Hard lessons learned was Washington Commanders coach Dan Quinn’s reflection after losing 30-23 to the Baltimore Ravens that frankly wasn’t close.
Quinn didn’t disclose those lessons because it would be a gameplan for opponents to beat them. But, a few things are obvious about the 4-2 Commanders.
· They’re a good team. Just not a great team.
· The offense can compete with anyone.
· The defense is awful and banged up.
· Coaches need better in-game adjustments.
The Commanders gave the Ravens a good game. But, Baltimore’s experience in the NFL’s upper hierarchy was obvious in the second half. It was like, “Coach, we got this” as they hammered out a 10-point lead and then owned the Commanders in the fourth quarter with a time-consuming run game.
Baltimore is what Washington wants to be in a year or two. It’s just not where the Commanders are now. That said, they’re good enough to be a wild card. Beating bad teams on the schedule like the Carolina Panthers on Sunday and splitting with NFC East foes Philadelphia and Dallas should be enough.
No one will complain (well, outside Twitter) if Washington is even an early playoff out. Just getting there after 4-13 last season is a small miracle.
The offense will always give Washington a chance. Somehow, they crawled back into the Ravens game. Jayden Daniels is the quarterback everyone wants and it was finally Washington’s turn to find a franchise passer. But given no running game with Brian Robinson out with knee problems, Daniels was playing with one arm tied behind his back. OK, it was his left arm, but still a problem.
The defense has no pass rush so it has no pass defense. It’s that simple and frankly impossible to fix this season. Washington probably won’t look for a midseason trade given the cost of future draft capital. Trading away tackle Jon Allen for help now seems unlikely given a pec injury against the Ravens. Jamin Davis being inactive versus Baltimore shows the 2021 first-rounder isn’t salvageable.
The secondary has promising players in Mike Sainristil and Quan Martin, but Benjamin St-Juste is just picked on repeatedly. That cornerback Emmanuel Forbes was also a healthy scratch after playing four snaps the previous week means he’s another Ron Rivera first-rounder headed for the busted picks department. Give the secondary some time and it is a fair unit. Too bad that won’t happen often.
The coaching staff doesn’t seem to be helping much during games. The defense had no answers nor any new tricks. Just lining up four or five rushers with practically no success was ineffective. You’d think the Commanders would try something new?
Same goes for the offense as no running game and often playing behind should have found some new pass plays. Instead, jamming it to Terry McLaurin, Noah Brown and later Zac Ertz was too predictable versus a solid Ravens defense. Kliff Kingsbury is supposed to be an offensive wizard, but left his magic wand on one of those luxury busses the Commanders rented for the hour-long trip to Baltimore.
The season is only one-third done and for once isn’t already over for the Commanders like most years. But, improving over coming weeks will decide if the season blends into the postseason.