Next Day Thread: Commanders Oil Up The Texans

[KDawg]

Another game, another win. This is becoming old hat... Am I right? No? Okay then.

 

Anyways, the offense was on the field for this one. Had some good drives, scored a touchdown. But overall the offense was fairly disappointing. This is a situation where you can look passed it a bit because of the way the game went, but when we are playing meaningful games against quality opponents the offense can't be as pedestrian as it was in this game. 

 

Terry McLaurin watch: Heading into today he was 13th all time in Washington Football Redskin Commander Team History with 3,827 yards. Today he added 55 yards bringing him to 3,882. #12 is Henry Ellard with 3930 (McLaurin is 49 yards away from passing him) and #11 is Michael Westbrook with 4,280. He's in range for both this year. On this season McLaurin has 46 receptions for 737 yards.

 

Brian Robinson is a hammer. Guy carries people for extra yards and his presence to be the pounding, bell cow back has allowed Antonio Gibson in a role that lets the team use him as they should: Fresh and dynamically. Both guys have a ton of value to this offense under Heinicke, as it's become clear the plan is to pass the ball when needed and for balance but otherwise pound the rock. 

 

The offensive line continues to be an issue for this team, but they are doing enough to give Gibson and Robinson just enough space to get positive yardage and Heinicke is slippery enough to not get sacked. But make no mistake, the line isn't playing great. But it could be worse. Much worse. Case in point: See the Texans.

 

Gibson is averaging 3.7 ypc and Robinson is averaging 3.4. And with how hard they've both been running it would be much worse if these guys weren't who they were. The OL needs to be fixed for this team to make a serious run into the playoffs in the next few seasons. Many think that will happen, I reserve the right to wait it out and see what happens. If it were easy no one would ever have a bad offensive line. 

 

But the thing we really need to talk about is the defense against Houston (and in general the last several weeks).

 

1. Houston was held to 2/13 on third down. (4/4 on fourth though).

 

2. The Texans had 5 yards at halftime and finished with 148 yards.

 

I'm not sold on Sweat, I know, I know. He had two sacks. He always seems to show up against the bad teams but against the teams we need the sacks against he is a step or two short. I think he has tons of talent and he is explosive, but I just want to see him convert in big moments in big games. But having said that, credit where it's due. Sweat had 2 sacks and 2 TFL.

 

But the most important part of this defense starts and ends in the interior of the defensive line. Our two best defensive players. Jon Allen and Daron Payne. Between them 3 sacks and 3 TFL. Every single week they dominate the interior of the line and it shows. John Ridgeway has been a good run stuffer when he isn't German Suplexing someone, as well. But man, that guy needs to play with a bit more sound judgement. There may not be a rule written that clearly states: "Thou shalt not take a running back to Suplex City" but I think that resides somewhere in the unnecessary roughness jurisdiction. 

 

Casey Toohill is quality depth and a good guy to get meaningful reps in meaningful games at DE. I feel similarly about James Smith-Williams. Though it looks like we are using Toohill as a 3-4 OLB type versus a true DE. I'm interested to see how Shaka Toney would do in that role as well. 

 

We also have ourselves a ballhawk in the secondary with Forrest at FS. Curl is Curl. He is a sure tackler, smart, a leader and all over the field. Forrest isn't in the right spot all the time, but he is around the ball most of the time and he tracks it very well. That combo at FS and SS together could be a combo that rises in "league safety rankings" very quickly. This is also where you hear this from me: As someone who hasn't been a big McCain fan at FS: I like him MUCH better at the LoS and able to use his football instincts. He is excellent in the nickel corner role and I'm glad we've found a fit. I wasn't big on Landon Collins until the move, either. McCain has a similar trajectory. I appreciate his value to the team in the current role. 

 

Kendall Fuller is a mixed bag but when he is good... he's real good. 

 

Jamin Davis was quieter today than he has been, but its nice to see him getting more confident. You can see it reflected in his play. 

 

Kudos to Del Rio and Turner for the adjustments they've made as well, and Rivera for getting and keeping this franchise on the same page.

 

Studs and Duds:

*** - Jon Allen

*** - Montez Sweat

*** - Daron Payne

** - Darrick Forrest

** - Kendall Fuller

* - Antonio Gibson

* - Brian Robinson

* - Scott Turner (wasn't going to give him one, but his gameplan's with Heinicke have been magic as well. So just to get him out of the negatives...)

* - Taylor Heinicke (same with Turner. Probably doesn't deserve a star here given the offensive performance but it's time to get him out of the negatives)

* - Bobby McCain (see the above)

 - Only one today... John Ridgeway. Dude. Really?

 

 

 

Season to date:

* x 13 - Terry McLaurin

* x 13 - Daron Payne

* x 12 - Jon Allen

* x 7 - Curtis Samuel

* x 6 - Benjamin St-Juste

* x 5 - Darrick Forrest

* x 6 - Jamin Davis

* x 5 - Jahan Dotson

* x 5  - Antonio Gibson

* x 3- Dyami Brown

* x 3 - Back Judge in Vikings Game

* x 2 - Kendall Fuller

* x 2 - Joey Slye

* x 5 - Montez Sweat

* x 2 - Jack Del Rio

* x 2 - Brian Robinson

* x 1 - Rachad Wildgoose

* x 1 - James Smith-Williams

 x 1 - Wes Schweitzer

 x 3 -Rivera's Clock Management

 x 3 - Cam Sims

 x 4 - John Ridgeway

 x 5 - Charles Leno

 x 5 - Trai Turner

 x 6 - Nick Martin

 x 6 - WJ3

 x 7 - Sam Cosmi

 x 8 - Andrew Norwell

 

 

[ColonialWBSkinsFan]

My observation:   It's certainly better to be AHEAD 20 to zip at halftime then to be behind 20 to zip.  So let's keep doing that...  😄

[Jabbyrwock]

13 minutes ago, KDawg said:

 

 - Only one today... John Ridgeway. Dude. Really?

 

[FootballZombie]

Ridgeway is really rackin' up those frowny faces despite his limited role lol.

 

Cheesman has wobbly the last couple weeks but it looks like he had a rebound game.

 

Gibby and B-Rob are monsters but w/ the loss of McK to IR I am terrified of the depth behind them. If this was last season Gibby would have died of abuse weeks ago. If we lose either of them our current offensive plan is done-zo. We are already handing out carries to Samuel Dot n Terry. We'd be forced to start running Bates off tackle.

 

 

 

Big props to Turner. Dude is out here playing with his poker cards backwards. There are only so many different ways you can run the ball, even worse when the opponent knows its coming, yet we still have an offense, even if its bad.

[zCommander]

Props to Curtis 

 

NFL Research: With his performance Sunday, Curtis Samuel is now one of four WRs in the Super Bowl era with 600-plus rush yards, six-plus rush TDs, 2,500-plus receiving yards and 15-plus receiving TDs in a career. The other players are Jerry Rice, Tyreek Hill and Eric Metcalf.

[Dan T.]

 

[No Nonsense]

The D has been lights out as of late. Easily one of the best in the league, but I’m still not sold on our offense. Eventually they’re going to have to be more efficient. Teams are going to stack the box and dare Heinicke to beat them. And for once, can Heinicke not make a head scratching throw that “should” be an INT? He’s not a rookie that was just living on his sister’s sofa anymore. He should be beyond those types of mistakes. 

[DJD2]

1 hour ago, KDawg said:

 

Jamin Davis was quieter today than he has been, but its nice to see him getting more confident. You can see it reflected in his play. 

 

 

 

I believe they said during the game he had the green dot. I don't recall that being the case previously.

[fearlessNelms]

Enjoyed watching a stress free, rocking chair win- we don't get those kinds of wins often. It Feels good to sit and watch a defense that you actually have confidence that they're going to get stops and create some turnovers. As for the offense, yes a bit stagnant, but Logan Thomas looks like he's getting stronger and is almost fully back from his injury- we're going to need him down the stretch. 

 

It's Thanksgiving and our season is alive and well! However, this Atlanta team we get this week makes me nervous and this Cordarelle Patterson is a big problem. We're going to get Atlanta's best shot on Sunday and this game is going to have a playoff feel.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

 

In case anyone missed it. Easy to see why both McLaurin and Allen were top priority extensions...

 

 

 

[method man]

2 hours ago, FootballZombie said:

Ridgeway is really rackin' up those frowny faces despite his limited role lol.

 

Cheesman has wobbly the last couple weeks but it looks like he had a rebound game.

 

Gibby and B-Rob are monsters but w/ the loss of McK to IR I am terrified of the depth behind them. If this was last season Gibby would have died of abuse weeks ago. If we lose either of them our current offensive plan is done-zo. We are already handing out carries to Samuel Dot n Terry. We'd be forced to start running Bates off tackle.

 

 

 

Big props to Turner. Dude is out here playing with his poker cards backwards. There are only so many different ways you can run the ball, even worse when the opponent knows its coming, yet we still have an offense, even if its bad.

 

Actually not super worried if BRob goes down if they are willing to give Jonathan Williams a bigger role. That guy has shown well with the limited reps he has gotten

[Always A Commander Never A Captain]

Nice to see Logan Thomas looking better. I wish Heinicke could figure out how Dotson operates better. I don't think he's used to how Dotson sits in zones yet, because it seems like he's got some open windows. I also wish we could figure out how to exploit tight 8 man boxes with play action or something. Too many plays where the Texans had 8 guys all within 3-4 yards of the LoS and all within the tackle box.

 

I am fully with KDawg on the offensive line. It's not a good unit. They're passable at best.

 

With the way McCain, Forrest, Curl, and Davis are playing, I don't really care about the 2nd linebacker. I have hopes we won't put Bostic/whoever in awkward situations on obvious passing plays when the game actually matters. Yet it was an ugly reminder of how part of our defense was gashed in the first part of this season.

 

We continue to rotate RT 50/50 between Lucas and Cosmi. I didn't realize Cole Turner was back! We ran a healthy amount of multiple TE sets. We need to figure out some passing concepts with multiple TE's when they are stacking the box tightly.

 

--------------------

On to Atlanta. I expect our defense to continue to play well enough to win, but the offense needs to put up some points. They score the 11th most points in the NFL. Even with our D slowing them down, the offense needs to get above 20. Their season low is 15 points (but that was with 2 failed PAT)'s. I think we can expect them to put up 17 or more. So our offense can't be as flat as it was against Houston.

 

 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

 

 

[Cooleyfan1993]

11 minutes ago, Califan007 The Constipated said:

 

 

This one older lady saw me wearing my commanders hoodie and hat at a restaurant in VA Wednesday night, and said “how about that game against the eagles!”. This guy probably a few years younger than me in bum**** nowhere Maryland (Oxford, Maryland, parents just moved into a rental house there last week) on Friday at chipotle said “how about the commanders, great win on Monday!”, and this lady later that night in a restaurant (again, still bum**** nowhere Maryland) said “great win by the commanders” 

 

it was quite odd, but nice, the number of people that said that to me in the past week. 

[KDawg]

My friends aren’t making fun of me. It’s tremendous. 

[Zim489]

The game itself was beyond boring to me. Houston is terrible. We can’t pass the ball. Scoring is very difficult for us 

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

5 minutes ago, Zim489 said:

The game itself was beyond boring to me. Houston is terrible. We can’t pass the ball. Scoring is very difficult for us 

You didn’t like watching the DL feast, or Fullers pick six?

 

I loathe the offense as much as anyone, but this defense has been fun to watch for several weeks now.  To say otherwise, I’d have to attribute to bitterness.  

[Renegade7]

20 minutes ago, Zim489 said:

The game itself was beyond boring to me. Houston is terrible. We can’t pass the ball. Scoring is very difficult for us 

 

"There's a pea under my stack of mattresses!!!" 😒

[Xameil]

1 hour ago, KDawg said:

My friends aren’t making fun of me. It’s tremendous. 

Just not to your face anyways

[XxSpearheadxX]

Thanks for your awesome write ups

[CommanderCarson]

Always love these posts and the effort that goes into them.

 

A couple of things for me. I dont at all disagree the offense needs to finish better than they did and that they could have played better and scored more points. But anyone with 2 eyes could see that game was over at half time. 20-0 is rare around these parts, no matter who we are playing or what their record is. And the offense was certainly part of the 20-0, Taylor made some excellent throws on the TD drive. He put them into position to score multiple other field goals and close out the game without so much as a sweat, which again is rare around here. To put it simply, Taylor and the offense aren’t flashy but there’s far too much talk on how the offense was awful yesterday. I don’t agree with that assessment. Had we lost that game in the exact same fashion, and anyone dared to point out we came back or only lost by 13, everyone would be quick to point out that the game was already over and in cruise control. That’s what happened yesterday.

 

Other thing for me is that this defense is becoming championship caliber before our very eyes. If you don’t enjoy watching them play then I feel very very sorry for you. They are EVERYWHERE, and you cannot block our front right now. It’s the type of defense that gives you a shot at legitimately contending. Window will legitimately be open next year if they can get slightly more reliable and expolosive on offense. 

Edited November 21, 2022 by CommanderCarson

[Ball Security]

2 hours ago, Always A Commander Never A Captain said:

Nice to see Logan Thomas looking better. I wish Heinicke could figure out how Dotson operates better. I don't think he's used to how Dotson sits in zones yet, because it seems like he's got some open windows. I also wish we could figure out how to exploit tight 8 man boxes with play action or something. Too many plays where the Texans had 8 guys all within 3-4 yards of the LoS and all within the tackle box.

 

I am fully with KDawg on the offensive line. It's not a good unit. They're passable at best.

 

With the way McCain, Forrest, Curl, and Davis are playing, I don't really care about the 2nd linebacker. I have hopes we won't put Bostic/whoever in awkward situations on obvious passing plays when the game actually matters. Yet it was an ugly reminder of how part of our defense was gashed in the first part of this season.

 

We continue to rotate RT 50/50 between Lucas and Cosmi. I didn't realize Cole Turner was back! We ran a healthy amount of multiple TE sets. We need to figure out some passing concepts with multiple TE's when they are stacking the box tightly.

 

--------------------

On to Atlanta. I expect our defense to continue to play well enough to win, but the offense needs to put up some points. They score the 11th most points in the NFL. Even with our D slowing them down, the offense needs to get above 20. Their season low is 15 points (but that was with 2 failed PAT)'s. I think we can expect them to put up 17 or more. So our offense can't be as flat as it was against Houston.

 

 

Hmm.  What if I told you that their offense has failed to score more than 21 points in six of their last 7 games? Under 20 points in four of those seven games.

[Warhead36]

I'd have liked to score more points as well, but I think once we went up 20-0 we kinda just figured the game was over as Houston is no threat to sustain offense over an entire half. Just be simple and get out of the game with the win in hand. Still, there were some sloppy plays once we got to the red zone that we'll need to clean up if we wanna beat teams that actually can score.

 

Defense was fantastic, but I'm a bit annoyed we didn't get the shutout. Still no shutout since 1991 and this was the prime game to snap that. I think Jon Allen was triggered by that too based on that post game speech. 

[goskins10]

I agree with most of your analysis. Just a couple comments: 

 

Surprised there was no mention of Logan Thomas having one of his best days as a professional. He had 5 recs on 6 targets for 65 yds and good for 3 first downs. Maybe not worth a smiley face since the the offense overall was pretty bad. But Thomas had a very good day. Definitely worth a shout out, at leastg for me. 

 

I think you are underestimating Sweats work to get pressures. I get he is not getting home as much as you liek fromythat position but he is doing very well with pressures and he is doing very well with run support. We have had a lot of issues with outside rushers allowing teams to run loose on us. But he is playing disciplined and staying in his lanes, at least most of the time. PFF is not the end all but they do have him listed as the #6 edge defender with a grade of 89.6. That's pretty strong. I could not find the pressures nubmers. I just think he is being a little bit over looked. Will be very interesting to see what happens when Chase Young comes back - for both players. 

 

Oline looked like they were taking a small step forward after the Philly game - thier 3rd in a row together. But they regressed today. Houston has a good DLine but it's nothing compared to Philly. They need to get better or the tea has gone as far as it is going. 

[Professor_Nutter_Butter]

Gonna leave this here since it relates to the Texans game. What a wild season it's been.