Category: Washington

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.

The Commanders are laying an all-time brontosaurus egg against the Jets

The Washington Commanders are playing at a level that would make the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers turn away in disgust.

The Washington Commanders came into Sunday’s game against the New York Jets with a 4-10 record and the NFL’s worst defense, so the question was: In the battle between THAT and the Jets’ NFL-worst offense, which movable object would beat the league’s most resistible force?

Early on in the game, there has been no question. The Jets are demolishing Ron Rivera’s Commanders, who are playing football you may not have seen since the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Quarterback Sam Howell has not availed himself well at all, but his receivers have not helped him one bit.

That turnover led to a 25-yard field goal for Greg Zuerlein.

Then, a blocked punt with 12:02 left in the first quarter, which put the ball at the Washington nine-yard line for the Jets, which led to this touchdown pass from Trevor Siemian to Jason Brownlee.

Then, the Commanders went three-and-out, gave the ball back the Jets, and running back Breece Hall carved that defense up on this 36-yard touchdown run with 9:44 left in the first quarter.

Ron Rivera’s look at the end of that play said it all. How bad was this, given the Jets’ history of futility in the first quarter of their other games this season?

Very.

Big changes are coming in the nation’s capital, and given the way this game is going, Rivera might not survive the regular season.

Worst of the Week for Week 15: Pickens and Toney, Sean Payton’s meltdown, Ron Rivera’s folly

MIke Tomlin, Sean Payton, Kadarius Toney, George Pickens, invisible Panthers fans, and the Jets. It’s time for the NFL’s Worst of the Week!

Football is a wonderful, thrilling, inspiring game that can lift us to new heights in our lives.

But football is also a weird, inexplicable, at times downright stupid game that may force you to perform Keith Moon-level furniture destruction in your own living room.

So, as much as we at Touchdown Wire endeavor to write about what makes the game great, there are also times when it’s important to point out the dumb plays, boneheaded decisions, and officiating errors that make football all too human.

Folks, it’s time for the Worst of the Week for Week 15 of the 2023 NFL season.

The NFL’s Worst of the Week: Jamal Adams, Kadarius Toney, and the NFL doesn’t care about concussions

This week’s Worst of the Week in the NFL features Kadarius Toney, Jamal Adams, and a league that still doesn’t care about head trauma.

Football is a wonderful, thrilling, inspiring game that can lift us to new heights in our lives.

But football is also a weird, inexplicable, at times downright stupid game that may force you to perform Keith Moon-level furniture destruction in your own living room.

So, as much as we at Touchdown Wire endeavor to write about what makes the game great, there are also times when it’s important to point out the dumb plays, boneheaded decisions, and officiating errors that make football all too human.

Folks, it’s time for the Worst of the Week for Week 14 of the 2023 NFL season. And we’re not covering officiating errors as we generally do, because we have a more important issue to discuss — the NFL still doesn’t care one bit about head trauma.

Who made the better route adjustment: Tyreek Hill or Odell Beckham Jr.?

Odell Beckham Jr. and Tyreek Hill have been competing for the best in-play route adjustment in the NFL this season.

Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins and Odell Beckham Jr. of the Baltimore Ravens are two of the NFL’s more preposterously athletic receivers, allowing them to correct issues in communication on the fly when it comes to routes, and where the ball is thrown. In Beckham’s case, we saw this early on in Baltimore’s Sunday game against the Los Angeles Rams.

With 5:27 left in the first quarter, Lamar Jackson threw a nasty in cut/fade to Beckham, and Beckham had cornerback Derion Kendrick beaten all the way. But he then had to adjust to the fact that he and Jackson weren’t on the same page regarding where the ball was supposed to go, and Beckham made an outstanding adjustment right in time for a 20-yard gain.

This put us in mind of Tyreek Hill’s 60-yard touchdown catch from Tua Tagovailoa against the Washington Commanders last Sunday. The Commanders employed the highly controversial (read: insane) strategy of playing a ton of man coverage against Hill with no help up top, and Hill had a predictably enormous game as a result. On the touchdown with 9:22 left in the first half, Washington was actually in Cover-3, but it didn’t matter. Hill got off the snap at full speed out of motion, barbecued cornerback Kendall Fuller, and then had quite the adventure as he had to calibrate his route to where the ball was going.

“It’s insane,” Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said after the game of Hill’s catch. “Specifically for really fast guys. It’s something that Tyreek has always been very adept at but to, just think of it this way, in the heat of battle you see the ball and then you just turn away from it and try to find it again. That is very difficult. He makes it look super easy. But that ability, there’s few and far between that are able to make that play down the field wide open or not. Tua knows that and he knows that if he puts it far enough sometimes that Tyreek has done that several times in practice before.

“The fact that it was in stride makes it even more impressive of a catch because a lot of times when guys go blind to the ball, they’re able to make a play if it’s by stopping them and hitting them in the stomach. To go Willie Mays on it is pretty impressive.”

No argument here, and we’ll bet that Ravens head coach John Harbaugh will have something similar to say about Beckham’s adjustment.

4-Down Territory: Best/Worst NFL teams, next coach fired, Worst of the Week

The NFL’s best and worst teams, the next head coach fired, and the Worst of the Week for Week 13. It’s time for “4-Down Territory!”

With 13 weeks of actual football in the books for the 2023 NFL season, and the Thanksgiving slate behind us, it’s time 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 team is the NFL’s best right now?
  2. And which team is the NFL’s worst?
  3. Which head coach will be the next one fired?
  4. What was the Worst of the Week?

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.

Worst of the Week: Clete Blakeman, Jamal Adams, Ron Rivera, Broncos in the red zone

Jamal Adams, Ron Rivera, Broncos in the red zone, Joe Flacco’s last two plays, and more bad officiating! It’s the NFL’s Worst of the Week!

Football is a wonderful, thrilling, inspiring game that can lift us to new heights in our lives.

But football is also a weird, inexplicable, at times downright stupid game that may force you to perform Keith Moon-level furniture destruction in your own living room.

So, as much as we at Touchdown Wire endeavor to write about what makes the game great, there are also times when it’s important to point out the dumb plays, boneheaded decisions, and officiating errors that make football all too human.

Folks, it’s time for the Worst of the Week for Week 13 of the 2023 NFL season.

Commanders QB Sam Howell throws third pick-six in as many games

Washington Commanders QB Sam Howell is now one game away from tying the NFL’s record for consecutive pick-six games.

In the 2013 NFL season, Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub threw an interception for an opponent touchdown in four straight games, which was a record one thinks might never be broken.

Well, Mr. Schaub, Sam Howell of the Washington Commanders is now on your heels. When Howell threw this interception to Miami Dolphins edge-rusher Andrew Van Ginkel for a 33-yard touchdown with 11:18 left in the first half…

It marked the third straight game in which Howell had thrown a pick-six.

Last week against the Dallas Cowboys, Howell allowed Dallas cornerback DaRon Bland to set the NFL’s single-season record with his fifth pick-six of the season, which now seems all too predictable.

And then, at the end of Washington’s Week 11 game against the New York Giants, Howell threw this lame duck to linebacker/EDGE Isaiah Simmons.

This is not the kind of record anybody wants to break, but after Washington’s Week 14 bye, the Los Angeles Rams will certainly be looking for opportunities in this regard.

4-Down Territory: MVP race, best under-the-radar team, mercy trades, Worst of the Week

NFL MVP? Most dangerous non-playoff team? Players in mercy trades? Worst of the Week? It’s time for this week’s “4-Down Territory!”

With 12 weeks of actual football in the books for the 2023 NFL season, and the Thanksgiving slate behind us, it’s time 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. Who’s the NFL’s Most Valuable Player at this point of the season?
  2. Which current non-playoff team is the league’s most dangerous?
  3. Which player deserves to be traded from his current team as an act of mercy?
  4. What was the Worst of the Week for Week 12?

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

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

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Burn This Play! Why do coaches call shotgun runs on fourth-and-1?

NFL coaches keep calling run plays out of shotgun in short-yardage situations, and they really, really need to stop.

With 4:19 left in the Seattle Seahawks’ 31-13 Thanksgiving night loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Seattle made the decision to hand the ball to running back Zach Charbonnet. Quarterback Geno Smith was in shotgun, and the play went nowhere.

“The blocking scheme of the play was it was a downhill blocking scheme, but we’re in the gun to run it,” Carroll said the day after. “I think the call is hoping that you get them to widen, thinking ‘they may throw the football’ and we get an edge there. That’s all that was… Should have been an easy conversion right there. We didn’t get it.”

As for the Washington Commanders in their 45-10 Thanksgiving day loss to the Dallas Cowboys, they tried a shotgun run on fourth-and-1 with 8:19 left in the third quarter, and this thing was dead in the water before it even got in the water.

I mean… we love us some Eric Bieniemy, but Washington’s offensive coordinator might want to throw that idea out with the last of the leftovers.

Per Sports Info Solutions, NFL teams have run the ball on fourth-and-1 out of shotgun 27 times for 68 yards, two touchdowns, and 16 conversions to first down.

Fourth-and-1 runs from under center have been far more successful — 89 attempts for 233 yards, one touchdown, and 68 conversions to first down. Even when you take out the “tush push” numbers engendered by Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (seven fourth-and-1 attempts from under center for 16 yards and seven conversions to first down), the metrics tell a very clear tale.

You’re not fooling anyone with these short-yardage shotgun runs, NFL coaches. Don’t overthink this — sometimes, one yard and a cloud of dust is still the best way to go.