eliminate the chunk plays.
“Because it’s an individual,” Rivera said. “… It’s not a group. It’s not schematics. It is a failure to put ourselves in position to force things to happen.”
After the game, Rivera made a point to emphasize that everyone — players and coaches on offense, defense and special teams — was at fault for the loss.
Safety Darrick Forrest indicated the defense had been predictable, telling reporters he felt as if the Lions knew what was coming. Which they did, at least to a certain degree.
In the first quarter, Goff turned to Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown on a play that reportedly wasn’t even designed for him. According to MLive.com, wide receiver Josh Reynolds was the intended target throughout practice last week, but Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson anticipated a coverage bust by Washington on the bunch play.
“We screwed up a coverage there,” Rivera said.
About Swift’s 50-yard rushing attempt in the first quarter, the coach added: “It was a bunch formation on their first long run. We misfit the gap, we got scooped, we didn’t fall back. We didn’t get over the top. and he was off to the races. … That’s the hard part for us as players and coaches is that you look at it and you can sit there and say, ‘Man, we could have held those to a minimum.’”
Rivera indicated that the defense made mistakes at every level on the play: A defensive lineman was knocked out of his gap, a linebacker didn’t fall back as he was supposed to, and a safety failed to get his spot.
Speaking Monday, defensive tackle Jonathan Allen declined to point fingers, saying (often) that he had to watch the tape first and adding that the Lions “get paid, too.”
Asked whether he agreed with Forrest’s comment about the defense being predictable, Allen said “not really,” then added: “We’ve got to execute. I’m not a fan of putting a lot of things on the coaches. At the end of the day, we’re players, and we’ve got to be the ones executing. I could’ve been better and will do better myself.”
Rivera avoided assigning blame publicly for the myriad mistakes. He said his team “missed some opportunities to make plays.” When asked why the mistakes continually happen, the coach seemed as frustrated as the rest in trying to find an answer.
“Sometimes just through the heat of the battle, certain things happen during a play, and sometimes it’s just being a step late or going too quickly,” he said. “. . . To me, it goes back to those six explosive plays, which, in each and every case, if we had done certain things, even if we might have called something differently, those six plays I don’t think would’ve hurt us as badly as they did.”
The Commanders will shift focus to Philadelphia this week with the hope of a different outcome. But the challenge may be even greater. The Eagles rushed for the third-most yards of any team in Week 1, and Washington’s lines are getting thinner by the week.
The offensive line that struggled mightily in the first half in Detroit will be without center Chase Roullier, who suffered a knee injury Sunday and is expected to miss a fair amount of time, possibly the rest of the season. Rivera said Wes Schweitzer, who also has been dealing with an injury, will be bumped up to start; Wes Martin will be his backup, and Saahdiq Charles will be the emergency option.
On the other side, Washington lost defensive tackle Daniel Wise to an ankle injury Sunday and defensive end Casey Toohill to a concussion. Allen has been nursing a groin injury and, in light of the injuries, had to take on a greater load against the Lions. To add depth, Washington claimed defensive tackle John Ridgeway, a fifth-round pick by the Cowboys in this year’s draft, off waivers Monday.
Source: WP
