5 Qs Lions vs. Commanders preview: How Washington could avoid blowout

The Detroit Lions are set to take the field for the first time in the postseason Saturday, and we would never pass up the opportunity to get some intel from the opponent’s perspective. We called on Andrew York of HogsHaven.com to give us some insight into a Washington Commanders team that went from the second overall pick to the second round of the playoffs, the veteran-like poise of Jayden Daniels, and what’s prevented this defense from holding up against prolific offenses.

The Washington Commanders have experienced an unprecedented turnaround in their franchise’s history, winning eight more games than they did a year ago and claiming their first playoff victory since 2005. It’s easy to draw parallels between this Commanders team and the Lions from 2022–except the Commanders won 12 games and made it to the dance!

The quarterback is there, they’ve got a Dan of their own who has some postseason experience and success under his belt, and maybe most importantly, there’s finally a new group of ownership steering this thing in the right direction. The future seems bright in Washington for the first time in a long while, so take a moment to just riff on what’s been a long journey back to relevancy and how high the vibes are for this fanbase.

It has been an amazing journey. It all started with the announcement that Dan Snyder was selling the team. More than anything else, Dan Snyder was the dark cloud that has been hanging over this team and the ways in which he ruined it are well documented. As soon as he sold the team, fans knew it was the start of a new era. What we couldn’t have predicted was how quickly the team would get turned around by new owner Josh Harris. From hiring longtime football exec Adam Peters as GM, to getting out of the way and letting Adam Peters hire HC Dan Quinn and build the roster, to being willing to pay for small advantages (like converting turf practice fields to grass to keep our players healthy), Josh Harris has been the quiet force behind the turnaround. With the GM, HC, and QB now in place, none of our fans could have predicted how quickly we’d turn things around. Even our most optimistic fans were only predicting an 8-9 season this year, so we are blasting past any expectations we had. It feels like we’re playing with house money at this point; we can’t really lose, we’ll just get even happier with every win. It does feel like this season has been a long time coming though.

Jayden Daniels has taken the league by storm, but beyond all the impressive numbers, his composure–even when the lights are at their brightest–seems to be his super power. Time and time again this season he’s proven to have a veteran-like steadiness about him, so what about his game in these moments has stood out to you in particular?

And on the flip side, in what aspects of his game can you still see the rookie in him?

You alluded to it in your description, what stands out the most is Jayden’s maturity and how quickly he seemed like a veteran. As a longtime Washington fan, I’ve seen a lot of young QBs start for us in recent years, from RG3 to Kirk Cousins to Taylor Heinicke to Sam Howell. All of them took time to acclimate to the speed of the NFL and often made a lot of the same mistakes game to game, only really showing growth over the course of the season. Jayden essentially went through that growth curve over the first 3 games. In Week 1, he looked like a rookie, didn’t read the full field, and was quick to check it down or tuck the ball and run himself. In Week 2, he showed more patience, staying in the pocket, but still showing reluctance to throw into tight windows. Week 3 (in our primetime game against the Bengals) was when he seemed to flower fully into an NFL QB, staying composed in the pocket, reading the full field, throwing into tight windows, and still making plays with his legs when pressure arrives or nobody is open. I’ve never seen a Washington QB acclimate that quickly to the NFL, going from tentative rookie to legit NFL starter in basically 3 games. I don’t want to sound like a homer, but it’s hard to come up with ways in which Jayden still plays like a rookie. In fact, I’d say the only thing he really needs to remove from his game is that he still takes unnecessary hits when he runs trying to get a few extra yards. He’s got a slight build, though he’s like Gumby and doesn’t seem to get hurt easily, but I’d really like him to protect himself better on runs. The only team that has made him look like a rookie twice now is the Cowboys, but I think that has more to do with their defensive players matching up really well to our skill-position players and being able to blanket them, leaving Jayden with few good options.

The Commanders offensive line has primarily been built from pieces around the league (Tyler Biadasz, Andrew Wylie, Nick Allegretti), but the left side of that line, with Allegretti at LG and third-round rookie Brandon Coleman at LT, seems to be a weak spot when it comes to pass protection.

Washington ranked 23rd in adjusted sack rate and t-7th in sacks allowed this season. How much of that is the offensive line building chemistry and continuity, and how much is on a rookie quarterback?

I would put most of the blame for pressure on the OL rather than the QB. Jayden Daniels has actually shown very good pocket awareness and ability to escape pressure in the pocket. The OL though is a bit patchwork, as you say. Prior to the season starting, many were predicting us to have one of the worst OLs in the NFL. Although we have played much better than that, I’d say only Center Tyler Biadasz has really been a consistent bright spot for us. The rest of the OL has been competent and exceeded expectations, but been mediocre by NFL standards. In terms of the specific players: LT Brandon Coleman is a 3rd round rookie with the athletic profile of Trent Williams, but who has looked vulnerable to speed rushers around the edge (there’s an entire article devoted to him here). LG Nick Allegretti is an NFL journeyman who is playing well enough and exceeding expectations, but still more at the NFL average level. C Tyler Biadasz has been a plus player for us. RG Sam Cosmi signed a big extension this offseason, but has had a bit of a down year compared to last year. RT Andrew Wylie seems to have up and down games, alternating between looking pretty good and being a total liability, I’m not sure why.

Bobby Wagner, Frankie Luvu, Dorance Armstrong, Dante Fowler Jr., Marshon Lattimore at the trade deadline, this defense is an amalgamation of newcomers to Washington this season.

Which of those pieces have made the biggest impact for Washington in Dan Quinn’s first year, and where on this defense are the Commanders still looking for someone to step up?

I would say LB Bobby Wagner and Frankie Luvu have made the biggest difference so far. In one offseason, GM Adam Peters managed to transform LB from our biggest weakness to our biggest strength, which is amazing. Both Wagner and Luvu were named 2nd Team All Pro by the AP due to their excellent play this year (along with Terry McLaurin on offense and Austin Ekeler on special teams). Wagner functions as the heart of the defense and calls the plays on the defense, whereas Luvu is like a high energy movable chess piece who specializes in blitzing the QB. Our biggest weakness is still at CB. Rookie Mike Sainristil has consistently been our best CB this year and we’ve been looking for others to step up. We traded for Marshon Lattimore out of necessity to have someone to play opposite Sainristil, but he hasn’t looked 100% healthy, missing most of his games this season with a hamstring injury, finally coming in to play the Bucs last week, but giving up several big plays to Mike Evans. Still, Lattimore is an upgrade to anyone else we have at CB outside of Sainristil.

The line for this game is up to Lions -9.5 in some places, and while some have been dismissive of this Commanders team and looking ahead to a potential NFC Championship Game matchup, Detroit certainly won’t treat this as a look-ahead spot.

Do you think the Commanders keep this game closer than that inflated spread? What’s the one thing that needs to happen for Washington to pull off the upset? Or do you think Detroit is just too much for this Commanders team at this point in their rebuild?

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