Washington

Inside the defensive stand that sealed the Commanders’ win over the Bears

Published

2 years ago

October 14, 2022

Inside the defensive stand that sealed the Commanders’ win over the Bears

CHICAGO — Washington Commanders cornerback Benjamin St-Juste knew the ball was coming to his receiver; he simply didn’t know which route he’d run. It was fourth and 1, sport on the road, and St-Juste lined up as shut as he may to Darnell Mooney, the Chicago Bears’ high wideout. It was essential to acknowledge and react to Mooney’s route as a result of the Commanders had known as a canopy zero blitz, which meant they had been speeding everybody and leaving the defensive backs with out assist.

Mooney may run any fast route, St-Juste thought, although he doubted the Bears would strive a fade. At 6-foot-3, he had an enormous benefit towards the 5-foot-11 Mooney. As Mooney reduce inside, St-Juste suspected a slant. However when Mooney planted his left foot and pivoted outdoors, St-Juste knew it was a “zigzag.” Mooney was headed for the pylon.

As a result of it was such a fast throw in such a small space, St-Juste by no means appeared for the ball. He sprinted towards Mooney and hit him because the ball reached his fingers. In that split-second, Mooney hung within the air, over the purpose line, holding the game-winning landing. However St-Juste churned his legs and thrust his lengthy proper arm up between Mooney’s fingers. The ball squirted free for a second, till Mooney, falling out of bounds, reached out and snatched it once more. However by then, it was too late. St-Juste had pushed him behind the purpose line.

Commanders finish shedding streak, maintain off Bears with defensive stand

In April 2021, on the evening Washington used a third-round decide on a nook from Minnesota, Basic Supervisor Martin Mayhew mentioned one of many issues that stood out about St-Juste was his 78 5/8-inch wingspan. In contrast to most huge corners, Mayhew mentioned, St-Juste “makes use of his size very nicely.” Eighteen months later, on a cold evening in Chicago, St-Juste’s size appeared just like the distinction between a win and a loss.

“Shout out to my lengthy arms,” St-Juste mentioned, grinning. “That is what actually helped. Perhaps if I had shorter arms, possibly I don’t make that play.”

Although Washington’s 12-7 win Thursday evening was ugly on each side of the ball, and although loads of huge issues stay on protection — the unit was flagged for 2 too-many-men-on-the-field penalties, allowed a protracted landing on one in all them and practically misplaced the sport late — it has now improved for 3 weeks straight. Defenders mentioned their resilience throughout a brief, chaotic week proved they’re able to persevering with to ascend.

There appeared to be two keys Thursday. The primary was the brand new mixture of defensive backs. After benching cornerback William Jackson III final week — he didn’t journey with the group and was the topic of commerce rumors Thursday — the Commanders moved St-Juste outdoors. Within the nickel subpackage, Rachad Wildgoose performed slot nook, and within the huge nickel, Kam Curl moved from security to fit, and Darrick Forrest performed security.

The second was defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio’s sport plan. In movie research, gamers mentioned, they observed Bears quarterback Justin Fields struggled to determine coverages and to progress by way of a number of reads. They wished to cease the run — Chicago offensive coordinator Luke Getsy’s desire — and power him to ask Fields to throw. In the event that they lined nicely even briefly, they might generate stress and power Fields to scramble.

“You noticed it within the sport,” St-Juste mentioned. “As quickly as he did not see that he had a receiver open, he would run. And that is what we wished him to do.”

Within the first half, Washington made well timed performs to finish red-zone threats — a deflected move ended up within the fingers of defensive deal with Jonathan Allen, and the road stuffed a fourth-and-goal run on the 1-yard line — however to start out the second, it obtained burned.

On second and 9, the Bears stunned the Commanders by going no huddle. If Washington had a play name in, some defenders hadn’t heard it by the point Fields snapped the ball and heaved it 40 yards down the left sideline for a landing to Dante Pettis.

“We was completely un-combobulated,” Wildgoose mentioned.

Three possessions later, Fields obtained the ball again, down 5 at Chicago’s 38 with 1:49 left.

Initially, maybe partly as a result of Chicago’s offense had struggled, Del Rio was conservative and didn’t blitz. Washington allowed brief passes, buying and selling yards for clock. Then the defensive position misplaced focus.

4 takeaways from the Commanders’ 12-7 win over the Bears

On first down, defensive finish James Smith-Williams got here off the sting and put stress on Fields. The quarterback appeared left for an alley to flee and noticed a uncommon gap within the pocket. Both defensive finish Montez Sweat had freelanced by speeding inside or defensive deal with Daron Payne had not gone outdoors to safe containment.

“I simply assume we obtained a bit fatigued, tried to take a shot; issues occur like that,” Smith-Williams mentioned.

Fields escaped the pocket, juked away from security Bobby McCain, who appeared to take a poor angle in pursuit, and burst previous Sweat, who was jogging. Fields ran for 39 yards till Wildgoose popped him out of bounds on the 5.

“That’s undisciplined,” Coach Ron Rivera mentioned. “That’s the place you get offended as a result of, once more, we had an opportunity to maintain him; we’d finished a reasonably good job with quite a lot of the frenzy lanes. And for no matter motive, we obtained a bit undisciplined on the finish. And it price us.”

watch Fields sign “Pump” aka a double transfer to Pettis on the backside of the display earlier than his lengthy scramble. Was going for the kill shot. pic.twitter.com/rDlVvWxRRa
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) October 14, 2022

Chaos ensued. Allen limped off with an harm. The Bears lined up. Washington had 10 defenders on the sector, two of whom had been attempting to name timeout, and a blunder on the sideline as backup defensive tackles John Ridgeway and Daniel Clever began in after which each stopped. The Commanders obtained fortunate — Fields couldn’t discover an open receiver and ran out of bounds — and Clever grew livid on the sideline, punching himself within the helmet.

“S— would not occur the way you need it generally,” Ridgeway mentioned, chuckling.

The following play, Smith-Williams batted down a move, and on the subsequent one, Fields threw to the again proper nook of the tip zone as Pettis and Forrest jostled for place. Pettis couldn’t cling onto the ball, and the referee didn’t throw a flag. As Forrest lay on the bottom, the wind knocked out of him, the group at Soldier Area protested the dearth of a pass-interference name.

“It was a PI that we did not get. Easy,” Fields instructed reporters.

“We had been battling for place for the ball, so I really feel prefer it was an incredible no-call,” Forrest mentioned.

Within the locker room after St-Juste’s cease, the tackles appeared sore and spent from chasing Fields. Linebacker Cole Holcomb moved slowly as a result of he’d began cramping within the second quarter and performed by way of it. McCain, the protection, jokingly scolded Forrest for by chance hitting him when he’d had an interception in his fingers simply earlier than halftime.

Earlier this season, that missed play may’ve been tragic, the distinction between a win and a loss. However for one evening, no less than, it earned laughs.

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Washington

Early Storylines For Lions Playoff Matchup Against Commanders

Published

3 hours ago

January 13, 2025

Press Room

Early Storylines For Lions Playoff Matchup Against Commanders

The Detroit Lions (15-2) will welcome a Washington Commanders (13-5) team riding high after their first playoff victory in decades.

New head coach Dan Quinn has rebuilt the culture and has a young signal-caller that earned the respect of his teammates.

After defeating the Buccaneers, 23-20, a whole new challenge awaits the upstart NFC East squad.

Detroit is now rested and will be fully prepared to win in front of their home fans at Ford Field.

Dan Campbell has his team and the entire organization pulling in the same direction. In a season that is “Super Bowl or bust,” the back-to-back NFC North division champs are as primed as ever to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl that takes place in New Orleans.

Here are some early storylines Lions OnSI is following this week.

How Lions will handle rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels?

Washington’s rookie quarterback is the favorite to win NFL Rookie of the Year after an exceptional season. He completed 69 percent of his passes in the regular season and threw for 3,568 yards and 25 touchdown passes.

Daniels also is a dangerous rushing threat, as he rushed for 891 yards and six touchdowns. The Lions have struggled against mobile quarterbacks at points this season, as Buffalo’s Josh Allen gave them fits.

The Lions are 2-1 this season against mobile quarterbacks. Allen handed them a loss in Week 15, but the defense was able to contain Kyler Murray in Week 3 and Anthony Richardson in Week 12. Allen rushed for 68 yards, while Richardson ran for 61 and Murray notched 45.

Though it will be the first time the Lions have faced off against Daniels, it won’t be the first time he’s seen Detroit rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold. The two players matched up against each other in the SEC for two seasons, with Arnold recording an interception for his Alabama team against Daniels and LSU.

Can Commanders stop Lions rushing attack?

The Lions’ offense has been one of the league’s best this season, and the run game has been a huge part of that success. Detroit’s offense stands to get a boost this week as well, as David Montgomery is expected to return for Saturday’s game.

Jahmyr Gibbs earned NFC Offensive Player of the Month honors in Montgomery’s absence and will still get plenty of touches. Against the 30th-ranked Commanders rushing defense, both Gibbs and Montgomery could stand to have big days.

Will Aaron Glenn blitz at a high rate still?

With all the injuries to Detroit’s defense, the game plan for defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn has involved plenty of blitzing. Against the Vikings in Week 18, the defense utilized a number of different blitz packages to get after Sam Darnold.

Daniels has had plenty of success against the blitz, posting an ESPN QBR of 90.3 which ranked third in the league. If the Lions are not disciplined in their rush lanes, then they will also risk giving up long scrambles as Daniels can evade defenders.

The rookie passer has proven his abilities to handle blitzes, so whether or not Aaron Glenn continues to do so could be a deciding factor in Saturday’s game.

Lions injuries to monitor

The Lions, like most weeks, have some injuries to monitor heading into the Divisional Round. Both cornerback Terrion Arnold and offensive lineman Kevin Zeitler suffered injuries in Week 18, and the bye week gave them an extra week to recover.

Arnold has been reported as day-to-day with a foot injury, while Zeitler was given an optimistic prognosis by Campbell last week. Things didn’t sound as good for defensive lineman Pat O’Connor.

We should learn more about the availability of all these players on Monday, as Dan Campbell is scheduled to speak with the media.

Odds: Lions Are 8.5-Point Favorite Against Commanders

Lots of familiarity between Lions and Commanders this week. Commanders have former Lions QB David Blough and OC Anthony Lynn on staff.
The Lions have former Washington QB Mark Brunell, LB Shaun Dion Hamilton and WR Antwaan Randle El on staff. @DetroitPodcast
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— Christian Booher (@CBooher_) January 13, 2025

Commanders have familiar faces on their staff

Part of the reason the Commanders had success this season is the staff Quinn assembled.

Offensive coordinator Kilff Kingsbury is a respected play-caller and will again see his name surface for available head coaching jobs.

Former Lions quarterback David Blough, who reportedly aided in the game-winning touchdown call against the Eagles, is currently serving as the Commanders assistant quarterbacks coach.

Former Lions offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn was eventually demoted by Campbell before being let go.

Lance Newmark is now in his first season as assistant general manager of the Commanders.

Newmark joined the Commanders with nearly three decades of NFL experience, including 26 seasons with the Detroit Lions. In Detroit, he most recently served as the senior director of player personnel.

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Washington

BIZ BUZZ: Antonios go to Washington

Published

14 hours ago

January 12, 2025

Press Room

Donald Trump is scheduled to be inaugurated—again—as the president of the United States on Jan. 20 in Washington.

Among those who will witness his return to power as the 47th president of the world’s largest economy are some of his old friends from the Philippines.

We’re talking about Century Properties Group founder and chair Jose EB Antonio and his wife, Hilda.