Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. likes some things he sees from his defense and doesn’t like others.
Thursday, during his time with the press, he remained positive and did express a few concerns.
“The communication has picked up; the physicality is there,” began Whitt. Now, the playmaking needs to be there. This last game they (Bengals) hit the one over the top early. We got into a lot of cover two and played a lot of shell after that. We didn’t really stop the run out of the shell. So sometimes we tried to get back into a heavier box, and they hit us over the top a couple of more times.”
The Bengals’ Joe Burrow burned them early with the long touchdown strike to Ja’Marr Chase for a 7-0 lead. The defense, though, did force three field goal attempts (two were successful), but the Bengals running game was too effective with 20 carries for 124 yards. So, the Commanders used personnel sets that made them heavier to run against. The Bengals then started hitting them over the top again with Burrow’s passing game.
Indeed, the Commanders’ defense has some issues, real issues. For instance, they have given up 70 first downs in three games, which is tied for 31st in the NFL. Only the Colts have given up more, at 71.
The defense is not getting off of the field.
Whitt told the media they had cleaned up their communication issues and tweaked some coverage issues. “There is still really the third down, where sometimes we got to understand the leverage and make the plays. Now it is to, ‘how can I help them make the plays’?”
He’s right; the third-down defense has been horrible! No, that is not an overreaction. In fact, the numbers show that the Commanders are the absolute worst in the NFL on third-down defense. Three teams are giving up more than 50 percent of their third downs. However, the Commanders are giving up 61.3 percent conversions on third down!
Whitt asked, “How can I help them make the plays?”
At this point, the players have to rise up and own this and do something about it.
