Hogs Haven
NFL.com
Commanders’ running game vs. Chiefs’ run defense
Washington has an avenue to making life easy on Marcus Mariota: Its rushing offense entered Week 8 tops in the NFL with 5.4 yards per carry. Some of that is, of course, predicated on Jayden Daniels’ proclivity to gash opponents using timely scrambles, but there’s still a system in place to take advantage of Kansas City’s 15th-ranked unit against the run. Jacory Croskey-Merritt must shake off his funk to make it happen, however. After besting all ball carriers with 6.6 yards per carry in Weeks 1-5, he’s since plummeted to 3.1 yards per carry the past two games. He’s been getting the feature back treatment of late, with 14.6 attempts per games the past three weeks, so the task of taking apart K.C.’s D will likely again fall to him, with Chris Rodriguez Jr. and Jeremy McNichols pitching in from time to time. If the Commanders are able to find ground versus the Chiefs, it will hopefully somewhat mitigate the pass rush led by George Karlaftis, the owner of 30 pressures in 2025, and Chris Jones, who has propelled the Chiefs to a 41.5 pressure percentage when on the field.
Commanders Wire
The Commanders‘ defense ranks fifth-worst in the NFL, allowing 5.8 yards per play through their first seven games. Add to the fact that they are surrendering so many yards each play, they have also only produced three takeaways in seven games. That’s a rough combination when you are trying to win games in the NFL. Going for the trifecta, the Commanders have the second-most missed tackles in the NFL (56).
When talking about the pass defense, the Commanders have given up the sixth-highest total passing yards (1668). The 12 passing touchdowns allowed by opposing offenses rank 10th-worst this season. Their net passing yards they are yielding is even worse, ranking third at 7.1. What that means is they are not getting to the quarterbacks either, because net passing yards include sacked yards and times sacking the quarterback.
This statistical list of touchdowns per team shows the Commanders’ offense is not the problem.
43.2% of the opposing offensive possessions have concluded in scores against the Commanders’ defense. That is the tenth highest in the league. A terrible combination is the fact that the Commanders have the second-lowest rate in the NFL of their defense creating turnovers, as only 4.1 percent of opposing offensive possessions have resulted in a turnover.
The Athletic (paywall)
Washington is still a very good team, and we are in the early days of Jayden Daniels’ sure-to-be awesome career, but last year’s soft schedule and six of their 12 wins coming on the game’s final play masked the flaws present at this stage of...
