Hogs Haven
The Commanders took on the Giants in their home and season opener and walked away with a 21-6 victory. As is usually the case in season openers, some things looked good, while others looked bad. Regardless of some sloppy play, the most important part is Washington started the season 1-0 against a division rival.
The Giants inept offense didn’t provide much of a test for the Commanders; however, they should be tested plenty on Thursday night against a tough Green Bay team on the road in Lambeau.
Below are my Studs and Duds of the game followed by some notes.
Bill Croskey-Merritt: Bill carried his preseason hype into week one and MOST CERTAINLY didn’t disapoint. Despite not getting the start, he led all running backs in carries with 10 and turned those 10 carries into 82 yards and his first career regular season touchdown. He showed patience, vision, burst, speed, lateral agility and BLOCKING (see Deebo’s rushing touchdown).
Deebo Samuel: Samuel was as advertised in his Washington debut. As was expected, he was used all over the formation by Kliff Kingsbury, and he was effective wherever he lined up. He led all receivers with seven receptions for 77 yards and added a rushing attempt for a 19-yard touchdown. He even showed his blocking skills when a run was called his way. He did have an early drop but it was on a high and hot pass by Daniels that was a tough one to bring in.
John Bates: All this man does is the dirty work! On the afternoon, he was doing his usual (which many of us have taken for granted), and this was against a good defensive front of the Giants. His block on Bill’s long run was BEAUTIFUL (see clip above).
Daron Payne: Payne had a MONSTER game! He was making plays all over the field and looked like the Payne of old. He collected four tackles (including a tackle for a loss and a stuff), a sack, a quarterback hit, multiple pressures and two batted down passes.
Javon Kinlaw: The most heavily criticized off-season move by Adam Peters turned out to be a great one if we are going by the first game of the season. Kinlaw was incredibly disruptive all game and although he may not have stuffed the stat sheet like Payne did, he was equally as effective. He finished with four tackles, one for a loss, two stuffs, two quarterback hits and multiple pressures.
Dorance Armstrong and Deatrich Wise: The EDGE duo set the tone early and often in the game. They combined for seven total tackles, two tackles for a loss (one by each), a sack (Armstrong), two quarterback hits and multiple pressures (I had Armstrong with at least eight). Most importantly, they both did a great job setting the edge.
