The Washington Commanders entered the season with high hopes defensively, coming off a strong 2022 campaign and starting six first-round draft picks on that side of the ball. Instead of taking a step forward into playoff contention, though, the group has leapt backward, undone by a handful of big mistakes.
Opposing teams have logged 44 plays of 20 or more yards against Washington this year. That’s the third-worst number in the league, behind only the Steelers and the Bengals. The Steelers have made up for it with takeaways that give their offense the ball back, while the Bengals are somewhat surprisingly on the outside of the playoff picture right now.
Take out even a few of those plays, and it’s a different story for coach Ron Rivera and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio.
“I’ve been disappointed,” Rivera said. “I mean, it happens. And it’s unfortunate that we’ve given up the amount we have.”
Washington’s defense was about league average in big plays allowed in 2021 and 2022, and was near the front of the line in the 2020 playoff season. Why the regression this year?
“Just have to execute better,” defensive end Casey Toohill said. “I think it’s pretty simple, honestly. I mean, big plays happen when you don’t do the right thing. And obviously, other teams have good players, so I think we just need to try to cut down on the mistakes, and that should help.”
The big plays arrived at bad times on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks, with two of them in the fourth quarter.
This week brings even more urgency to shore up the defense, as the New York Giants logged seven explosive plays against the Commanders during the first meeting of the teams.
With Rivera in his fourth year as coach, and Del Rio having been with him all four seasons, the regression has been puzzling and concerning in a season where Washington looked to take a step into playoff contention.
“The one we gave up (against Seattle) was just everybody hunting to the ball,” cornerback Kendall Fuller said. “We’ve got to take it upon ourselves and be more urgent when plays get dropped down like that. Come up and make a tackle and get on to the next play.”
One of the tough realities of big plays is they often involve breakdowns at all three levels of the defense.
On a rushing play, if the back gets through the defensive line, the linebackers also have to be out of position, and then usually a defensive back misses a tackle as well.
For passing plays, the line doesn’t get pressure on the quarterback, and the defensive backs are caught out of position downfield.
“Just communication before the play, before the snap, to make sure everybody’s on the same page,” safety Kam Curl said. “Today everybody’s getting the reps — mental reps, physical reps — so come Sunday everybody knows what’s going on, what’s asked of them.”
Rivera said preventing big plays comes down to all 11 players doing their job defensively.
“I think the biggest thing is the constant emphasis on doing your job and doing the things you need to do,” Rivera said. “Whether you’re defensive back and staying up over the top to keep it in front of you upfront, it’s being gap-disciplined and controlling the point of attack.”
Updates: Rivera said “there is concern” with an injury to defensive end James Smith-Williams, who missed practice and is listed as having a hamstring injury. … Cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr. said he hasn’t received any follow-up communication from the league about his ejection on Sunday, but that his coaches told him they understand he was trying to make a play on the ball and that his helmet-to-helmet hit wasn’t malicious.
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