The Washington Commanders were underdogs in the season-opener on the road in Tampa against a playoff team from last year, but after the 37-20 beating, former Redskins head coach Jay Gruden said he was "surprised" with how one-sided the game was.
"I thought Washington's defense might play a little bit better than that," Gruden told Chris Russell on Monday. "I thought they would have a little bit of trouble on the outside with their corners. [Emmanuel] Forbes still struggling a little bit. [Benjamin] St-Juste had some good coverage, but Mike Evans made some very [good] contested catches in the end zone, those were two good coverages, but two great throws and catches. Didn't get a lot of pass rush, which is disappointing
"Defensively, I'm more concerned than offense. I just don't know where they're gonna find their answers at as far as rushing the passer and covering guys."
Gulp. That's not the kind of analysis you want to hear after 60 minutes of football. But that is just that: 60 minutes out of a guaranteed 1,020 minutes played over the course of the next 117 days, there is still time for Dan Quinn and the defensive staff to find an answer.
Russell counters on the pass rush point, by noting that in the games first three quarters there was a bit of heat on Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – who was sacked once and hit four times – but that the pressure didn't generate game-changing plays, or even drive-killing ones as Tampa scored on seven of their eight possessions on Sunday.
"Yeah, that's a problem," Gruden said about the pressure not getting home. "There's a lot of mobile quarterbacks in the league, there's only a few non-mobile quarterbacks that they're gonna have to deal with. Most of these guys in their division can run around a little bit."
And that includes all three quarterbacks in the NFC East, including Sunday's opponent Daniel Jones, who has a track record of gashing Washington.
Switching the offense and rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, the former NFL play-caller and offensive coordinator said the debutant was "handcuffed a little bit" by some of the play-calling, and that may have been by design.
"I think [Commanders OC] Kliff [Kingsbury] did a pretty good job of protecting him in his first game. A lot of screens, ball getting out quick, didn't take a lot of shot chances down the field and when he did call some plays down the field, the pressure got to him and Jayden had to escape and use his legs," Gruden said. "[Daniels] kinda resorted back to his Arizona State days where he looked at one guy and then he turned into a runner. And I think that's what's gonna be the case early in his career until he feels comfortable in the pocket and they get people who can get separation on the outside.
"Other than Terry [McLaurin], I don't know who you're leaning towards to get that separation. You also have the rookie left tackle [Brandon Coleman] that you have to worry about [when] calling plays to get these guys open down the field."
Washington has some issues offensively, the former HC said, but did priase the plan to use running backs Brian Robinson Jr. and Austin Ekeler effectively out of the backfield in the passing game.
But, "They gotta figure ways to get these receivers the ball and somebody opposite Terry McLaurin has to make a play, somehow, someway."
Gruden hinted that Kingsbury didn't do much to get McLaurin involved and said they are leaving the WR "pretty much in a spot" and not using him in motion. Is there an advantage to that? "I don't see one," Gruden said about the lack of pre-snap motion for McLaurin.
There could be a reason for that lack of motion: Those plays can get very "wordy" to call in the huddle and with a rookie quarterback a play-caller may "want to call basic things early in the season just to try to get him a feel for the game."
Hopefully, Gruden said, things get more complex with McLaurin moving around more as Daniels gets more comfortable. And, add on the fact that playing against a Todd Bowles-coached defense is a huge challenge for a rookie in his first NFL action, that may have been another reason Washington decided to keep things simple, as well.
"Just a tough matchup all the way around, but they had some good plays," he said. "It was good to see the quarterback scramble around and make some plays. Jayden Daniels looked like he competed til the end and did some things with his legs that they can branch off of and use him, hopefully, more outside the pocket and maybe get some balls to Terry down the field next week."
And when it comes to the quarterback's running – 16 carries in all, both by design and out of necessity – Gurden said the skills that made him "the No. 2 pick in the draft is his ability to make plays happen with his legs so you have to allow that to happen."
"There are some plays that I wouldn't call," he continued. "I think they called a quarterback-designed run, an inside-zone, on the goal-line that he scored on where he cut it back up and got smashed in the face. Those are plays that I think you gotta be careful of moving forward, because he's not a very [thick] guy. And you can take some viscous blows in between the tackles there. Those are the ones I'm concerned about
"When he scrambles outside the pocket and he sees running lanes that's different. The designed runs I'd try and stay away from right now early in the season. But you just gotta let him play and hopefully, things work out.
"But I think he's a dynamic guy and big plays will happen. I just hope the receivers can get open a little bit better than they did [Week 1]."
Gruden and Russell then get into some of the in-game decisions from the Commanders head coach – including Quinn's two-point decision "he's wrong there," Gruden said – and much more from around the NFL in Week 1.