What happened to the Washington Commanders Sunday in Detroit? Washington was looking for a 2-0 start for the first time since the 2011 season under Mike Shanahan, but Ron Rivera's team fell completely flat on their face in the first half and was down 22-0 at halftime.
Former NFL head coach (and current Los Angeles Rams consultant) Jay Gruden joined Russell & Medhurst for his weekly appearance to explain what went wrong for the Commanders, the play of the offense, the play of rookie WR Jahan Dotson, the coaching decision to go for two, the mentality of the team going forward, and more from Week 2 of the NFL.
How much was the game all about the Lions' ability to get pressure on Commanders QB Carson Wentz, Pete Medhurst asked?
"Yeah, when you look around the league at quarterbacks that struggle it's usually it's because it's pressure related," Gruden told The Team 980. "The best will struggle if you don't get the guys blocked. And that's why you preach in the offseason and during the draft, 'we gotta protect our quarterback, we gotta get after theirs.' That's the number one thing in pro football.
"And Detroit got after Wentz and Washington didn't get after Goff in the first half and the lead was too great to overcome."
What could offensive coordinator Scott Turner and the Commanders have done differently to gameplan against the Lions' pass rush?
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"I think the most important thing is to change the launch spot of the quarterback," Gruden answered. "Sometimes it's quick game, sometimes its play action game, sometimes it's boot game to get him outside the pocket, you know, off the run fake. And if you're not running the ball effectively, though, then you're stuck in 2nd-and-long and you lose some of those options.
"But the most important thing is get more productive on first down, get the quarterback outside the pocket, get the ball out of his hands, try to keep yourself in 2nd-and-medium, 2nd-and-short, that really limits Detroit's ability to rush the passer, stick their hand in the ground like on 3rd-and-8 when they know its a pass."
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