Windy City Gridiron
The Bears are returning to the scene of the crime. Not by choice, the NFL schedule says they have to go. The Chicago Bears travel to our nation’s capital to take on the Washington Commanders. Just a shade under a year since the infamous Hail Mary/Tyrique Stevenson incident.
To help get us ready for this Monday Night matchup, we spoke with Andrew York from Hogs Haven (SB Nation’s Washington Commanders site) to get the Commanders’ fans’ views on things heading into this matchup.
1. Let’s start on the offensive side of the ball. Kliff Kingsbury and Jayden Daniels had a special connection last year that catapulted the Commanders to the playoffs. I know Daniels has been hurt, but the offense doesn’t seem to have the same electricity. What’s been your opinion of the Commanders’ offense so far this season?
Actually, I think the offense has followed a very similar pattern of growth this year as last, except that Jayden Daniels got injured in week 2, which stalled their progression. Last year, the offense looked out of sync, and Jayden Daniels didn’t really impress on the field in the first couple of weeks, with a dismal QBR of 31.3 and 37.8 in week 1 and week 2, respectively. Then everything seemed to click in week 3 against the Bengals, with the team scoring 38 points and Jayden Daniels posting a 94.8 QBR. After that, he continued to play at a high level, averaging a QBR of 67.7 over the course of the regular season. This year, the pattern seemed ready to repeat, with Jayden posting a QBR of 51.6 and 20.3 in weeks 1 & 2, respectively, but then getting injured and missing weeks 3 & 4. When he finally came back in week 5, he posted a QBR of 71.8 against the Chargers’ tough defense and finally looks to be in sync again. I’m not sure exactly why the offense (and team in general) has looked out of sync the first couple of weeks each year, but I suspect it’s because HC Dan Quinn is known to run light practices in training camp and rests his starters for most of the preseason in an attempt to keep everyone healthy, so they are still working out some of the kinks when the regular season starts.
2. How have the Commanders looked on defense? What is their weakest point defensively that Ben Johnson could potentially exploit?
The defense has also followed a similar pattern as last year, namely with the coaches wanting to play primarily man coverage in the first few weeks, giving up big plays in the secondary, and finally admitting to themselves they don’t have the personnel to play man and switching to more zone. Switching to more zone coverage last week against the Chargers seems to have improved the overall performance of the defense and allowed the team to hold the Chargers to 10 points, their lowest output of the season. One difference between last season and this...
