Commanders Vs. Raiders - Studs and Duds

The Commanders hosted the Raiders on a beautiful late summer afternoon and came away with their most complete game in all three phases of their young season. After a disappointing performance the previous Thursday night at Lambeau, Dan Quinn’s squad came out clicking on all cylinders and took it to Las Vegas all game long. The Raiders did pick up some yards and points during garbage time, however this game was never in doubt from the opening kickoff.

Washington should get a better test next Sunday on the road against the Falcons, but for now, we’ll celebrate 2-1 and some really encouraging signs of growth from this football team.

Below are my Studs and Duds of the game, followed by some notes.

Studs

Marcus Mariota: Mariota did a great job filling in for the injured Jayden Daniels. He looked calm, cool and collected as he led the offense on multiple scoring drives. He was an efficient 15/21 for 207 yards and a touchdown and added 40 rushing yards and a touchdown. He should have had two more passing touchdowns if Lane could have hauled in the nice back-should throw in the endzone and the officials would have ruled CORRECTLY on Terry’s long catch-and-run. His one blemish on the afternoon came on his fumble after a long run.

Jaylin Lane: Lane did have what I considered a ball he should have caught for a touchdown slip through his hands on a perfect back-shoulder thrown from Mariota, however his 90-yard punt return for a touchdown was BEAUTIFUL and trumped the drop. Lane had five punt returns for 127 yards and the score on the afternoon.

Commanders Rushing Attack: I’m combining this category, as I wanted to give a shout-out to our running backs, offensive line and tight ends for their dominant performance on the ground. Washington had 201 yards on 32 attempts and scored three touchdowns. Jeremy McNichols’ 60 yards score, where he ran over, around and through defenders, was a thing of beauty. Special shoutout to the big boys up front, including two new starters in Andrew Wylie and Chris Paul, who led the way. The tight end group also blocked very well on the afternoon. Finally, credit Kliff Kingsbury for sticking to the run all game!

Commanders Defensive Front Seven: I know this is a bit generic, however I feel the entire unit, with the exception of a few big plays, played great against Geno Smith and the Raiders. The defense was led by outstanding performances by Bobby Wagner (11 total tackles, two sacks, two TFL), Dorance Armstrong (five tackles, one sack, two TFL), and Daron Payne (who was unblockable all afternoon). Both Von Miller and Javontae Jean-Baptiste each notched their first sack of the young season. Although Goldman, Newton and Kinlaw didn’t stuff the stat sheet, they caused havoc all afternoon. This front seven had pressure on Smith all game long.

Marshon Lattimore: Latimore was lock-down all day yesterday, allowing just one reception for 12 yards. He had a nice pass defended the other time he was targeted in coverage. He recorded three tackles on the afternoon.

Commanders Coaching: Dan Quinn’s squad was clicking in all three phases of the game Sunday. Kudos to the staff for getting this team ready to play after a poor showing in Green Bay, AND for making some necessary changes on the offensive line.

Duds

Matt Gay: Yes, he made a 56 yard field goal, but that was on his second try. He would have missed the first one if the Raiders didn’t take a timeout just seconds before the snap. He missed a chip-shot 37 yarder and also had a kickoff that went out of bounds.

NFL Replay/Officials: They really screwed Terry on that touchdown call. His knee or hip didn’t hit the ground before the ball crossed the goal line.

Notes

Before leaving the game with a calf injury, rookie Trey Amos was showing off his lock-down coverage ability. He was credited with a tackle for a loss and pass defended for the game. He’s easily been Washington’s best cover corner over the first three games.

Luke McCaffrey had what some will consider his breakout game. He had three receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown, and added a kickoff return for 25 yards.

Terry Mclaurin scored on his 56 yard catch-and-run. I guess the refs are so used to seeing him get tackled inside the five-yard line, they just refused uphold the call despite video evidence showing his knee or hip never hit the ground before the ball broke the goal line.

It’s amazing how replacing Nick Allegretti with Andrew Wylie at right guard improved the play on the offensive line.

Deebo Samuel only had two receptions for 11 yards (with a drop), but he carried three times for 18 yards and had two kickoff returns, one for 69 yards to open the game, for a total of 93 return yards. He was also out there blocking his tail off! Not quite stud status - but very good none-the-less.

Will Harris had a well defended ball against Brock Bowers in the endzone to prevent a touchdown.

Josh Conerly played a bit better against Maxx Crosby and company. He was still beaten a few times and was flagged for two penalties (one accepted), but overall, he looked a lot better than he did the first two weeks.

Frankie Luvu is starting to round back into his 2024 form. He finished second on the team with seven total tackles, recorded a stuff and two pressures.

Sainristril has been up and down so far this season. He made a few nice tackles on Sunday but also allowed some big gains to the Raiders receivers.

I counted three drops by Washington wide receivers on the day - one each by Deebo, Terry and Lane (would-be touchdown). This is a trend we’ve been seeing early in the season.

Although he’s no John Bates, Colson Yankoff did a nice job blocking.

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