Tag: Rookie CB Emmanuel Forbes

Commanders Del Rio knows his unit can reduce the big plays

Jack Del Rio talks the importance of eliminating the big plays.

Jack Del Rio saw a good effort against the Patriots Sunday; then suddenly, the Commanders gave up two big plays.

“I thought we did a good job defensively last week. We had two plays that got away from us. One in the pass, one in the run. And other than that, we played real, real well.”

Indeed, the Commanders defense limited the Patriots on the way to a 20-17 victory. The two big plays?

Washington led 10-7, and the Patriots, from their own 16, had a 1st & 10. Lining up three eligible receivers tightly on the right side, Mac Jones faked a handoff and then found JuJu Smith-Schuster running across the field from tight right to the left side wide open. Smith-Schuster made the catch at the 23 and was pushed out of bounds on the 36, a 20-yard gain.

On the very next play, Washington ran a stunt, and linebacker Jamin Davis did not plug the closest gap to the right of tackle Daron Payne. New England’s Rhamondre Stevenson exploded through the hole into the secondary. He was met by safety Percy Butler, but he missed the tackle on Stevenson, who then raced 64 yards for a go-ahead Pats touchdown.

In two plays, the Commanders defense had surrendered 84 yards and a touchdown.

So, when defensive coordinator Del Rio was asked Thursday what is keeping this unit from rating as highly as the defensive unit last season in 2022.

“Yeah, explosive plays allowed. That’s been the big problem. We’re playing solid in a lot of areas, but the explosive plays allowed. Many of them kind of gift-type situations are the ones that keep us from ranking well and being able to beat our chest and say, look at our rank right here, which doesn’t mean a whole lot. I think what really means the most is give your football team a chance to win, play complementary football, and make sure we’re getting the ball back for our offense as often as possible.”

One player who was giving up some explosive plays prior to last week was rookie corner Emmanuel Forbes, Jr.  However, last week, Forbes played well enough that PFF graded Forbes as the highest Commanders defensive player last week. The performance pleased Del Rio.

“I think he’s just working at it. You know, he’s a good young player. We believe in him. He’s just gotta grind and work. That’s what he has done, and that allowed him to get himself back in the game, and then he played well.”

 

Why was Commanders loss to Bears so disheartening for fan base?

Is the honeymoon already over? Fans were let down once again.

Thursday’s 40-20 loss to the Bears was one of the more disappointing losses in recent Washington football history.

Why is this the case? Most likely it is because our hopes had been raised by multiple factors. What are those factors?

Sam Howell played well enough in his only 2022 game that we foresaw development this season and improvement at the quarterback position.

Ron Rivera, in the offseason, repeatedly told of how Emmanuel Forbes and Quan Martin were going to be helping this year’s team create turnovers, which was lacking on the 2022 defensive unit.

Eric Bieniemy was brought in to replace Scott Turner as offensive coordinator. Bieniemy was being presented as an instant, huge improvement over Turner, who could also help in the development of Howell.

Jahan Dotson flashed some really great pass-catching and route-running skills in his rookie season. Dotson would only improve in his second season, causing the offense to have a dynamic duo of wideouts in Dotson and Terry McLaurin.

2022 guards Trai Turner and Andrew Norwell very much underachieved in 2022. So much so that neither was invited back for this season. Sam Cosmi and Saahdiq Charles were said to be very much more athletic, mobile and would bring improvement to the interior of the offensive line as well as mobility in the screen game that terribly struggled in 2022.

Cole Holcomb departed via free agency, but oh, how the Commanders’ brass was happy with the signing of Cody Barton to start for Holcomb at linebacker.

Former owner Daniel Snyder sold the team officially in July. In addition, the new ownership group could not have launched their endeavor any better than they did that first weekend. Josh Harris, Mitch Rales and Mark Ein are local. They spoke of loving the Redskins. They proclaimed with energy they wanted to regain the glory days of the Redskins being one of the most successful franchises during the George Allen (1971-77) and Joe Gibbs (1981-92) seasons. And Earvin “Magic” Johnson would also help, having been such a competitor and team player himself in the NBA. 

Instantly, attendance at training camp soared. Excitement at the home preseason games was swelling. The team began the season with two opening wins. The home schedule saw three sellouts; fans were returning, spending their money because our hopes were rising.

We understood losing to Buffalo and Philadelphia; after all, both of those teams are Super Bowl contenders. So, much of the talk Monday through Wednesday was about how the Commanders were going to win this “must-win” over the Bears. There was even much talk of “by how much” would the Commanders need to win to satisfy the fan base.

Suddenly, the Commanders trailed 17-0. Disappointment became confusion, which led to consternation, anxiety and dread. Then it was 27-3 at the half, and most of us were frustrated, angry, infuriated.

Our hopes had been raised so much, only for the team to again completely dash them. Our emotional balloons had been burst.

Adversity has set in; the honeymoon period is coming to a close. We again hope, hope for a recovery to respectability.

 

Jonathan Allen: ‘It’s definitely a new era’

Jonathan Allen calls this “by far” the most complete team he’s been on in seven NFL seasons.

Commanders defensive tackle Jonathan Allen was himself, taking responsibility for the slow start Sunday.

Allen was making his weekly appearance this 2023 season on the “Sports Junkies” Monday mornings on 106.7 The Fan.

Rather than talk of how the offense had only scored 3 points, Allen told of how the defense made things hard for the team, getting off to a slow start and giving up touchdowns on Denver’s first three possessions.

He said he enjoyed “being able to come back after playing so poorly defensively in the first quarter and tighten things up and give our team a chance to win.”

Then Allen quickly praised the offense, “Hats off to our offense; they played a great game. Guys made plays when they needed to, and it was great to get the victory.” He feels “it’s definitely a new era.”

Allen credited the Broncos offense for making plays and also added the Commanders defense contributed by having some communication errors, and they were “not gap sound” at times.

Down 21-3, Allen declared, “On the sidelines nobody was screaming at each other; nobody was defeated. Let’s just calm down, slow down; it’s an 18-point game, there’s lots of game left. Let’s do it one play at a time.”

When the offense suddenly scored on their last two possession of the first half, Allen said he saw the score had become 21-14, and he thought, “We’re good.”

Having Chase Young back in the lineup was an encouragement. Allen said, “It felt great! I’m looking forward to having a fun season with him.”

“This is by far the most complete team I have had (in the NFL),” Allen expressed. “It’s going to be a fun season.”

Regarding linebacker Jamin Davis’ improved play, Allen pointed to the fact that Davis actually only started one year in college, and the transition to the NFL can be very difficult. But he sees Davis playing faster and sees a good year for Davis.

He also pointed out Daron Payne is really living up to his performance of last season, and this is why the team signed Payne to his new lucrative contract.

Emmanuel Forbes is a rookie Allen really likes thus far. “You would think he has been in the league five or six years. He is level-headed, calm, just a ball player. I love it.”

When Denver scored on the Hail Mary attempt as time expired, Allen said, “I was so tired I didn’t even know what to think at that point. The way the ball bounced, I guess they got lucky. I really don’t know what to say about that.”

Allen is excited about new Commanders quarterback Sam Howell. He said he was impressed with Howell’s preparation this last week and that the team is believing in Howell’s ability and leadership.

The rest of the team can learn by listening more to Jonathan Allen; that much is altogether certain.

Commanders season opener in 13 days: Washington’s best No. 13

13 days until the Commanders open the 2023 NFL season.

Commanders Wire continues a countdown to Washington’s season opener for 2023 in 13 days. Who was the team’s best player wearing No. 13?

When Washington fans think jersey No. 13, what names come to mind? Most recently, Adam Humphries was a wide receiver in 2021 who collected 41 receptions in his lone season in Washington.

Kelvin Harmon in 2019 had 30 receptions, but then he tore his ACL and LCL and never played another regular season game in the NFL.

Some will recall Maurice Harris a receiver for Washington for three seasons (2016-18). His size (6-3, 205) was an asset, as well as his jumping ability. He collected 40 receptions in his three Washington seasons.

Fewer will think of Derrius Thompson because he actually wore three jerseys with Washington (84, 13 and 88) in his four Washington seasons. From 1999-2002, Thompson caught 56 passes, including 5 touchdowns.

Very few will recall that an older NFL veteran quarterback Frank Ryan after 11 NFL seasons, came to Washington via Vince Lombardi to back up Sonny Jurgensen. It was the last two seasons that Jurgensen was healthy enough to play every game in 1969 and 1970. Thus, Ryan rarely saw the field.

More will recall speedy wide receiver Anthony Armstrong (2010-11), who caught 51 passes for 974 yards for a memorable 19.1 yards per reception and 5 touchdowns.

No doubt current Commanders fans are hoping 2023 rookie Emmanuel Forbes will be the best No. 13 in Washington history. But that is the future and will begin being written in 13 days when the Commanders host the Cardinals to open the 2023 season.

Jake Scott, a safety, had been a stud for Miami four consecutive seasons, being All-Pro 1st or 2nd team 1972-75. Scott was 30 years old, and George Allen wanted him, so he traded for Scott, who would then play his final three seasons with Washington in 1976-78. Perhaps Allen could not forget that it was Scott who intercepted two passes in Super Bowl VII against Washington and was voted the MVP of the game.

Scott, at free safety, teamed with Ken Houston (strong safety) to have the most experienced safety duo in the NFL. Scott played his last three seasons at ages 31, 32 and 33. Though never again an All-Pro, Scott certainly produced for Washington, intercepting 4, 3, and 7 passes and recovering 6 fumbles in those three Redskins seasons.