Commanders' Week 18 Win Further Proves the Value of WR Terry McLaurin

The Washington Commanders do a lot of things well, but they are at their best when Terry McLaurin is getting involved.

Jan 5, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin (17) celebrates after scoring the game-winning touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

The Washington Commanders notched their 12th win of the season by defeating the Dallas Cowboys 23-19 in Arlington, Texas on Sunday.

By doing so, the Commanders not only secured their first 12-win season since winning 14 in 1991, they also clinched the 6th seed in the NFC Playoff bracket and earned a rematch against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this weekend in Raymond James Stadium.

If Washington is going to turn that rematch into revenge, however, three things in this week's edition of 'Stash and Trash' need to be carried over from Week 18 to the Wild Card Round, and three others need to be fixed.

Jan 5, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin (17) celebrates after scoring the game-winning touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

3 THINGS TO STASH FROM WEEK 18

SECURING THE FUTURE BY RE-WRITING HISTORY

Receiver Terry McLaurin set a new franchise record on Sunday becoming the first in franchise history to record 13 touchdown catches in a single-season.

His eight receptions against the Cowboys matched his season high and was the seventh time this year he's notched at least six receptions in a game.

Not surprisingly, the team has lost just one game in those occurrences, but has a much more humble record of 6-4 when McLaurin falls short of six catches.

LEGGING IT OUT

Commanders coach Dan Quinn made the decision to sit quarterback Jayden Daniels in the second half of the win over Dallas in favor of veteran Marcus Mariota.

The decision was due to some soreness in Daniels' leg and the fact that Quinn realized the team was going to need the quarterback to have a bigger role in the ground game than he wanted his rookie star to take on in a partially inconsequential game.

Daniels had run the ball three times for 28 yards in the first half before taking a knee for a one-yard loss at the end of it, so it isn't like he wasn't being effective in that arena himself. However, with the playoffs looming and after having relied on Daniels to dominate on the ground against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 17, Quinn opted to save his young quarterback for the Wild Card Round and it worked like a charm.

While Daniels produced an impressive 9.3 yards per carry average in the first half before taking that knee, Mariota produced 11.2 yards per carry in the second half and came away leading the team with 56 yards on five carries and a touchdown run.

Perhaps the most significant run of the day came on 4th-and-1 from the Dallas 49-yard line where Mariota took off for a gain of 33-yards that setup the game-winning throw to McLaurin just three snaps later.

The game, and performances by both quarterbacks, further cements that for this Commanders team having passers who can run isn't an added bonus, it's a downright focal point of the offense.

MORE THAN JUST ONE PASSER

Distributing the ball is the most-important part of playing quarterback in the NFL. Even the most talented athlete can't play quarterback at the highest level if they can't throw the ball.

However, that doesn't mean that the quarterback is the only guy on the field at a given time who can throw, and nobody displayed that more than receiver Dyami Brown did on Sunday.

Yes, we know the play didn't work, but it isn't because of Brown's arm. Offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury dialed up the perfect trick play at the perfect time and the result was a beautifully placed ball that receiver Olamide Zaccheaus unfortunately dropped in the end zone.

Remembering the full scope of talent in your players is important, setting them up to maximize on them is critical, and Kingsbury did that on what could have been the best play of the week in the NFL. Keep dialing up great plays–even if they aren't all trick plays–and this Washington offense will continue to impress.

Nov 3, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Jalen Tolbert (1) catches a touchdown pass against the Atlanta Falcons during the second half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

3 THINGS TO TRASH FROM WEEK 18

SLOT EXPLOITATION

Cornerback Noah Igbinoghene has been a solid part of the defense ever since rookie Mike Sainristil moved outside opening up a spot inside in the slot.

However, on Sunday, the veteran had arguably his worst game of the season after allowing four catches while being targeted seven times by Dallas quarterback Trey Lance.

Those completions produced 89 yards of offense for the Cowboys and a passer rating of 101.8. A lot of that success for Lance came on man-beater type routes that led to receivers running away from Igbinoghene on horizontal routes that crossed in front of the quarterback's field of vision.

MISSING THE ACTION

Some of the things that need to be fixed are within reach of the coaches and/or players themselves, and some are not. Injuries fall into that second category for the most part, but its something that has to be discussed.

The absences of center Tyler Biadasz and cornerback Marshon Lattimore are clearly impactful beyond the normal heights missing a player reaches.

In fact, there's something impressive about the fact that despite playing just two games for Washington since arriving in early November, the defense looks vastly different when Lattimore is and isn't on the field.

Opposing completion percentages drop 12 percent when Lattimore is on the field this season and both pressure and sack rates go up.

Meanwhile, the sack rate nearly doubles when Biadasz is off the field compared to when he's on it.

Perhaps the teammate that misses Biadasz when he's off the field the most isn't even Daniels, but running back Brian Robinson Jr. who averages 3.4 yards per carry without the starting center and 4.5 with him.

FLATLINING

Receiver Jalen Tolbert led the Cowboys in receiving on Sunday with four catches for 98 yards.

Dallas employed a lot of design features that stressed the Washington defense and deceived players into thinking they were defending one thing when really the play was going a different direction.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will do this as well and receiver Jalen McMillan in particular has been highly effective running routes in similar types of concepts and regularly finds himself running parallel to the line of scrimmage. When that's threatening well, the Buccaneers then like to unleash him deep trying to take advantage of defensive backs who may start to settle anticipating a flat or angled break that isn't coming.

These types of schemes really challenge the discipline of playing assignment football and athleticism of defensive backs who may think they have a beat on what an opponent is trying to do.

The Commanders were exploited by these things several times on Sunday, and you can bet Tampa Bay will look to do similar things in the Wild Card Round.

---

Stick with CommanderGameday and the Locked On Commanders podcast for more FREE coverage of the Washington Commanders throughout the 2024 season.

More Washington Commanders News

• Commanders Star LB Suffers Injury vs. Cowboys

• Commanders WR Terry McLaurin Sends Message Ahead of Playoffs

• Commanders' Marcus Mariota Integral to Jayden Daniels' Success

• Commanders' Dan Quinn Explains Jayden Daniels Benching vs. Cowboys