3 Things Commanders Need to 'Stash and Trash' From Week 12 Loss to Cowboys

As always, following a Washington Commanders win or loss there are things that can be kept and things that need to be tossed.

Sep 29, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Washington Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu (4) celebrates a fumble recovery against the Arizona Cardinals in the second half at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Washington Commanders' latest loss to the Dallas Cowboys has some wondering if there aren't some big changes needed moving forward.

Nothing like firing anyone, of course, - at least most understand that's not necessary - but the Commanders offense specifically needs to recapture the spark they had earlier this season.

While the Washington offense looks to get back on track, the team as a whole is in need of a win after dropping three straight and putting their postseason hopes in jeopardy. We're getting back to our 'stash and trash' column each week where we identify three things to keep and three things to leave behind from the previous game, only now we're doing it with a new wrinkle.

Sep 29, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Washington Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu (4) celebrates a fumble recovery against the Arizona Cardinals in the second half at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

3 THINGS TO STASH FROM WEEK 12

PLAYER: LB FRANKIE LUVU

It's not in the roster sense because there's no need to wonder if Luvu is a secure part of that, but from an impact sense.

Luvu has played the second-most snaps on defense this season for the Commanders just behind fellow linebacker Bobby Wagner. With those snaps, Luvu has placed himself second on the team in tackles for loss, quarterback hits, and sacks while ranking third in tackles.

Beyond the stat box, however, Luvu's presence as a leader is only accentuated by his explosiveness and physicality on the field.

PLAY: 86-YARD TOUCHDOWN TO RECEIVER TERRY MCLAURIN

We spent some time discussing the fact that McLaurin runs 76 percent of his routes split wide left in the offensive formation. In Week 12, that number hit 74 percent. His touchdown, and the only big play of the day for the No. 1 receiver, came when he was aligned on the right side - and he wasn't even the far outside receiver there.

Coming out in an 11 personnel quads look McLaurin started the play as the inside receiver of three that were part of the 4x1 right side alignment on the boundary side of the formation.

At the snap both receivers Noah Brown and Luke McCaffrey ran deep routes that helped elevate the Cowboys' shell coverage while running back Austin Ekeler and tight end Zach Ertz ran underneath routes flowing from left to right.

With quarterback Jayden Daniels rolling to the right as well Dallas cornerback Jourdan Lewis was left with the unenviable task of dropping too deep or staying too short. Putting him in a no-win scenario is the design of the play and when he gave Daniels enough space to dump the ball over his head but in front of his help the rookie took it.

While we could use it as a victory lap to say 'We told you so' to McLaurin's moving alignment, the play really illustrates the need to pair route combinations better so that the defense is manipulated and Daniels can make the right play in relation to how they react. Lined up left, right, or wherever, that's the kind of winning play design we want to see more of.

Sep 23, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Washington Commanders cornerback Benjamin St-Juste (25) reacts after a play against the Cincinnati Bengals in the second half at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images / Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

3 THINGS TO TRASH FROM WEEK 12

PLAYER: CB BENJAMIN ST-JUSTE

This is where things can get sticky, so we need to be clear here: We are not calling St-Juste 'trash'. We are saying that the play of the player, or something within that arena needs to 'be trashed' moving forward.

Of course, this week's player entry isn't as much about what we want, but what we see.

St-Juste played just 58 percent of the defensive snaps on Sunday against the Cowboys appearing on 38 reps. The Athletic's Ben Standig pointed out that's the lowest percentage of snaps the cornerback has appeared on since his rookie season.

That fact opens up the conversation that when All-Pro cornerback Marshon Lattimore makes his team debut with the Commanders it may come at the expense of St-Juste.

A starting secondary of Lattimore, Mike Sainristil, Noah Igbinoghene, Quan Martin, and Jeremy Chinn would leave just Martin as the last remaining Ron Rivera holdover starting in the group.

It would also make he and defensive tackle Daron Payne the last remaining holdover starters on the defense as a whole, albeit partially because Jonathan Allen suffered a season-ending pec injury.

PLAY: TWO DOWNFIELD OPTIONS RESTRICTED TO THE SAME SIDE OF THE FIELD

We talke about manipulating the defense into doing what you want, and if you're going to overload one side of the formation with skill position players there are certainly ways to do that.

Those efforts become a bit harder to succeed in, however, when the route combinations get thin.

On a 2nd and 7 play on the Commanders' ninth possession of the game offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury dialed up a route combination where both receiver Terry McLaurin and tight end Zach Ertz ran deep routes on the left side of the field. Underneath of them was tight end Ben Sinnott, also on the left side. There were no routes to the right.

The play design actually worked, and Ertz was able to come free within a gaggle of Dallas defenders, but as he flattened his route Daniels threw the ball upfield and the result was a flailing and failing attempt by the tight end to bring in the ball.

Meanwhile, because of Daniels' eyes, Sinnott had become an open receiver and likely would have gained at least most of the yards needed for a first down.

Instead, the ball fell incomplete, Washington failed to convert on 3rd and 7, and a three-and-out was the result of the possession. There are multiple layers to the play that leave something to be desired including the long-developing routes that had similar break depths putting both of Daniels' downfield targets in the same area until late in the play, the miscommunication 12 weeks into the season between target and passer on what to do in that scenario, and the bypassing of a shorter more efficient opportunity to get good yards and stay on schedule.

In the past, we'd see Daniels use his eyes to either pull defenders away from Ertz by looking at Sinnott or vice versa. In this play that did not happen either, and the whole operation failed - not because of one thing - but because of several points of failure.

TEAM: TIME OF POSSESSION

The Commanders entered the game 1-4 in contests where they lost the time of possession battle. After losing it to Dallas 35:12 to 24:48, they're now 1-5. That one win came against the Chicago Bears and the odds of that win happening the way it did were astronomically low.

The bottom line up front is, unless Tyrique Stevenson is on the field Washington doesn't just need to win the time of possession battle to win games, it has to.

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