What is up with the Commanders defense, Part 2

If you recall, last year I wrote about what's wrong with the Commander's defense. Four games into the 2002 season, it is very clear I need to do Part 2.

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What Happened to the Commanders’ Defense

Yes Chase Young is hurt, I understand that. But he is not the reason the Commander's defense is bad.

Last season, the Commanders defense was horrible. It allowed 34 passing touchdowns, which was the most in the NFL. It also allowed 400 catches on 597 attempts for 4,542 yards, a completion rate of 67.0%, a yards per attempt allowed of 7.6, an opponent passer rating of 100.9, and an opponent EPA (Expected Points Added) of 67.90. Thanks for the stats, Pro Football Reference!

This year it's gotten off to a similar start. You may be wondering how the Commander's defense went from their biggest strength in 2020 to a liability in 2022. The defense has the talent to be a top five unit in the NFL but isn't. What's going on? I can break it down into three possible problems that are making the defense bad.

Coaching/Scheming

The Commanders run a 4-3 defense. For those that don't know, a typical 4-3 has four defensive linemen on the line of scrimmage and three linebackers in formation behind them. This defense also includes two cornerbacks, one strong safety, and one free safety.

Washington uses that formation a bit differently than most other teams. It has started to use more sets that only use two linebackers. That usually means that it either has an extra man in the secondary or an extra defensive linemen. This system right now is not working. For it to work the linemen would need to generate pressure. In 201 defensive snaps, the Commanders only have eight sacks, 31 quarterback pressures (meaning how many times a quarterback is hurried, knocked down or sacked) and only one interception.

The system just isn't working and it needs to be changed for any improvement to happen.

Circumstances of 2020

While the defense was good in 2020, there can be an asterisk added to that. Look who that defense had to go against in the games they won:

Week 1 Eagles: 4-11-1 (no offensive line)

Week 7 Cowboys: 6-10 (no offensive line plus weren't at full strength )

Week 11 Bengals: 4-11-1(offensive line so bad that Joe Burrow got hurt)

Week 12 Cowboys: 6-10 (same thing as previous matchup)

Week 13 Steelers: 12-4 (outlier!)

Week 14 49ers: 6-10 (entire team was injured and they were starting Nick Mullins)

Week 17 Eagles: 4-11-1 (Eagles tanked on national television)

Almost all their wins were against teams with losing records or teams with no offensive line. The outlier here is the win over the Steelers. But that team had no running game, so all the Commanders had to do was sell out for the run and the Steelers would be overwhelmed from the pressure.

Yes that doesn't take away from any player playing well that season but still it's just circumstances. Look at the wildcard game against the Buccaneers. When it actually played a good team, the defense was just decent. It only had three sacks and forced one turnover while giving up 26 points.

The secondary is getting exposed

The last factor is the eye test. Putting away my unbiased Berman’s Sports Blog hat and putting on my diehard Commanders fan hat. I am a fan who just had to watch that secondary get exposed by the Cooper Rush and the Cowboys. So here is what my eyes tell me.

Look at this season's games so far and you will see the secondary getting destroyed. The only player who doesn't get beat on a regular basis is Kendall Fuller. Four players I will focus on are Bobby McCain, Benjamin St-Juste, Jamin Davis, and Cole Holcomb.

Linebackers Davis and Holcomb are blowing coverages and letting up big play after big play. Those two need to be the ones who can guard the tight ends and running backs, but whenever they are on the field it’s like they don't want to catch covid because they are six feet away from where they need to be.

McCain and St-Juste are playing terribly. First, against the Jaguars, they had no communication and were constantly blowing coverages. Against the Lions, they gave up completions third down after third down. Then we had them against the Eagles, where I can't say anything bad about them because they didn't actually show up.

The rest of the secondary is more of the same. Guys are constantly missing tackles or they just don't know their assignment and receivers are left wide open to have a field day. Half the time it seems like every player in the secondary is invisible because then they could sneak offside and help the defensive line get sacks.

There is a solution to this. I’m sorry, Jack Del Rio, but the team needs a new defensive system. It needs one where players can get to the QB without leaving the middle of the field wide open. Maybe you give more power to Ryan Kerrigan, who the players know and appreciate but also someone who has seen many defensive systems in his career so he could combine the things that work to make the defense better. Or maybe you hire someone like Brian Flores, currently the linebackers coach for the Steelers. His defense (apart from 2020, where the Dolphins team he coached was trying to tank) was always improving. Plus the team took his message to heart. A bad coach won’t win 19 games in two seasons. You could lure him away from Pittsburgh by offering him a defensive coordinator job. That would mean firing Del Rio.

The other thing that could be done is a complete blowup of secondary players. Fuller, William Jackson, McCain, St-Juste, Holcomb, Davis and possibly more would need to be out the door in order to reshape the secondary. Maybe the Commanders keep Fuller, Davis and Holcomb if they like them, but they can’t possibly keep the others. Maybe the team will try to get Texas A&M cornerback Antonio Johnson with their first round pick.

This can be fixed, but probably not this season. Seeing that the Commanders are already 1-3 it would take a miracle to turn this season around. Plus the team needs to figure out how to run an effective offense so the defense isn’t out on the field seven times a quarter. Also the NFC is super competitive so it would be better to not make any desperate decisions to try and salvage a season. So Dan Snyder, stay on your yacht until the end of this offseason at least.