Washington Faces Pressure in Week Two, as NFC East Basement Hangs in Balance
Commanders face second straight NFC East opponent to start the season
Growing up, Dallas week was a different kind of week during the season. Whether the game was at RFK, Texas Stadium, FedEx or Jerry World, we spent most of the week wearing our Redskins gear to school and playing football at recess, each trying to impersonate our favorite Skins. The radio stations utilized a healthy dose of diesel truck horns and "Hail to the Redskins" music.
While those days of piling in the station wagon to and from school, church and practice during Dallas week came with extra excitement, the experience is just a little different today. I am as shocked as the rest of you that my Spotify algorithms haven't been feeding me the sweet musical stylings of Barnee Breeskin every hour on the hour.
We have to go out and meet our Dallas week coverage and prep, and when it comes in week two, I think it's at least a little fair that we are caught flat-footed--especially after traveling to Philadelphia in week one. Because of this, I want to do more nostalgic Dallas week coverage later in the season...how does week 18 sound?!?
Today, let's quickly retrace our very brief steps...and those taken by our opponent. We (the Commanders), fell short to the Eagles. Sure, we were in the game, and victory was available to us, but we did not win. Period. Winless on the year, winless in the conference and winless in the division. Reality bites.
Our opponent, the aforementioned team from Dallas (the team is from Dallas, but literally none of their fans are...wait, sorry, that's week 18 stuff), also took a loss, but I would argue it was a much worse display. They looked outmatched on defense...outmatched by the New York Giants. Their offense was anemic to say it best...against the New York Giants.
Listen, maybe the Giants are better than we give them credit for, but the overwhelming consensus has been that Dallas is a better team, with a more talented roster and a monster offense. Losing week one was not in the cards. This could be problematic if they "get right" against Washington, but it would be hard to imagine that Jayden Daniels wouldn't be able to at least match the ways Jaxson Dart was able to move the ball against the Cowboys defense.
On our side of the field, the defense looked improved...and I think that is putting it mildly. Our franchise quarterback is healthy and his receivers are as well. The offensive line played above expectations (which were admittedly low), and just about every new addition positively impacted play for us.
In other words, this ain't a week off for the Cowboys, y'all. (I say that because I have been toa few of those games where it kind of felt like it was.)
What I'm looking for:
1) Increased role/production from Jacory Croskey-Merritt: Bill ran hard last week, notching just less than 50% of the running back snaps. I would like to see that increase, and I would like to see those extra reps lead to the inevitable big play he is capable of dropping on us
2) Front seven pressure: Can we get to Dak and speed him up? Our front seven last week proved effective against Jalen Hurts, and based on what we saw in week one, the matchup is neutral to favorable for us this week. That said, it won't matter unless we...
3) Stop giving up the big plays: 70% of Hurts' passing yards came on three throws last week and that simply can't happen. We know our secondary got called out this week--and rightfully so. There is no break in the NFL--CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens are as good a wide receiver tandem as there is in the league. If our front seven is as impactful this week as they were last week, our secondary simply can not let them down by giving up multiple explosivge plays.
I'd also like to see our veterans...ahem...cough...local wide receiver talent...keep their heads about them and understand the situation we are in until the final whistle. This doesn't set up to be a blowout in either direction, so mental errors could easily swing the outcome.
Prediction: Commanders 31, Cowboys 19
Jayden Daniels had an absolutely blistering fourth quarter last week. A pair of touchdown passes highlighted his elevated play with the game on the line. I am suggesting that is where he picks up in week two. Daniels and David Blough are seven days more in sync, and everyone knows what happens when Terry McLaurin suits up against Dallas. My fellow Mustang Daronte Jones will build on his first effort of the year. He knows as well as any of us how important sacks, turnovers and 3rd down stops are against Dallas.
Hail!
