Jay Gruden said the Commanders didn’t take advantage of their opportunities and, as a result, lost to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday at Northwest Stadium.
The former Redskins head coach went back and watched the game a second time in preparation for his Monday appearance on the Grant & Danny Show (106.7 the Fan). Gruden said he is convinced that in the first three quarters, the Commanders had their chances to take control of the game and simply didn’t do it.
“The last few minutes was pretty chaotic on both sides of the ball, but the first three quarters, I think was just a matter of taking advantage of great opportunities, and Washington didn’t do it,” Gruden said via Lou DiPietro of Audacy.
“They had great field position, opportunities to really jump out on them early and put your foot down and show who’s a better team, and they didn’t do it. They just let Dallas hang around and hang around.”
Gruden was the head coach in Washington for the 2014-2019 regular seasons, and the offensive coordinator for the Benglas (2011-2013) and Jaguars (2020).
“Third downs are bad; they’re 12-for-38 in their last three games, 10 sacks, and time of possession. They’re averaging 24 minutes per game in the last- three games,” Gruden said. “A lot of that has to do with the ability to keep the ball, and they’re not staying on the field on third down. There’s a lot of reasons for it – sometimes it’s pressure related, sometimes Jayden misses a throw or there’s no throw to be had – so there’s a lot of things they can clean up, but the most important thing is they got to do a better job on third down.”
Having been a Division 1 starting quarterback at Louisville and working with NFL quarterbacks for a decade, Gruden is not simplistic. He knows there are various reasons why the Commanders’ offense is struggling.
“A lot of times it’s hard to get off your No. 1 target when feel pressure inside, and you gotta get rid of the ball,” Gruden said. “It’s just hard to point your finger at one thing. Sometimes it’s pressure, sometimes he feels like the guy is open and the defensive back makes a good play, but it’s easy to hold the film on pause, and then when the ball’s gone, let it play again and see somebody come wide open, and say you should have held the ball and thrown it to this guy. That’s not always the case when you have the ball in your hand,d and you’re playing quarterback.”
Jay, unlike his brother Jon, is not overly critical. He exhibits much more empathy and is much more understanding of the pressures of a rookie quarterback.
“There are times I agree he could have maybe held the ball a little bit longer, but that’s easier said than done for a young quarterback.”