This week in the DMV, measuring sticks came out to see the amount of snow accumulated following Monday’s major snowstorm. This Sunday night in Tampa Bay, however, there will be a different measuring stick to determine how far the Washington Commanders have improved their play since the season opener.
At this point, the answer is obvious. The offense and defense for the Commanders appear light years better and certainly more experienced from the season opener. Terry McLaurin, Bobby Wagner, Frankie Luvu and Austin Ekeler have been announced to the 2024 All-Pro team.
The season has been a series of tests for a Commanders team expected to be around .500 at best. They’ve answered all the questions and passed the tests in flying colors. But how much have the Commanders improved since the first Sunday of the regular season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? How much have the Buccaneers improved? What will both teams look like on Sunday night in Wild-Card playoffs?
In the first game, Washington’s rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels was a first round, number two draft pick who played well in the preseason, showing great potential with little time on the field. He was an unknown for the regular season with questions to answer, including matching his play to the increased speed of the game.
Daniels passed all the tests he had in his first year. In the first game alone, he proved that he can play to the increased speed of the game. He learned to slide and get out of bounds, reducing risk of injury. Daniels made the clutch plays when necessary, gaining yards needed for first downs in close games. Unquestionably, after his selection to the 2024 Pro Bowl, Daniels is the unequivocable NFC Offensive Rookie of the Year and MVP for the Washington Commanders after an amazing season at quarterback. He is also Washington’s quarterback for the future—something the franchise has not had consistently in several decades.
If he can take his game to the next level in the playoffs, he’ll have All-Pro wide receiver Terry McLaurin and emerging wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus as passing weapons. The Buccaneers shut down McLaurin in the first game and Zaccheaus was a non-factor. With the exception of a dropped pass on a trick play against the Dallas Cowboys last week, Zaccheaus has played exceptional as of late. Zach Ertz, who did play in the season opener, connected with Daniels for several clutch plays, including the game winner against the Atlanta Falcons to clinch a playoff berth. Ertz also has playoff experience as does All-Pro Bobby Wagner on the defensive side.
We know Daniels can run or pass and with one season of experience under Kliff Kingsbury’s offense, he’s been able to exploit defenses and make the plays with fourth quarter heroics. But a win on Sunday will require the offensive line to turn it up a notch. Brian Robinson, Jr., has not recovered from a two-fumble game against the Philadelphia Eagles and he’ll need a resurgence for the game.
Running back Austin Ekeler returning from injury showed signs of his capabilities from his early season play and will hopefully be ready to fill in for Robinson and, more important, block for Daniels and make plays after the catch on screens in the flat.
The ability to combine Ekeler’s run and pass catching capabilities with Brian Robinson, Jr.’s, pounding running style makes for a strong one-two punch combination against an aggressive and fierce Buccaneers defense.
If the Commanders are to win on Sunday night, the offensive line will need to turn it up a level, keep penalties to a minimum and open holes for the backs. This season, we’ve seen Daniels make magic happen with an extra second of time.
The Commanders scored 14 points in the first game and a last-minute touchdown courtesy of a prevent defense helped push the score up to 20. The two-point conversion attempt failed.
Should the Commanders increase that score by half on Sunday, it’ll be a game, and doubling that score could mean they move on to the divisional playoffs.
But the defense is another story. In the season opener, Commanders rookie Mike Sainristil from the University of Michigan started at cornerback and Benjamin St. Juste played corner on the opposite end of the field. Emmanuel Forbes, Jr., was still with the team.
Over the season, Sainristil grew into his role and has shown significant improvement. Jeremy Chinn and Quan Martin are also playing better than the start of the season. Before the trade deadline, however, the Commanders traded for Marshon Lattimore, the New Orleans Saints cornerback. Lattimore’s hamstring injury has kept him out except for the game against the Saints. Quarterback Spencer Rattler never threw in Lattimore’s direction. Against Philadelphia, Lattimore stayed on A.J. Brown but he was called for a questionable pass interference penalty to put the ball near the goal line. Still, if Lattimore is able to play the entire game on Sunday night, he can limit his old nemesis Mike Evans who was highly effective in the first game.
Evans, Chris Godwin and rookie Jalen McMillan, who has helped Tampa Bay down the stretch toward winning the NFC South, all played in the season opener. Evans scored two touchdowns in the first game against Benjamin St. Juste. Godwin and McMillan scored one apiece. But Godwin was injured on October 21 against the Baltimore Ravens and then surgery to repair his dislocated ankle set off four straight losses for the Buccaneers before the bye week. After the bye week, the Buccaneers won 6 out of 7 games behind the stellar running of rookie Bucky Irving.
It will be imperative for the defensive line to stop Irving from breaking out big runs as he did late in the first game against an exhausted Commanders defense. Irving had 62 yards on 9 carries in the opener and he ended the season with 1,122 yards and 8 touchdowns. Not to mention, Rachaad White, who ran the ball and had 6 catches for 75 yards.
However, the linebacker corps of Bobby Wagner, Frankie Luvu and Donte Fowler, Jr., have gelled during the year and it will be up to defensive coordinator Joe Whitt, Jr., to call the blitzes that put pressure on quarterback Baker Mayfield. In the first game, Luvu and Fowler were hardly mentioned and Mayfield had a career day passing for 289 yards, 4 touchdowns and no interceptions.
Despite the eventual 37-20 final score, the Commanders started the fourth quarter down 23-14 before the Buccaneers scored 14 unanswered points. Today’s Commanders have a tendency to reverse their fortunes in the fourth quarter of games.
Regardless, both teams had their narrow victories, convincing wins and short losing streaks during the season. Their quarterbacks excelled and they found players who stepped up along the way.
For the Commanders, it will take a full-team effort for all four quarters, all players turning up their play a notch to a playoff level to get the win Sunday night against the Buccaneers. Whether the Commanders win or lose, the future has become bright for the Washington football franchise with its new ownership team headed by Josh Harris and guided by new General Manager Adam Peters and Head Coach Dan Quinn.
The team is playing with house money this Sunday night and anything that follows a wild-card playoff win will be 100 percent pure gravy. On Sunday night, Commanders fans are hoping to ride the gravy train to the NFC divisional playoffs.
The playoffs were not only incomprehensible for Washington fans at the beginning of the season but most only expected to see gradual improvement by the end of the year. This Sunday’s game, as Quinn said earlier in the week, will be “a good measuring stick to see how much we’ve improved.”
The post Commanders vs. Buccaneers Rematch: A Tale of Two Teams appeared first on Marylandsportsblog.com.