Commanders look to clean up penalties, red-zone mistakes after gritty win over Giants

The Washington Commanders marched into the red zone six times during Sunday’s 21-18 victory against the New York Giants. And six times, coach Dan Quinn’s squad had to settle for a field goal.

As the Commanders celebrated their first win of the season, coaches and players said they’ll need to convert red-zone trips into touchdowns to have a shot at success this season.

It’s frustrating to “move the ball efficiently down the field and to go out there and leave points on the field,” rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels said. “Man, you know, we work so hard to get down there. We want a touchdown.”

Though he rushed for two touchdowns in the season opener, the first-year signal-caller has yet to score points through the air. His offense had several opportunities, but red zone mistakes made things difficult.

“We just got to stay locked in, especially in critical situations. Guys gotta be extra dialed in on what’s at stake. That’s it; just the level of focus got to be there,” running back Brian Robinson Jr. said. “We had a few that kind of cost us. … Multiple instances that came up that negated us in critical situations. We gotta be clean.”

The Commanders committed 10 penalties for 69 yards on Sunday, including five within 20 yards of paydirt. The Giants declined a sixth red-zone foul, a holding call against guard Sam Cosmi, in the third quarter.

But new kicker Austin Seibert made sure that each red-zone disappointment ended in three points.

Quinn noted that he doesn’t mind the holding calls — those show that his players are trying to remain competitive. It’s the pre-snap and post-play penalties — the false starts, illegal formations and unsportsmanlike conduct calls — that he wants to eliminate.

“We’re fortunate that we’re sitting here today talking about this many penalties and winning,” Quinn said Monday.

Despite the end-of-drive frustrations, Washington’s offense has been efficient — if a little static —  through the first two games with Daniels and new offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury. 

The rookie quarterback hasn’t thrown an interception, the running game hasn’t lost a fumble and punter Tress Way has only been called on once to boot the ball away.

Through two games, most of the Commanders’ pass plays result in one of two outcomes. Sometimes, Daniels’ passes come out quickly, in rhythm, close to the line of scrimmage. According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner has the quickest “time to throw” in the league and the second-lowest average depth of target as he feasts on screens and checkdowns to stay ahead of the chains.

But when Daniels doesn’t like his early reads, he tucks the ball and scrambles. While his dynamic legs have accounted for 10 first downs, Quinn said he’d like to see the rookie keep his eyes downfield for potential deep passes as he evades pressure.

“We had some ones down the field that we would have liked to see him take,” Quinn said. “Some of the ones, even on the scrambles, to remain a passer as you’re coming closer toward the line of scrimmage to throw it down the field.”

The Commanders will have an extra day of preparation this week before heading to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals on “Monday Night Football.” It will be the first taste of prime-time NFL action for Daniels and his fellow rookies, but that won’t change the pregame process.

“We want to make sure the process stays the same,” Quinn said. “If you can stay consistent in that preparation and all it takes to go into every single week, then what you can expect is better performances as you’re going.”