Emptying the notebook on the Commanders’ defensive outing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Commanders defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. began his weekly presser by acknowledging three significant reasons his defense couldn’t get off the field on third down. Washington was able to get Tampa Bay into 13 third downs. However, Washington couldn’t get off the field due to losing leverage, being unable to sack the quarterback and overall communication issues in the secondary.
This can be viewed in a few different ways. One is that Washington did a lot of things right on first and second down while the game was still within reach, so there are fixable things from a coach’s perspective that could quickly turn things around defensively. What’s concerning with Whitt’s players is that they didn’t make the communication mistakes they made in the game in practice. While Whitt expressed in his presser that he has to do a better job at demanding communication in practice, it begs the question of how much better it would get if the issues that arose appeared unpredictable.
In this Trap or Dive film session, I examined the Commanders’ defensive outing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, what they did well, and what issues they need to correct before future opponents identify potential ways to exploit them.
Be sure to like, subscribe, and comment your thoughts on the defense.