The Commanders lead the Browns 24-3 at halftime in front of an almost all-Burgundy crowd at Northwest Stadium. Cleveland was able to limit red-hot Jayden Daniels to a 7-16 start, but he bounced back with a 44-yard touchdown to end the half.
Here are three takeaways from the first half:
Washington’s defense has it’s best half of the season
The Commander’s defense has been their Achilles heel all season but they’ve managed to get off the field on every third down. On three of those third downs, Washington got to Watson — linebacker Frankie Luvu in action on the first two, defensive tackle Jonathan Allen credited with a half sack on the second, and linebacker Bobby Wagner on the last before the half.
Allen’s improvement has been noticeable and is affecting the entire front seven. There was some backlash over the start to his season, but after making strides last week against the Cardinals he had two quarterback hits and four tackles on top of the half sack.
Daniels adjusts to a slow passing start
“Man is when the fun starts,” Jayden Daniels said when asked about the Brown’s defense. Cleveland was able to slow Daniels down initially, but he was unable to eventually find his success against defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz’s aggressive nature. As first seen on his 66-yard completion to Terry McLaurin and then before the half to Dyami Brown for a 41-yard touchdown — snapping his 7/16 start.
His legs have also exposed Schwartz’s man coverage, as Daniels already has 47 rushing yards. His 262 rushing yards are the most ever by a quarterback in their first five career games.
The running game continues to flex its muscles
The duo of Brian Robinson Jr. and Austin Ekeler is showing its potential so far, with 78 total yards on top of Robinson’s two touchdowns. As Daniels has been able to expose the blitz, the offensive line did a fantastic job on trap runs — Ekeler was able to break away for a 57-yard run, which was the most by a Washington running back since 2019.
Other than Zadarius Smith’s first sack, the offensive line has held its own. Most noticeably, rookie left tackle Brandon Coleman has won his fair share of battles against All-Pro Myles Garrett.