A film session breaking down why the Commanders were so successful against the Titans’ defense in the run game
The Washington Commanders found their groove again against the Tennessee Titans as the offense dominated in the run game and controlled the pace of the game the entire 60 minutes. For Washington, it was obvious that there was an emphasis on establishing a ground presence against a very talented Titans defense, and the Commanders rose to the challenge every time on Sunday. Brian Robinson Jr. led the way, kicking things off with a 40-yard rushing touchdown on the Commanders’ third play, but each running back had success. Their success was partly due to them making plays through their vision and burst, but more importantly, the offensive linemen and skilled positions dominated all day.
In this film session, I break down a few run plays highlighting what made the Commanders’ game so successful against the Titans last week.
On Washington’s first touchdown, OC Kliff Kingsbury deploys counter against the Titans, with left guard Nick Allegretti pulling playside to kick out the edge defender and left tackle Brandon Coleman pulling into the playside gap to clear a path for Brian Robinson. With the Titans expecting a run play, a second-level defender crashed down to the line of scrimmage; both Sam Cosmi and Cornelius Lucas successfully blocked them down toward the center, away from the playside gap where Robinson was running. John Bates also successfully sustains a second-level block, which ultimately clears a path to the endzone for Robinson, who went untouched for the 40-yard scamper.
On this inside run, Washington intends to double Tennessee’s interior defensive linemen T’Vondre Sweat and Jeffery Simmons, the playside 1-technique defender. Simmons attempts to swim into the opposite A-gap, abandoning his original gap and allowing Sam Cosmi to occupy the second-level linebacker easily. This leaves Robinson to use his burst to exploit the vacated gap, quickly getting him to the 2nd level untouched.
This ten-yard rush shows great effort by the offensive linemen and skilled positions. Washington pulls Noah Brown into the playside gap on this counter to lead Robinson beyond the first level. Tyler Biadasz and Sam Cosmi work a good playside combination block on the Titans’ 1-technique lineman at the first level. Cosmi successfully peels off and works a good, controlled angle to seal off a linebacker. Lucas, uncovered at the first level, climbs to occupy and sustain the linebacker. Additional playside blocks that ultimately helped spring Robinson are the kick out block from Bates and Terry McLaurin sustaining his perimeter block as long as he did.
Brandon Coleman shows very good functional play strength and competitiveness as the playside blocker. It was only a four-yard rush, but Coleman climbed to the 2nd level uncovered, turning the linebacker against his will from the playside gap, and sealing a lane for Robinson. Like the previous play, Washington pulls Dyami Brown into the playside gap while utilizing John Bates as the kick out blocker.
On one of two of Chris Rodriguez’s explosive runs, there is great execution. On the playside, Cosmi and Lucas have excellent wins in their 1-on-1 blocks. Cosmi down blocks the Titans’ 1-technique defender, and Lucas kicks out their 3-technique, creating a massive gap for Rodriguez, who goes untouched for the first 6 yards of a 17-yard run.
On Rodriguez’s second explosive run, there is another display of excellent wins at the point of attack. Bates gets good hat placement and positioning, wham blocking Simmons, Tennessee’s backside 3-technique. Cosmi and Biadasz hold an excellent double team on the Titans’ backside 1-technique. Allegretti shows outstanding physical toughness at the point of attack, dominating the 2nd-level linebacker once engaged with him.
The run game for Washington came back to life against the Titans, and it was undoubtedly a confidence booster heading into the bye week for a team who lost their way in their previous three games. It opened up the offense in various ways, as the Titans could not get off their heels and reverse the momentum Washington’s offense was playing with. More importantly, as shown in these few clips, the linemen were physical and played as a group, but also the skill position players played selflessly, which helped spring their teammates for big runs that extended drives.