Commanders Titan Up Mistakes

Michael Campbell
Dec 3, 2024
3 min read

Washington snaps 3 game skid with blowout win against the Titans.

Sunday, December 1st

Terry McLaurin scoring for 1 of his 2 scores sunday

The Tennessee Titans visited the Washington Commanders at Northwest Stadium on Sunday. This kind of game, most would consider a trap game, but the Commanders came out and treated it like a game of reclamation.

Tennessee came in a 3-8 but had shown some improvements over the past couple of weeks where Will Levis was starting to show he could be a solid mid level QB in the next few years. Their pass defense was sketchy but their run defense seemed to be the better aspect of the Titans defense in their latest performances.

That all changed on Sunday.

The one takeaway I have is that Kliff Kingsbury got away from the pass happy offense and stuck to the ground and pound RPO. With Brian Robinson, Ekeler, McNichols, and Rodriguez, this stable of running backs does not have a weak horse in the stable.

It was great to see the ground and pound offense out of Kingsbury especially when you have these kinds of effective ball carriers.

TURNOVERS

This team is doing a great job on not only creating turnovers on defense, but eliminating the turnovers on offense. Prior to the last 3 games, Jayden Daniels had 2 Interceptions in his first 8 games. He had erased that headline with 4 TD's on Sunday.

Mike Sainristil is doing a great job on Special Teams in order to find opportunities to make an impact by creating turnovers.

I would like to see more interceptions, but turnovers are great when you are not the team having them, but the team creating them.

TERRY MCLAURIN

The best thing to see out of this offense yesterday was to have Terry moving and lining up in different positions. Kingsbury finally game planned to avoid Terry being on the same side all game long.

When Terry is in different positions in the formation, its a lot harder to account for him, especially when a team mostly plays zone. This change in mentality for Kingsbury showed in the result of Terry having 2 TD's and nearly 100 yards in receiving.

The big question is, does Noah Brown fulfill that role of the solid #2 we have been needed alongside Terry? He has been getting a lot of targets. I would like to see a lot more of McCaffery involved and Dyami Brown as well.

DANTE FOWLER JR.

It is incredible to see the resurgence Fowler is having in his career. He has 9.5 sacks on the season and with 4 games left, he is likely to break the double digit mark for sacks which has not been done since DaRon Payne, DT in 2022 with 11.5 sacks. If he does in fact break the double digit barrier in sacks, he has to be considered for a pro bowl spot as well as comeback player of the year?

FRANKIE LUVU

Frankie Luvu is the best acquisition this off season and its not even close. Joe Whitt has done an amazing job of giving many opportunities with Luvu, much like Micah Parsons in Dallas. Luvu has amassed 8 sacks on the season and he too, could reach double digit sacks. But the energy that Luvu brings to the field and the defense is unmatched. He has quickly become one of my favorite players for this team and glad that Peters was able to scoop him up from Carolina.

ZACH ERTZ

At 34 years old, Zach Ertz has been a consistent target for Jayden Daniels when he has needed that 3rd and 4th target options through his progressions. Ertz has nearly had a career rejuvenation in 2024 and I am glad to see him healthy and playing a big part to the offense. I do hope he can set the example for some of the younger TE's on the roster. For now, Ertz is a solid option for Daniels when he needs one.

JAYDEN DANIELS

How could the QB who scored 4 TD's not be mentioned as part of the game balls. Daniels was on fire. The running game was able to help set up the passing game and get Terry McLaurin targets early in the game. The athleticism of Daniels makes chasing him difficult.

Summary

Currently the Commanders are 2nd in the NFC East with a schedule that can potentially see them become NFC East Champions. Washington is hitting their bye week and they will get healthy before coming back to face a Saints team that cannot be overlooked. Winning against New Orleans sets up a potential flex game for the Eagles the following week, which then becomes a must win.

Closing out the season is Atlanta, which may have something to play for, and Dallas, which may also be a game with something to play for.