Washington Commanders defensive tackle and team captain Jonathan Allen is not a man of excuses. When you want the truth about something, you go to Allen. When former safety D.J. Swearinger talked himself out of town a few years ago, it was the young Allen who stepped up and said the right things.
The Pro Bowler spoke to the media after Sunday’s 25-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, and he was not happy.
“You are what you put on film, and at this point, we’re 1-3,” Allen said per Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post. “It’s a long season ahead, and one thing we’re not going to do is start turning on each other and making excuses. I thought the officiating was horrible, but it’s not the reason we lost. It helped, but that’s not the reason we lost. We got to do better as a team.”
Some will say Allen made an excuse about the officiating. He didn’t. He was honest. Washington was flagged 11 times for 136 yards, while Dallas was flagged four times for 20 yards. The Commanders were called for two defensive pass interference penalties, one of which was questionable.
Wide receiver Terry McLaurin, on two plays, one of which was in the end zone, didn’t get a flag after obvious contact. Matthew Berry explained it perfectly.
So no pass interference on Diggs grabbing McLaurin’s hip but very next play of course there’s another penalty on WSH. Commanders have played sloppy but call it at least semi fair. Come on.
— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) October 2, 2022
This was critical as it was on 4th-and-15 in the fourth quarter. If not called for pass interference, Diggs should’ve been flagged for illegal contact. It was obvious.
Allen did his part in the game, leading the team with eight tackles from his defensive tackle position.
Jonathan Allen (@jonallen93_) with the club/swim. Allen leans & gets to the QB for the sack! #passrush #httc pic.twitter.com/lUvx98oG7y
— Coach Aaron Day (@dlinevids1) October 2, 2022
