Commanders’ impressive resilience shines despite Week 6 loss at the Ravens
This was a game the Commanders would have lost convincingly under previous regimes.
The main takeaway from the Washington Commanders’ loss to the Baltimore Ravens is obvious. This team is not yet good enough to seriously threaten the league’s best.
They indeed have an exceptional young quarterback and more than a few playmakers on offense. They have indeed improved their defensive line and linebackers. But it is equally true that they simply do not have the talent in the secondary to stop balanced offenses.
They do not have a single secondary player who is above average in man coverage. That has to change before they can compete at the highest level and go deep into the postseason.
However, there was one positive element above all else from the Week 6 performance. This team – the second-worst in the NFL in 2023 – went on the road against one of the league’s powerhouses. They played without their best running back and lost two top defensive linemen during the game. They were, for the most part, thoroughly outclassed by a very talented, well-coached team. Yet right up until the final minute, Washington made this a competitive game.
Commanders showed resilience in the face of exceptional opposition
For the first time in many years, Washington has a tough resilient squad that can play with anyone in the league.
That resilience was on display during the opening drive. On the second play, Lamar Jackson hit Zay Flowers with a short screen in the left flat. Two Commanders defenders – Mike Sainristil and Quan Martin – were in position to make a play. They essentially ran into each other, allowing one blocker to handle both of them.
Flowers was off to the races. He scampered 44 yards to the Washington 20-yard-line. It was something Commanders’ fans would grow tired of seeing by halftime – the explosive wide receiver running at will through the secondary.
On the ensuing play, Martin crashed the line and brought down Derrick Henry as he tried to bounce outside. The running back is a future Pro Football Hall of Famer who outweighs the second-year safety by more than 50 pounds, yet he got him on the ground. The next play, Jackson’s pass for Mark Andrews was deflected and Sainristil was there to snag Washington’s first interception of the season.
Think of that for a moment. Washington’s two young defensive backs get burned on a huge gain early, and immediately come back to each make a play that helped give the Commanders an early lead. Several years from now, Martin and Sainristil may be the only current members of the defensive backfield still on the team and they showed why.
That resilience was on display throughout the game. With the score tied 3-3, the Ravens’ excellent defense forced a three-and-out. This is typically the time when momentum would begin to shift and Baltimore would seize control. But they didn’t, at least not right way, because Washington’s beleaguered defense forced their own three and out on the next series. Percy Butler, Johnny Newton, and Dante
Fowler Jr. – all players who have not done very much this season – made plays on the series to force a quick punt.
In the series that followed, Olamide Zaccheaus dropped a beautifully thrown Jayden Daniels pass that would have resulted in a first down. The Commanders had to punt. Right before half-time, the wide receiver redeemed himself by catching a quick out, breaking a tackle, and getting out of bounds. This gave Washington a shot at a field goal just before the interval.
