Retour
The Washington Commanders have arrived at their bye week. After a brutal stretch to open the season, Washington sits at 1-4-1 in Week 7. Injuries have contributed to the Commanders’ struggles: they lost left tackle Laremy Tunsil before the season, quarterback Jayden Daniels for two games, and, on Monday night, star wide receiver Terry McLaurin for the season.
Tunsil’s injury led Washington to move Brandon Coleman back to left tackle. Coleman had been projected to win the starting left guard job. Nick Allegretti started at center in Week 1 but was benched after two games, replaced by veteran Lucas Patrick, who signed after the season began. Right guard Sam Cosmi missed two games due to a concussion.
Over six games, Washington’s offensive line has been under scrutiny. Quarterback Jayden Daniels has often had to scramble for his life and the running game — mostly outside of Daniels and backup QB Marcus Mariota’s scrambling — has been nonexistent.
The last two games haven't been great for Washington's offensive line. In the Week 5 tie with the New York Giants, the Commanders struggled to stop New York's constant blitzing in the second half and in overtime. In last week's loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Washington's offensive line struggled all night to protect Daniels. Coleman and right tackle Josh Conerly Jr. had a particularly tough game.
Despite that, the Commanders' offensive line as a whole hasn’t been as bad as some think. In Pro Football Focus’ Week 7 offensive line rankings, Washington ranked No. 20, down one spot from the week before.
Right guard Sam Cosmi was the highest-graded player on this offensive line once again in Week 6, but the line as a whole had some calamities in the loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Monday. Washington’s front five combined to allow 18 pressures, eight of which were either sacks or quarterback hits. Right tackle Josh Conerly Jr. permitted six pressures on 51 pass-blocking snaps, a mark that led the team.
Speaking the day after Monday’s game, head coach Dan Quinn wasn’t pleased with his offensive line’s performance against the 49ers. When asked if he’d found his best offensive line combination for the remainder of the season, Quinn answered.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t say that,” he said.
“I thought this performance was below the standard that we’ve set for ourselves at offensive line. And that’s gonna continue to look and find the right combination. So, I wasn’t pleased. With the standard that we have set for our group, and I don’t think we met that yesterday. I thought we left ourselves short.”
Don't be surprised if the Commanders use the bye week to make some more changes along the offensive line.