Jayden Daniels will be the main focus for the Washington Commanders this season, but their reworked defense didn’t help the rookie quarterback or the team in their tough start to the season.
Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers put up 37 points — the second highest in the NFL through the first 15 games of Week 1 — and gained 392 yards. Although the pass rush put some early pressure on Mayfield, they only managed to sack him once, and the secondary had a hard time.
“If you (have) a 50/50 contested ball and they go up and get it, that’s football,” coach Dan Quinn said on a video call with reporters Monday. “What I do want to see better from us is our pre- and post-snap communication, and there were a few instances where that wasn’t as strong as it needs to be.”
Six of the 11 defensive starters are new, but Quinn didn’t want to use the changes and lack of experience as an excuse, pointing out that they had spent months preparing. A 37-20 season-opening loss was not what he and his staff had hoped for.
“Those are the moments that you do have to be in and fight through it because when you’re in it, in that moment and it doesn’t go your way, you stand taller, you fight stronger,” Quinn said. “Sometimes you have to go through the other end of that fire.”
The next chance for the defense to show improvement comes with a game against the offensively weak New York Giants on Sunday.
