Visiting the Washington Commanders this weekend, the Atlanta Falcons are hoping the game will be the second in a long and successful career for quarterback Michael Penix Jr.

On the Commanders’ side of things, however, they’re hoping Sunday night will be the latest game in a highly successful rookie campaign for quarterback Jayden Daniels, who is the favorite to win the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year Award for 2024.

Those two statements show where each quarterback is in his career, even as Washington and the Falcons stand incredibly close in the playoff standings entering Week 17.

Because of the differences, however, one key to the Commanders getting a win in what will likely be their final home game of the season is to force the opposing quarterback to throw the ball as much as possible.

That’s because one of the best ways to defeat your opponents is to force them into becoming something they don’t want to be. For the Falcons, they want to be a running team.

Running backs Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier provide Atlanta with a potent one-two combination that can shorten a game, give their team control of the clock, and put pressure on opponents because shorter games mean fewer possessions to produce points.

In the month of December alone, the Falcons’ running backs have produced a 4.2 yards per carry average and ran the ball a league-high 132 times.

As long as they can run it against Washington, Atlanta is going to do it. So, getting them off of that trend is going to take two things. First, it’s going to take stopping that rushing attack in the first place.

Commanders defensive tackle Jonathan Allen tore a pec muscle in the team’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 6 and hasn’t seen the playing field since. He has seen the practice field for two weeks now and if his ‘questionable’ tag entering the weekend becomes an ‘active’ designation before Saturaday at 4 p.m. ET then he figures to provide a boost to a run defense that hasn’t been at the top of the NFL’s defensive statistics this season.

And if his return can help Washington force a few more 3rd-and-6s instead of 3rd-and-2s, then that’ll help the cause greatly.

Again, this is all in an effort to put the ball in Penix’s hands. The same hands that completed passes an average of just 5.6 yards past the line of scrimmage in his NFL debut against the New York Giants in Week 16, half a yard off the lowest depth of target average by a starting quarterback in the league (Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins).

Because if Penix isn’t comfortable enough to push the ball downfield but is forced into passing downs early, then the Commanders not only gain the upper hand but begin to carve a path that leads straight toward clinching a playoff berth this weekend.

Stick with CommanderGameday and the Locked On Commanders podcast for more FREE coverage of the Washington Commanders throughout the 2024 season.

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