In the 2022 season, the Washington Commanders have faced two teams in the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Detroit Lions whose offenses are very much under construction. In those two games, Jack Del Rio’s defense has been its opponents’ most willing contractors. In Week 1, Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence completed 24 of 42 passes for 275 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, and the Commanders won, 28-22. My sense was, had the Commanders faced Lawrence about a month down the road in Doug Pederson’s offense, it would be a different story.
Last Sunday, the Commanders got it handed to them by the Detroit Lions — Del Rio’s defense allowed Jared Goff (of all people) to complete 20 of 34 passes for 256 yards… and four touchdowns. Goff did not have a great game — there were times when he just couldn’t hit what he needed to in the red zone — but he was given all kinds of help by Washington’s coverage busts. Receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown had a career game with nine catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns, adding 68 rushing yards on two carries.
And that’s what we really need to talk about when we talk about the Commanders’ defense. Coverage busts, over and over. We saw them last season, when Washington allowed the NFL’s most passing touchdowns — 34, to just 11 interceptions. That defense also allowed 400 catches on 597 attempts for 4,542 yards, a completion rate of 67.0%, a yards per attempt allowed of 7.6, an opponent passer rating of 100.9, and an opponent EPA of 67.90.
Things were no better in the preseason, when Washington’s defense allowed Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs to rip it apart with even more busted looks. You do not want to give Patrick Mahomes any help.
Patrick Mahomes vs. Washington’s defense was the mismatch you’d expect
“Well, we hope to be better, right,” Del Rio said in June of his 2022 defense. “It’s clearly, it starts with a commitment to being here and working and being able to get on the same page, make sure the communication is good. I think that kind of gives you a great start, a great foundation. So right now we’re getting a lot of great work in. There are guys that are developing,
“This time of year, you can develop and gain a great understanding of how we all fit together and defensively, that’s what it’s all about. Kind of knowing where you need to go and everybody being accountable and getting there, playing with some attitude.”
So far, the Commanders’ attitude on defense has been, “Hey, we’re going to let your passing game throw a party at our expense.” As it was in the preseason. As it was in 2021 on Del Rio’s watch.
Before we get into how to fix all this, let’s review how the Lions game went, and where the issues lie.