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Lattimore’s gone through a rollercoaster start to the campaign. One game, he looks like the shutdown corner who took the league by storm once upon a time. Next, he’s a liability, getting burned for significant gains or conceding crucial penalties in key moments. It’s feast or famine for the four-time Pro Bowler right now, and that won’t go unnoticed by Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson as part of his strategic planning for their Monday Night Football showdown.
Johnson [has] an innovative offensive mind. There is a lot of motion. There are numerous trick plays and misdirections. He’s a master at exploiting weaknesses and capitalizing on the defenses he faces. It’s been hard work installing his philosophy and raising standards in Chicago so far, but there have been signs of life from the Bears over the last couple of games.
The offensive guru also boasts an exceptional record coming off bye weeks, so it’s a challenge Washington must be ready for. That bears special significance for Lattimore, who’ll be up against either Rome Odunze or D.J. Moore throughout the contest.
Moore and Odunze are both first-round picks. They can both punish errors or lapses in concentration at will. They will also feel confident about getting the upper hand on Lattimore, who’s found life testing against quicker receivers throughout the campaign to date.
It’ll be interesting to see which version of Lattimore shows up at Northwest Stadium. Will the Commanders see the confident, lockdown presence in the face of one of the league’s most explosive tandems, or will fans be forced to watch a shaky, confidence-sapped coverage presence in a must-win game?
Commanders Wire
“[W]e changed a lot of the techniques that we played last year, especially in the run game to this year. And it was challenging for them as coaches because it was totally different than what we did last year. And I take my hat off to those guys because they were not only willing to do it, they ran with it.”
Whitt then said he felt the techniques are a good for for Payne, who has adjusted well. “I think the techniques that we’re coaching now up front are more in Payne’s wheelhouse of what he is used to doing. And so that’s the first thing. And then collectively as a whole d-line crew, they’re just playing more together.”
Whitt likes the progress he has observed in second-year DT Johnny Newton, who is out of Illinois. Newton contributed two solo tackles against the Chargers. One was for a loss, and he also contributed a QB hit and deflected the key interception into the hands of Mike Sainristil, stopping a Chargers’ touchdown threat.”His confidence has really grown. I think it’s been good to have [DT] Eddie [Goldman] here and Kinlaw and [DT] Sheldon [Day], those guys really...
