It’s going to be a long Monday of post-Commanders loss blues here in the DMV, and the Junkies kicked it off by having ESPN’s John Keim come on and try to figure out exactly how and why the Commanders fell 14-7 to the 1-5 Giants on Sunday.
And really, all Keim could do was lament the fact that the Commanders, in a soft stretch of their schedule, went 1-2 and lost to the two teams that came in with one win or less.
“They had a stretch where they had to have these games because the second-half schedule is very difficult on paper. For you to get some momentum to get into a position o make this season a worthwhile one, you had to have a better tstart than this,” Kiem said. “We know in this league, anything can happen, but you had to be better than this, and they weren’t. Each year it’s like this, but when you look at this year’s second-half schedule, it had to be better than this.”
The middle of the season is where Ron Rivera’s teams usually make a run, and to be fair (as even Keim noted), 3-4 through seven games is exactly where they were in 2022 and a game ahead of where the 2021 and 2020 teams sat. Then again, those two teams won seven games and last year was eight with a tie, so even if they follow suit, how worthwhile is another .500ish season?
Not very, and the biggest problem, it seems, is the allowance of 40 sacks through seven games, still on a pace for close to 100.
“In the early games, there was a lot of Howell holding the ball too long, which he did in college, but it’s also a young quarterback thing,” Keim said. “I think it’s been more than they anticipated, but going back to the offseason, they knew this, and you have to do a better job building that front and giving him better protection. You need to have a very strong interior, and one of the things I hear is he is a shorter quarterback – and you have to build a front like the Saints did with Drew Brees to allow him to see over the front. Look at his interception yesterday, I don’t know he could have stepped up and made a better throw because of the blocking.”
Eric Bickel flat out said during the segment that Sunday's game was lost in the off-season with the failure to properly address that line construction - but the other thing with Sunday's game was why was the game plan against a blitz-heavy team so full of five-step drops?
“I just don’t get why they had so many against a team who is pinning their ears back to just go get them, and not moving the pocket better,” Keim said. “Tyrod Taylor was playing behind a line that was in way worse shape, but you never would have guessed it at the end of the game. You’ve got to help your QB out, and that was a big case yesterday.”
Take a listen to Keim’s entire appearance, which also included more thoughts on that bizarre game plan, whether or not the adjustments have been right, the problems with the linemen proper, and whether or not (as EB continues to think) Ron Rivera is checked out!