The 2022 Commanders are last in so many crucial stat categories originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Pick an important statistical category, any important statistical category, and there’s a solid chance that you’ll find the 2022 Commanders at the legitimate bottom of that stat. That’s why it’s very difficult to believe Ron Rivera when he makes claims (like he did this past Sunday) that Washington is doing “positive things” and simply has to “sustain” them at a better rate.
To be frank, there are numerous numbers that directly refute the idea that Rivera’s team is on the verge of being successful.
Point differential is always a solid indicator of how competitive a squad is because it captures the most basic aspect of the sport: How much is a club scoring and how effective is the club at preventing its opponents from scoring?
Well, at minus-34, no one has a worse point differential than the Commanders. In fact, they’re the only organization that’s in the minus-30s.
For context, the NFC-East leading Eagles own a point differential of plus-44.
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Sticking with the theme of scoring, score percentage measures how often an offense caps a possession by putting points on the board. And sticking with the theme of being last, Washington’s offense is scoring on 21.6% of its drives.
The league average sits at 36%, while the Chiefs and Raiders are pacing the NFL at 50%.
So, what’s behind the lack of touchdowns and field goals? It doesn’t take a savant to identify a couple of influential factors.
The Commanders are presently picking up just 4.6 yards-per-play, which is yet another area they’re 32nd in (strangely enough, last year’s Super Bowl participants, the Rams and the Bengals, are almost as bad as them, at 4.7 and 4.8 respectively). For a unit with a new quarterback and what appears to be a capable collection of skill players, that’s jarring.
Of course, that new quarterback and collection of skill players won’t be that useful when paired with a disheveled offensive line, and that’s unfortunately what’s going on in Washington these days.
Carson Wentz has already been sacked 17 times, meaning he’s the most-sacked passer through four weeks. Sure, that total is inflated by a nine-sack debacle versus the Eagles, but he was also dropped five times by the Lions. Therefore, in two of his four outings thus far, he’s been harassed at an unacceptable rate.
The Commanders’ defense isn’t free of blame, either. This is a two-pronged mess.
One season after ceding the most passing touchdowns, the unit is… once again currently ceding the most passing touchdowns. Along with the Titans and the Chiefs, Washington has given up 10 six-pointers through the air.
At least Tennessee is next up on the schedule?
Finally, Darrick Forrest is the lone defender to have generated a takeaway for Rivera’s bunch, and that Forrest interception came all the way back in the opener versus the Jaguars. Every non-Commanders franchise has, at minimum, forced three turnovers in 2022.
If the team was last in one of these stats, or, like, 25th in a couple of them, then the circumstances wouldn’t be so dire. And, yes, 13 games remain on the schedule, so there is time for improvement to occur. This isn’t a massive sample size.
However, because Washington is truly the worst as of now in the six aspects of football outlined above, and because those six aspects are both so vital and illustrate that there are flaws across the entire roster as opposed to at a single position, whatever questions that exist about Rivera, his coaching staff and his players are justified.
A step forward was supposed to happen this year, after all. Instead of that, though, the Commanders are sinking — and in many ways, they can’t sink any further.
