Hogs Haven
The Commanders suffered a comprehensive loss to the Packers in Week 2 that was worse than the 18-27 score line indicated. The worst part was the rash of injuries to key players, including the franchise quarterback. The beating inflicted by the Packers was exacerbate by baffling coaching decisions, most notably, the decision to abandon the run early and only come back to it after their two best run blockers were injured.
The Week 3 offered a chance to get right following a 10 day break against a 1-1 Raiders team on a short week. Dan Quinn’s coaching staff seized the opportunity to right the ship, with major adjustments to personnel grouping and the game plan. Injury replacements and young players stepped up to deliver a 41- 24 win, with the Commanders leading from the opening score and slamming the door in the second half.
The Raiders could be one of the weaker teams on the Commanders’ schedule, and there are still plenty of issues to work through. But the dominant win did a lot to erase the smell of the Week 2 hiding.
Marcus Mariota did a great job of filling in for a rehabbing JD5, for the third time since joining the team. The running game came back with a vengeance. The revamped offensive line allowed just two pressures – a remarkable improvement after giving 4 sacks and 4 QB hits to the Packers. The defense kept Geno Smith under pressure and on the ground, while holding the Raiders to just 93 rushing yards at 3.3 yards per carry, and playing penalty free. And the special teams units stepped up to the next level, delivering one of the week’s highlight plays, while containing their opponents in coverage.
Let’s take a look at how the Commanders rolled with the punches to deliver a knockout blow against the Raiders as they look to ride the momentum to a road win over the Atlanta Falcons.
Marcus Mariota stepped in for the injured starter and the offense didn’t miss a beat. In fact, it was the most efficient it’s been this season at 0.220 EPA/play (NFL rank 5th), improving on the Week 1 performance against the Giants (0.155 EPA/play, rank 10th).
Mariota completed 15/21 attempts for 207 yds (9.86 Y/A), 1 TD, and 7 first downs, while taking just 1 sack for 8 yds. He ran the ball 6 times for 40 yards with 1 TD and 1 lost fumble (Rush Success Rate 50%). That effort was good for a 54.8 Total QBR, which ranked 14th in Week 3 and bettered Jayden Daniels’ best mark this season (49.2 vs Giants).
Marcus was flagged for a 10 yd intentional grounding penalty late in the 4th quarter.
Kliff Kingsbury flipped the script from last-week’s pass heavy game plan, running the ball early and often, with a 32:22 run/pass balance. The bulk of the load was carried by the RBs. While the offensive line got a lot of run blocking help from the TEs...
