Commanders’ Week 1 Loss Shows Need for Aggression

Commanders’ Week 1 loss revealed a lack of explosive plays and aggression.

Sep 8, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) drops back to pass against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third quarter at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

If you watched the Washington Commanders’ Week 1 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers there may have been something missing from the product you expected to see on display.

“If I had to say two right now, it'd be explosive and physical,” is what Commanders coach Dan Quinn said when describing what his team would look like when he was hired earlier this year. “The explosive comes offensively and on the return game from big plays, through the run game, through play action, through the passing game, ones that can change field position. And those are the explosive plays that you have to keep going and being aggressive to go.”

On Sunday, the Washington offense led by rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels produced five explosive plays. Three of them runs by the quarterback himself, and two of them in the passing game to short passes to running backs that Brian Robinson Jr. and Austin Ekeler each turned upfield for big gains.

READ MORE: Commanders Jayden Daniels Discusses Rushing Output Against Bucs

Sep 8, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) drops back to pass against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third quarter at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Three of those plays took place during two touchdown drives while the two others came on drives ending in missed field goals. Unfortunately, the pursuit of explosive plays was not a major theme of the night when the Commanders took on the Buccaneers this past weekend.

According to Zebra Technologies Next Gen Stats, Daniels had the lowest average time to throw (2.35 seconds) along with the fourth-lowest intended air yards (5.2 avg.) of Week 1. Additionally is 1.6 air yards per completion was the lowest of the week and his 8.3 percent aggressiveness rate was also the fourth lowest.

Since the completion of the team’s Week 1 game coach Quinn has pointed out that the beginning of the season is not the end of his ‘doing hard s— with good people’ mission statement, but rather just the beginning of a new chapter in it.

Like the other 31 NFL teams in the league, Washington is already hard at work figuring out how to make sure the next performance is better than the last.

With the New York Giants coming to town, a team that hasn’t lost to the Commanders in four straight contests, the expectations are even higher this weekend than they were in the last given the reputation of the opponent.

If a win isn’t the result in Week 2 then that ‘hard s—’ is only going to get harder, and it’s going to likely require a more aggressive version of Daniels and the Washington offense to get the job done.

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READ MORE: NFL Power Rankings: Commanders Sliding After Loss?

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