The Washington Commanders' defense is off to a rough start to the NFL season

Published Sep. 9, 2024 5:57 p.m. ET

Associated Press

While Jayden Daniels will be the focal point of the Washington Commanders' season, their revamped defense did the rookie quarterback and the rest of the team no favors in a rough start to the season.

Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers scored 37 points — the second most in the NFL through the first 15 games of Week 1 — and racked up 392 yards. The pass rush created some early pressure but sacked Mayfield only once, and the secondary struggled as a result.

“If you (have) a 50/50 contested ball and they go up and get it, that’s football,” coach Dan Quinn said on a video call with reporters Monday. “What I do want to see better from us is our pre- and post-snap communication, and there were a few instances where that wasn’t as strong as it needs to be.”

Six of the 11 defensive starters are new, but Quinn did not want to use the overhaul and lack of continuity as an excuse, noting that months of work have gone into preparing for this. A 37-20 season-opening loss was not what he and his staff had in mind over that time.

“Those are the moments that you do have to be in and fight through it because when you’re in it, in that moment and it doesn’t go your way, you stand taller, you fight stronger,” Quinn said. “Sometimes you have to go through the other end of that fire.”

A visit Sunday by the offensively challenged New York Giants is the next chance for the unit to show some improvement.

What’s working

Daniels was a respectable 17 of 24 for 184 yards passing in his pro debut, which got better after a wayward backward pass on Washington's first offensive play turned into a loss of 15 yards.

Veteran offensive lineman Sam Cosmi credited Daniels for showing poise throughout.

“I grade myself hard,” Daniels said. “We didn’t win. I’m a competitor. I like to win, but overall it went well — pretty well."

What needs help

The Commanders already are making a change at kicker, releasing Cade York after he missed his two field-goal attempts, wide right from 47 and 56 yards. They will not send a conditional seventh-round pick to Cleveland as part of the trade to get York from the Browns because he did not last at least two games.

“It’s certainly not ideal," Quinn said. “But I think it does speak to (the idea of) if it’s not right, you don’t sit pat.”

Washington is signing kicker Austin Seibert to replace York, according to a person with knowledge of the move. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the deal.

Seibert, 27, spent training camp with the New York Jets. The Oklahoma product has made 45 of 56 field-goal attempts in the league since 2019 and becomes the sixth kicker on the Commanders' roster since January after Joey Slye, Brandon McManus, Ramiz Ahmed, Riley Patterson and York.

Stock up

Running backs Austin Ekeler and Brian Robinson Jr. combined to catch seven passes for 101 yards. They were the team's top two receivers.

“It makes you defend the whole field,” Quinn said. “The running backs in the passing game were two of the people that I thought stood out on a tough day.”

Stock down

Cornerback Benjamin St-Juste was on the wrong side of a couple of big Buccaneers catches. While some of that was due to Mike Evans being one of the best receivers in football, the Commanders expect better from St-Juste moving forward.

“That’s one of the things that I really do admire about him: the ability to self-correct,” Quinn said. “For all of us, that’s important, but as a ballplayer knowing what to do and how to fix something, that’s critical.”

Injuries

Quinn hopes to have rookie defensive tackle Johnny Newton available sooner than later. The second-round pick out of Illinois is working his way back from offseason foot surgery.

Key number

9 — Third-down conversions for Tampa Bay on 13 attempts, a success rate of 69.2%. No defense was worse on third down in Week 1.

Next steps

The Commanders are 2 1/2-point favorites on BetMGM Sportsbook in their home opener, but thinking the Giants are beatable would be foolish even after New York got blown out 28-6 by Minnesota. Daniel Jones is 5-1-1 in his career against Washington with 11 touchdowns (10 passing) and just three interceptions.

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