NFC East power rankings: Cowboys hurdle over Eagles heading into Week 2
3. Washington Commanders (0-1)
Last Week: 37-20 Loss @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Washington Commanders were one of the more interesting teams heading into the 2024 season. They have a new head coach, who Cowboys fans should be familiar with, Dan Quinn, and a new quarterback in the 2024 second overall pick, Jayden Daniels.
They opened the season at home against a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team loaded with offensive weapons and defensive stars. It was expected to be a close matchup with both offenses lighting up each other's defense. That was half right.
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield played arguably the best game of his career. When the Commanders had tight coverage, he threw the ball in the perfect spot for his receivers to make a play, and they did. When he was under pressure, Mayfield escaped nearly every time and made a play.
There were five times when Baker should have been sacked, but he somehow escaped and either threw or ran for a first down. Quinn must have been losing his mind on the sidelines.
Give a lot of credit to the Commanders' defensive line for playing hard all game and getting a lot of pressure, but inconsistencies in the secondary burned them. Nursing a big lead, Tampa Bay controlled the game and picked apart Quinn's defense.
Jayden Daniels played decent, but the positive is he improved as the game went on. Initially scrambling even when receivers were open, he eventually calmed himself in the pocket and started making throws. He needs to look for more shots downfield, but that will come with time. In the meantime, running back Austin Ekeler and tight end Zack Ertz proved reliable in the short game, with Ekeler breaking off tackles on multiple plays.
In the run game, the threat of Brian Robinson Jr. and Daniels taking off is always a threat. Both have big-play ability, but the Commanders offensive line struggled to open lanes when they needed to.
Overall, the final score was not indicative of the Commanders' performance, but rather a reflection of everything the Bucs did right. It will be interesting to see how the Commanders' offense and defense perform against a woeful Giants team on Sunday.