Commanders bag two underrated defensive stars in Frankie Luvu, Dorance Armstrong

The Commanders added two underrated stars to their defense in linebacker Frankie Luvu and edge-rusher Dorance Armstrong.

The Washington Commanders hired Dan Quinn as their new head coach in part because they saw the need to re-define a defense that struggled (to put it kindly) last season under defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio and head coach Ron Rivera last season.

The Commanders worked to give Quinn two outstanding and underrated defenders in the first wave of free agency, agreeing to terms with former Carolina Panthers linebacker Frankie Luvu and ex-Dallas Cowboys pass-rusher Dorance Armstrong.

Luvu was one of my favorite player in this free agent class because the more you watch his tape, the more you’re stumped on the things he can’t do as a linebacker. Last season, he played 56% of his snaps at inside ‘backer, 23% outside, and the rest at the line of scrimmage as either a stand-up rusher or as a blitzer. Luvu had seven sacks, 20 total pressures, 84 solo tackles, 47 stops, 10 tackles for loss, and he was great in coverage when asked to do that. If you need a green dot guy in the middle of your defense, there’s nobody better (or more versatile) in this free agency class. He’ll be an ideal fit for what Quinn wants to do with his defense.

 

Of course, Quinn already knows that Armstrong is a great fit for what he wants to do. The Cowboys selected Armstrong in the fourth round of the 2018 draft out of Kansas, and he became a force under Quinn, who was Dallas’ defensive coordinator over the last three seasons. Micah Parsons was the talk of the Cowboys’ pass rush, and justifiably so, but Armstrong racked up nine sacks and 35 total pressures last season — one year after amassing nine sacks and 43 total pressures in 2022. No one-year wonder, he.

The Commanders have a lot of work still to do on that side of the ball, especially in a secondary that might lose cornerback Kendall Fuller and Kameron Curl in free agency. But the first wave of Quinn Guys has what it takes.

Commanders’ hire of Dan Quinn is yet another positive for formerly dysfunctional franchise

The Washington Commanders’ hire of Dan Quinn as their new head coach is yet another positive step for this formerly dysfunctional franchise.

And then, the 2023-2024 head coaching cycle was complete.

The Washington Commanders, who fired former head coach Ron Rivera after four disappointing seasons, have made former Atlanta Falcons head coach and Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn their man. The Commanders were the last NFL team to hire a head coach, and it should point to significant improvement on the defensive side of the ball right away.

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Under Rivera and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio, Washington’s defense was a crazy quilt of bad design and execution, where busted coverages were the order of the day.

Washington Commanders had no choice but to fire defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio

Quinn, throughout his stops as a defensive coach — the Seattle Seahawks’ “Legion of Boom” defense was at its peak in 2013 and 2014 when Quinn ran it — has had a knack for making the most out of his players on that side of the ball, and that was the case for the Cowboys as he built that defense over the last three seasons.

As the Atlanta Falcons’ head coach from 2015 through 2020, Quinn compiled a 43-42 regular-season record and a 3-2 postseason mark. The 2016 season was obviously Quinn’s marquee year in Atlanta — quarterback Matt Ryan won the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award with Kyle Shanahan as his offensive coordinator, and the Falcons had a 28-3 lead over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI before everything went very far south.

Quinn is known as a players’ coach who builds consensus and understands the psychology of the roster. We’ll see how the staff plays out, but between this hire and a non-Daniel Snyder ownership group — not to mention the second overall pick in the 2024 draft and a league-high $62,595,334 in effective salary cap space for the 2024 season — things are turning around in the nation’s capital as they haven’t in a long time.

The perfect head coaching candidates for each vacancy

The perfect head coaching candidate for every current vacancy around the NFL.

There have been a plethora of teams around the NFL that decided to move on from their now former head coaches. From the totally expected to the outright shocking, there are currently eight head coaching vacancies around the NFL- each one with a candidate that could help turn their tides.

Side note: I don’t think Bill Belichick or Mike Vrabel take any current vacancy.

4-Down Territory: Most, least serious wild-card teams, Secret Superstars, new coaches

In this week’s “4-Down Territory,” the guys get into most and least serious wild-card teams, Secret Superstars, and new head coaches they’d like to see.

Now that the 2023 NFL regular season is over, and it’s Super Wild-Card Weekend, it’s time once again for Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire, and Kyle Madson of Niners Wire, to come to the table with their own unique brand of analysis in “4-Down Territory.”

This week, the guys have some serious questions to answer:

  1. Which wild-card team should be taken most seriously for a Super Bowl run?
  2. Which wild-card team should be taken least seriously?
  3. Who’s your Secret Superstar for the wild-card round?
  4. Which assistant coach would you most like to get a vacant head coaching job?

You can watch this week’s “4-Down Territory” right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “4-Down Territory” podcast on Spotify…

and on Apple Podcasts.

Washington Commanders fire Ron Rivera, add NBA personnel genius to staff

The Washington Commanders have fired head coach Ron Rivera and added NBA personnel legend Bob Myers to the staff. May you live in interesting times.

The Washington Commanders made one of the NFL’s least-surprising moves on Monday morning, and then, they made one of the most interesting.

Head coach Ron Rivera, who bottomed out at 4-13 this season, went 26-40-1 over four seasons, and presided over one of the NFL’s worst defenses, was relieved of his duties on Monday. Rivera had been at the top of everybody’s “soon-to-be-fired” list through most of the season, and that came to pass.

Then, the Commanders under new owner Josh Harris added NBA personnel legend to their organization.

It’s an interesting time for the Commanders, who are finally free of the Dan Snyder stench, and have effective cap space of $63,806,242 for the 2024 season. Rivera’s former job should be quite a bit more attractive than it was in previous years.

2024 NFL Mock Draft: End-of-season quarterback decisions lead to surprising picks

How many NFL teams will stick with their current quarterbacks? A high number could make for an interesting first round of the 2024 draft.

Now that the 2023 NFL regular season is over, every team turns its attention to the draft — even those teams that are part of the postseason. Area scouts will start to move to the home facility to interact with scouting directors and general managers, and with the scouting combine less than two months away, it’s time to start putting your big boards together.

This applies especially to those teams with crucial quarterback decisions to make. For the purposes of this mock draft, we’ll assume that the Chicago Bears are sticking with Justin Fields, the Arizona Cardinals are committed to Kyler Murray, the Tennessee Titans think they have a future franchise quarterback in Will Levis, and the New York Jets think that eventually, Aaron Rodgers will stop shooting his mouth off long enough to play quarterback in 2024.

Conversely, the Washington Commanders, New England Patriots, New York Giants, and Atlanta Falcons will avail themselves of the best draftable quarterbacks possible in the interest of turning things around.

So, four quarterbacks go in the first round here, with more teams looking to build around the guys they’ve already got. That makes for one notable omission (Oregon’s Bo Nix), and a whole bunch of talented prospects at other positions pushing themselves up the boards.

Montez Sweat becomes first player ever to lead two teams in sacks in same season

Bears edge-rusher Montez Sweat becomes the first player in recorded pro football history to lead two teams in sacks in the same season.

When the Washington Commanders traded edge-rushers Chase Young and Montez Sweat to the San Francisco 49ers and the Chicago Bears respectively on October 31, it was a move toward an uncertain future for the Commanders. The 49ers were looking to upgrade their already fearsome pass rush, and the Bears were just trying to get someone on the field who could disrupt quarterbacks from the edge.

In Sweat’s case, it worked out pretty well. With his six sacks for the Bears over the last nine weeks, and his 6.5 sacks for the Commanders in the first eight weeks, Sweat is now the first player in the recorded history of professional football to lead two teams in sacks in the same season.

We don’t have all sack numbers throughout pro football history — the sack became an official NFL statistic in 1982, and thanks to the work of John Turney and other devoted historians, we now have sack totals going back to 1960. But it’s a pretty nice range of years, and it’s good enough to assume that Sweat has done something no other player ever has.

After the trade, Sweat signed a four-year extension with the Bears worth $98 million in new money, $41.96 million fully guaranteed and $72.86 million in total guarantees. Which might turn out to be quite the bargain at this rate. Per Pro Football Focus, who count half-sacks as full sacks, Sweat finished the 2023 season with career highs in sacks (16) and total pressures (63).

He also made history in quite a unique fashion.

Montez Sweat becomes first player ever to lead two teams in sacks in same season

Bears edge-rusher Montez Sweat becomes the first player in recorded pro football history to lead two teams in sacks in the same season.

When the Washington Commanders traded edge-rushers Chase Young and Montez Sweat to the San Francisco 49ers and the Chicago Bears respectively on October 31, it was a move toward an uncertain future for the Commanders. The 49ers were looking to upgrade their already fearsome pass rush, and the Bears were just trying to get someone on the field who could disrupt quarterbacks from the edge.

In Sweat’s case, it worked out pretty well. With his six sacks for the Bears over the last nine weeks, and his 6.5 sacks for the Commanders in the first eight weeks, Sweat is now the first player in the recorded history of professional football to lead two teams in sacks in the same season.

We don’t have all sack numbers throughout pro football history — the sack became an official NFL statistic in 1982, and thanks to the work of John Turney and other devoted historians, we now have sack totals going back to 1960. But it’s a pretty nice range of years, and it’s good enough to assume that Sweat has done something no other player ever has.

After the trade, Sweat signed a four-year extension with the Bears worth $98 million in new money, $41.96 million fully guaranteed and $72.86 million in total guarantees. Which might turn out to be quite the bargain at this rate. Per Pro Football Focus, who count half-sacks as full sacks, Sweat finished the 2023 season with career highs in sacks (16) and total pressures (63).

He also made history in quite a unique fashion.

Five NFL head coaches who could be fired on Black Monday

These are the five head coaches to keep a close eye on as they could be fired by their respective teams on Black Monday.

On the day in which the NFL regular season concludes, today also marks the eve of several head coaching jobs becoming vacant.” Black Monday” as it’s known, will see several NFL head coaches be relieved of their duties, and these are the names to keep a close eye on being fired by their respective teams.

How the Dallas Cowboys’ defense can exploit Jared Goff’s one fatal flaw

The Cowboys play more man coverage than any other NFL team, but against Jared Goff and the Lions, it might be time to flip the script.

If there’s one thing we know about the 2023 Dallas Cowboys, it’s that they love to play man coverage. This season, Dan Quinn’s defense has lined up in man on 40.3% of their defensive snaps, most in the NFL. And if you take away their loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 16, when they played much more zone against Mike McDaniel’s turbo-charged offense, that rate jumps to 41.0%. Ostensibly, that’s extremely good news for Jared Goff, whose Detroit Lions face those Cowboys on Saturday night.

Against man coverage this season, Goff has completed 71 of 124 passes for 837 yards, 547 air yards, eight touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 99.4. Against zone coverage, Goff has completed 233 of 325 passes for 2,775 yards, 1,701 air yards, 13 touchdowns, all 10 of his interceptions, and a passer rating of 97.9. So, more explosive plays against zone, but also all of Goff’s interceptions, and there are some common threads here.

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys get into why Goff’s attributes as a timing and anticipation thrower of the football can also get in his way against certain coverages. Also, how the Cowboys can take advantage… if they want to flip the script a little bit.

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You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os,” featuring tape and advanced metric analysis of all Week 17’s biggest NFL matchups (including Lions-Cowboys, of course), right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Now, let’s get deeper into this Jared Goff-Dan Quinn matchup.