Commanders Rediscover Power Presence in Win Over Titans

The Washington Commanders got plenty of style points in their win over the Titans, but it was the power ground game that really set the tone.

Dec 1, 2024; Landover, Maryland, USA; Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr. (8) carries the ball to score a touchdown against the Tennessee Titans during the first half at Northwest Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images / Amber Searls-Imagn Images

The Washington Commanders snapped their three-game losing streak and entered their bye week on a high note defeating the Tennessee Titans 42-19 on Sunday afternoon.

Granted, the Titans aren't the cream of the crop in the NFL these days, but neither are the Dallas Cowboys who the Commanders lost to just one week ago.

Getting a win always feels good, getting a win in the fashion Washington did feels even better. Here are three things we want to see rolling forward when the team comes out of its Week 14 bye week.

Dec 1, 2024; Landover, Maryland, USA; Washington Commanders running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. (36) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Tennessee Titans during the fourth quarter at Northwest Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

PLAYER: RB CHRIS RODRIGUEZ JR.

One thing that confused us during the losing streak and while running back Brian Robinson Jr. was battling injuries that limited his impact or kept him off the field completely was why the Commanders didn't turn more to running back Chris Rodriguez Jr.

In his second NFL season out of Kentucky Rodriguez flashed real talent in limited opportunities during his rookie season. This year he averaged 4.7 yards per carry against the New York Giants gaining 52 yards on 11 carries in Week 9 to help Washington secure a five-point win.

We figure that might be the spark to see Rodriguez get more touches, but the following week he had just two, was inactive against the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night the next, and then was released ahead of the team's loss to the Cowboys.

Re-signed to the active roster this week, Rodriguez got more burn due to the Commanders wanting to minimize Robinson's usage dealing with a right ankle injury, and also likely due to the game flow and the big leads the team held throughout the contest.

Regardless, his 94 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries was impressive and is just a further sign that Washington has more than just a few good backs on its roster.

PLAY: 16-YD TD PASS TO WR TERRY MCLAURIN

It's not just this pass, but the fact that receiver Terry McLaurin didn't record a single explosive catch in the win over the Titans that is actually a positive in this win.

His longest catch of the day was the 16-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jayden Daniels that set up Washington to jump out to a 21-0 lead. He'd add a three-yard scoring catch in the second quarter as well that extended the lead to 28-0.

In total, McLaurin caught all eight of his targets and gained 73 yards and scoring those two touchdowns. It was a welcome return to McLaurin being a major part of the game plan, and a positive sign moving forward in the ways offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury got his No. 1 receiver involved.

TEAM: BREAKING TRENDS

By returning to some old trends the Commanders were able to break some as well.

Offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury fell back in love with his power run game as Robinson and Rodriguez combined for 29 carries, 197 yards rushing, and two touchdowns.

But he also showed new wrinkles in how he got McLaurin involved as we touched on above.

Yes, McLaurin was aligned on the right side of the formation more than usual - something the broadcast harped on and something we've been discussing for weeks now - but it wasn't just that.

As we said before, you could line up McLaurin wide left 100 percent of the time if you wanted and still have ways to be successful. It's figuring out how to unlock it that matters.

One thing Kingsbury did multiple times against Tennessee was line McLaurin up as the widest receiver to the left, but run him back inside the route combinations after the snap.

The impact was clear and resulted in McLaurin and Daniels connecting on every target, leading to a big day for the Washington duo.

Of course, even in a big win, there are things that can be improved upon. So we dug deep into this 42-19 stomping of the Titans to find three things we want to see better when the Commanders return in Week 15.

Oct 17, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore (23) during the warmups before the game against the Denver Broncos at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

PLAYER: CB MARSHON LATTIMORE

We don't know how close Lattimore really was to making his debut for Washington in Week 13, but we've maintained the outlook all along that if he played before Week 15 we'd be surprised. Pleasantly so, but still.

After entering the weekend doubtful it was predictable that he'd miss the contest against the Titans. That sets up a big opportunity for Lattimore to be a team captain in his first active game for Washington as he leads his new team into his former team's home when it travels to face the New Orleans Saints next weekend.

It's beautiful, in a way. And we can't wait to see it.

PLAY: QUARTERBACK SACKS

From the nit-picky department, we're pulling up the fact that the Commanders sacked Titans quarterback Will Levis just twice despite his having 37 pass attempts.

Levis had one of the highest pressure-to-sack rates in the league entering the contest, so there was hope we'd see the pass rush get some really strong production there. And it did, outside of the sacks.

Nine quarterback hits is nothing to shake a stick at - whatever that means - and certainly shows the impact the pass rush had on the young quarterback all day long. So we're not saying the pass rush did poorly; we'd only like to see some of those hits become sacks down the line.

TEAM: KICKING WOES RETURN

We thought the Commanders had solved the kicking problem on their fifth try with Austin Seibert. But a hip injury followed by a groin injury landed Seibert on IR.

Zane Gonzalez was brought in when the first injury happened and made all four of his extra-point tries and all three of his field-goal tries in his two-game appearances before Week 13.

Against Tennessee, however, Gonzalez missed both of his field goal attempts while making six extra points.

We're not sure who else the team could bring in to be their seventh kicker, but we'd be surprised if there wasn't at least a little competition brought in during the bye week.

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