Commanders Vs. Steelers – Studs and Duds

The Commanders ran into a well-coached team with an excellent defense on Sunday afternoon at home. The Steelers played Jayden Daniels’ dual-threat ability well all game, and did enough to make him look uncomfortable for the first time all year. The run game averaged just 2.7 yards per carry and the offensive line had a hard time protecting Daniels. It didn’t help that the Commanders’ pass-catchers dropped a bunch of passes, and the refs made some bad calls and missed some other obvious ones.

Despite all this, Washington was still in a great position to win the game late in the fourth quarter. Ultimately, a poor spot on a fourth down attempt and an untimely offsides by a rookie defensive tackle doomed Dan Quinn’s squad. The Commanders fell to 7-3 on the season and are no longer in first place in the NFC East.

Washington will look to rebound Thursday night on the road against the division-leading Eagles.

Below are my Studs and Duds, followed by some notes.

And on this Veterans Day, I just wanted to thank all those who have served our great nation. You are certainly appreciated!

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Studs:

Terry McLaurin – McLaurin led all Washington receivers with five catches for 113 yards. He was one of the few players on offense that showed up.

Jeremy Chinn – Chinn led all Commanders with 13 total tackles (six solo), while also adding an interception, fumble recovery and pass defended. He’s been playing some good football these last few weeks.

Dante Fowler – Fowler continued his tear, collecting five total tackles, two sacks and four pressures on the afternoon. He has seven sacks in his last six games.

Sheldon Day/Daron Payne – Day was all over the field when he was in the game and led the defensive linemen with eight tackles (four solo) one tackle for a loss, two stuffs and three pressures. Payne had a few monster plays, including a big 3rd down stop early in the game. He collected five tackles and two stuffs.

Frankie Luvu – Luvu earned Stud status from me for his seven tackle, one sack, four quarterback pressure performance.

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Duds:

Zach Ertz – The drop, and coming up short on the fourth down play late in the game, were just inexcusable by a veteran.

Olamide Zaccheaus – Zaccheaus muffed two punts (one which Pitt recovered).

Benjamin St-Juste – Benjamin St-Toast! More pass interferences. More getting beat deep for touchdowns. It’s becoming commonplace.

Johnny Newton – In that situation on 4th down, you have ONE JOB – to watch the DAMN BALL! Newton literally was right over the football.

Commanders Offensive Line – Granted, the unit was banged up, missing Andrew Wylie at right tackle and having Tyler Biadasz play with a bad ankle, but regardless – the group played very poorly.

The Refs – The spot on the Ertz fourth down catch was poor to begin with, but it went to replay, and they still spotted it a full yard short! This was an egregious miss! There were a lot of other misses too throughout the game. It’s really sad that referees should decide the outcome of games.

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Notes:

• Jayden Daniels was a bit off against a very good Pittsburgh defense. Still, he did enough to win and this was despite him not getting much help from his teammates.

• Austin Ekeler ran hard all afternoon against a stout Steelers defense. He had 44 yards and two one-yard rushing touchdowns.

• Quan Martin caused the fumble down at the goalline, and otherwise had a pretty solid game recording six tackles.

• Mike Sainristil continues to improve each game. He had a nice pass defended and some key tackles.

• Noah Brown made some excellent catches on the afternoon. Daniels wasn’t his normal accurate self, but Noah did his part.

• Zane Gonzalez was a perfect 2/2 on his field goal attempts and 3/3 on extra points.

• I think I saw Emmanuel Forbes get a game-rep…