A handful of breakdowns spoiled a strong day for Daronte Jones’s unit in the 24-22 loss.
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PHILADELPHIA — When a defense holds an offense to 10 first downs, it’s usually a great day at the office. And, for the Washington Commanders’ unit, there were plenty of positive takeaways despite their 24-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
The defense limited running back Saquon Barkley to 83 rushing yards, his lowest output against the Commanders since he was with the New York Giants in 2022. Quarterback Jalen Hurts completed just 56 percent of his passes. Wide receiver DeVonta Smith had just three catches for 53 yards. The Eagles were forced to punt seven times.
What held Washington’s defense back? It gave up too many explosive plays. Philadelphia had six plays that went for 17 yards or more. Five of those came on third down.
Asked to identify the defense’s next step, Commanders Coach Dan Quinn responded: “Getting those big plays off the tape.”
“Those are the ones that can change field position and make such a big difference,” he added. “If we can eliminate those, I like our speed, I like our hitting, I like our physicality, I like [how we] get in and out of pressures. But let’s get these explosive plays — as best we can — off [the tape]. We had too many of them tonight.”
The causes of the breakdowns ranged from failing to contain the quarterback in the pocket to missing tackles to losing track of the ball in coverage, but they kept cropping up. It turned a potential statement game for the defense into a lesson.
“The game was there,” safety Jeremy Reaves said. “That’s always the tough part. … Those few plays can dictate the outcome of a game.”
Defensive coordinator Daronte Jones displayed much of what was expected in his play-calling debut. The defense was aggressive, used both 3-4 and 4-3 fronts, made frequent substitutions, blitzed often and mixed up its coverages.
For long stretches, Jones’s calls were executed at a high level and gave the Eagles fits. After scoring its second touchdown late in the second quarter, Philadelphia was held to one first down across the next four drives.
“The energy,” Reaves said when asked what stood out when the defense was playing well. “We were getting off the field. We just got to keep it going. When we got the momentum like that on defense, stopping ’em, getting three-and-outs, they have no real answer.”
The pass rush was the most impressive element of the defense. The Commanders sacked Hurts three times, registered five quarterback hits and pressured him constantly.
But even the defensive front had costly errors. Trailing 17-16 in the fourth quarter, Washington had an opportunity to get a stop and give its offense a chance to take the lead. After a tackle for loss and a false start, the Eagles faced third and 18.
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The coverage held up on the ensuing drop back, but defensive tackles Daron Payne and Charles Omenihu got knocked to the ground. That opened a gaping hole in the middle of the defense, and Hurts took advantage with a 22-yard scramble for a first down.
“We caused havoc. We caused some movement up front,” outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson said. “A couple times, we let him get loose and scramble out of the pocket. We’ve just got to bring him down.”
Following a questionable no-call on what appeared to be another false start, Hurts converted another third down on a pass to tight end Dallas Goedert, who beat linebacker Sonny Styles in coverage before making safeties Nick Cross and Reaves miss. He then outran cornerback Rasul Douglas to the end zone for what ended up the game-winning touchdown.
The Commanders are confident they can avoid replicating those miscues.
“We’re there, man,” Douglas said. “There’s plays that I done seen teams turn on each other, and that wasn’t the case here. Everybody stayed down, and we talked it out and made sure we had everything right.”
The Commanders felt the loss was more about fixable mistakes that led to big plays than the Eagles outperforming them — fortifying their belief that the defense will improve.
“Everything they got, we gave it to ’em. It wasn’t nothing spectacular that they did,” cornerback Amik Robertson said. “I feel like we played together tonight, but we just didn’t capitalize 60 minutes straight. We definitely have a special group. … We just got to finish.”
Linebackers Frankie Luvu (groin) and Jordan Magee (hamstring), safety Tyler Owens (ankle) and tight end Chig Okonkwo (hamstring) were injured against the Eagles. Quinn didn’t have any updates after the game. …
The Commanders’ healthy inactives were quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis, wide receivers Luke McCaffrey and Treylon Burks, guard Tanoa Togiai and defensive tackle Ricky Barber.
McCaffrey and Burks were surprises. Throughout camp, McCaffrey worked heavily with the first-team offense at slot receiver and was also the primary kick returner. With the former third-round pick sidelined as a healthy scratch, Jaylin Lane was the primary kick and punt returner.
Burks also got a lot of work with the starters, primarily as an outside receiver. He and McCaffrey are the only wide receivers on the roster taller than 6 feet, so the coaching staff sacrificed size in favor of the interchangeability provided by Terry McLaurin, Stefon Diggs, Antonio Williams and Dyami Brown. …
Drew Stevens was 1 for 2 on field goal attempts and 1 for 2 on extra points. He made a 55-yarder in the first quarter but missed from 54 in the third. Tyler Ott’s snap was high on the missed extra point, so he shoulders more responsibility.
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