The Commanders’ secondary was a weakness last year, and got a little vitriol after Week 1’s loss in Tampa Bay, but over the last two games especially, the defense has buckled down and allowed the offense to end up blowing out back to back opponents.
Benjamin St-Juste has been thrust into the role of No. 1 corner this year and has been the best outside corner, so it seems like it’s all starting to come together – and of course, the front seven getting to Deshaun Watson and sacking him seven times in the win over Cleveland helps, too.
“We still got a lot of work to do, but we definitely feel great; I feel like we see improvement every week, and that comes from the work that we put in during the week, and then once we press on the pedal and we start seeing a few turnovers and we start playing well,” St-Juste told Grant Paulsen after Sunday’s win. “When we came back out at halftime, the job was not finished. Everyone’s mind was on, ‘let’s take them out of their misery,’ you know? Let's keep pushing, keep sacking him, keep getting more turnovers and keep getting off on third down, because sometimes you can see the mindset shift…but we’re foot on the gas all the way until the playoffs.”
GP called it a ‘blood in the water game’ against Watson, and based off some new info, you could definitely call these guys sharks.
“It’s the kind of culture that we're trying to cultivate. Ever since the new staff got here, it’s kike, who’s gonna make the most plays? We have a competition on who's gonna make the most plays and we got points for it,” St-Juste revealed. “Our mantra is the ball is life, so we kind of feel the blood in the water, and we’re hunting for the ball, for the interception, for the tackle. The first person to get the ball gets the points, so that's the kind of mentality we have right now as a defense.”
St-Juste himself had a big pass breakup to earn some points, and five weeks into the season, thanks in part to that front seven, the guys who were the weak link in the chain are strengthening up back there.
“If we give the D-line at least three seconds just to cover up some run and after that they can do their thing, then once they start getting the sacks, they're going to try to change up a little bit of their route, so you just got to stay on top, make sure they don't get a chance to get some explosive plays,” St-Juste said. “Once an offense knows that they can't get any explosive plays, it's demoralizing, because now they got to run the ball, nickel and dime it here and there, and then next thing you know, it’s third down, and boom, we sack ‘em off the field. If the offense can't get any explosive plays, they can't put points on the board.”
One other thing that has been huge? The Commanders have won time of possession in all four of their wins, and as you can guess, less time on the field means less wear and tear, which means a more explosive D.
“We're fresher, and it makes it easier because the more points we score, the less momentum the other team has. Like, any time we take them out on third down or get sack or a turnover and then we score, the other team has to climb out of a hole, and at some point, they tap out and it’s over,” St-Juste said. “That’s what’s new this year – we actually have an offense that can go out there and put teams out the way, and then the defense just finishes it off. Every week is a new opponent, but we’re going to keep the formula that’s working, and we're gonna keep increasing the intensity and the attention to detail. We can’t be too content until we’re at the final goal.”