Season on verge of collapse after Commanders' ugly performance originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
LANDOVER, Md. — The Washington Commanders came into Sunday’s contest in desperate need of a win but later proved incapable of that accomplishment.
In a sleepy affair that saw both quarterbacks get beat up but the game come down to the final play, the Titans proved too much for a Commanders team now reeling with a 1-4 record and a short week coming. This 21-17 loss hurt. A lot.
What’s worse for this team is that quarterback Carson Wentz (25 of 38, 359 passing yards, two touchdowns) actually played pretty well before his late interception at the goal line. And the defense played pretty well, too — and they still lost.
The questions are going to get quite serious for Washington head coach Ron Rivera and the staff he’s assembled with four losses in a row.
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Stock Up
- Dyami Brown – Who knew the Dyami breakout was coming? He exploded for 105 receiving yards and two touchdowns, making the first scoring grab of his career. Drafted in the third round last year, Brown’s rookie season was largely a dud though his talent has always been tantalizing. An elite deep threat in college, that showed up on Sunday as Brown got deep twice for TDs and showed tremendous skill tracking the passes in the air.
- Montez Sweat – Another Commanders player decided to have a breakout game and this time it came from Sweat on the defensive line. He logged two sacks and five tackles, his first two sacks of the season, and showed a dominant force on the outside for the Commanders defense.
- D-Line – Jon Allen and Daron Payne kept up their stellar play and reserve D-end James Smith-Williams made a nice sack on Tennessee quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Perhaps most important, the defensive line held Titans RB Derrick Henry to under four yards-per-carry.
Stock Down
- Andrew Norwell – The Commanders left guard was bad on Sunday, and when he wasn’t getting penalized, he was getting steamrolled. Washington’s decisions to bank on veterans Norwell and Trai Turner as their guards this season have been a major mistake. The talent drop off from Brandon Scherff and Ereck Flowers last year to this collection is a major downgrade.
- Bobby McCain – Another veteran with a penchant for mistakes, the safety allowed a deep shot in the second half that set up the Titans third score. It seemed like McCain thought the play was over, but it wasn’t, and the result was a big Tennessee gain.
- Dax Milne – The Commanders punt returner makes questionable decision when fielding punts, and doesn’t seem to get moving upfield when he does catch them.
- 3rd downs – Washington went 0-for-9 on third down conversions. That’s awful.
- Rushing attempts – The Commanders only had 17 carries in the game – and five of them were Wentz running when he was in trouble. That’s not enough. It all added up to yet another loss and what should be a must-win game on a short week at the Chicago Bears on Thursday night.
