Commanders: a NFC East statement win?
Week 1 came with a lot of questions for the NFC East champion Washington Commanders, as they came out with something to prove. Northwest Stadium was filled to the brim, as the fans wanted to see if the organization took the right steps with the moves in the offseason. Nick Saban returning for his second year as the HC of the team and his tenth season in the NFL. Jalen Harriet also returned as offensive coordinator. The expectations are still high in Washington even after a divisional round exit.
Usually we would talk about the OC Jalen The Kid’s offense but that was not the main subject surprisingly it was the defense. Some of the biggest plays even came from a player who didn’t play much last season as well. OLB Jordan Magee had two picks in the effort after the fifth round pick out of Temple did not see the field much in his first season in Washington showed why he deserves consideration on the depth chart for this season. The Defense also gaining a reputation of being hard hitters as they forced three fumbles and recovered one, no they didn’t recover them but if they keep forcing them some of those fumbles are bound to go their way. Shedeur Sanders didn’t get the best welcome to the NFL as he had three picks and fumbled. The Commanders held the Giants to 38 rushing yards on the day.
Offensively it was the normal offensive flow we’ve come to see from the OC Jalen The Kid. The MVP and OROY of last season Jayden Daniels started his year two campaign with a good game as he would only miss two passes (13/15) with one being a hail mary ball to end the first half that would be picked. He would throw for 229 yards with 3 touchdowns. When it came to the receivers JD 5 spread the ball around but the second and first year players would rule the day as rookie Keandre Lambert Smith would have 4 receptions for 71 yards with two touchdowns and Luke Mccaffery had 2 receptions for 74 yards and a touchdown. The rushing attack was lead by the two headed monster of rookie Ollie Gordon II and Brian Robinson Jr. The pair combined for 89 yards on the day and Ollie Gordon II would take one in for a touchdown.