Washington Commanders Vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Game Two) – Studs and Duds

Washington put up a valiant fight against a much better opponent and yet again came out on the losing end. Many of this team’s losses can be blamed on the players, but I put this loss DIRECTLY on the coaches – Ron Rivera and Jack Del Rio. If new ownership hadn’t seen enough at this point of the season, this latest “masterpiece” could be the straw that finally broke the camel’s back.

So as not to belabor the point any longer, I’ll just move on to the Studs and Duds of the game, followed by some notes.

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Studs:

Sam Howell – Yes Sam threw a costly interception in the fourth quarter, but aside from that play, Sam was in the ZONE Sunday afternoon. He was slinging the ball all over the field, and showed incredible arm strength, touch and tough running. He finished the game an impressive 39/52 for 397 yards and four touchdowns with one interception.

Jahan Dotson – The invisible man made an appearance at home, and he stayed a little while too! Dotson broke out of his sophomore slump in a big way Sunday afternoon grabbing a team-high eight catches for 108 yards and a touchdown.

Jamison Crowder – I’m going to say this and it may not sit well with some – but Crowder is more valuable to this team (and Sam Howell), than Curtis Samuel; and he’s about 1/8th of the cost of what Samuel is getting paid.

Montez Sweat – In what was likely his last game as a Commander, Sweat tallied five total tackles, two of them for a loss, and a sack. It’s been a pleasure watching ya Montez!

Eric Bieniemy – After an absolute STINKER against the Giants last week, Bieniemy had this offense clicking and kept the Eagles defense off-balance all afternoon. Yes, he’s still not running the ball as much as we’d like to see, but this offense racked up 472 yards and put 31 points on the board against a very good defense.

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Duds:

Ron Rivera – THERE IS NO MORE DEFENDING THIS MAN AND HIS DECISIONS! HE MUST GO!! We can discuss his many flaws in the comments section.

Jack Del Rio – Del Rio must either have a selective memory or he’s just not too bright (maybe both)- but how can anyone forget what A.J. Brown did to us the first time we played Philly. STILL, I saw our rookie Emmanuel Forbes matched up one-on-one against the veteran receiver, I also saw St-Juste getting abused by Brown. To make matters worse, Del Rio is so set in his damn ways, that he sits back and rushes just four on fourth down and four. I’ve seen enough!

Terry McLaurin – Terry had two VERY uncharacteristic drops at the worst possible time. I am here to say that neither pass was perfect, but one hit him in the facemask and the other in the hands. We can argue semantics all day long, but even Terry would tell you he should have caught those passes. He did have a nice touchdown grab, so maybe I’m being a bit too critical with having him on the Duds list…

Andrew Wylie – Wylie was the worst of the Commanders offensive linemen on the afternoon, allowing a strip-sack (which he recovered), and multiple pressures on the afternoon.

Jonathan Allen – He did NOTHING on the afternoon. All that talk after last week’s game…

Benjamin St-Juste – St-Juste keeps giving up chunk plays to opposing wide receivers. He was also penalized twice on the afternoon – another theme that keeps popping up with him.

Danny Johnson – It was a tough outing for Danny Johnson. He gave up a lot of receptions and the long touchdown on the blown coverage. He was also the defender guarding Julio Jones on his touchdown catch.

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Notes:

-Save for Andrew Wylie, I thought the offensive line played pretty well overall. It was amazing how having a competent center can make such a HUGE difference. Paul looked pretty good too at left guard. It’s really a shame Ron took this long to make changes that were obvious to even the most common fan.

-I didn’t want to pile on rookie Emmanuel Forbes by having him on the Duds list in such limited snaps, but it’s pretty clear he’s not even remotely ready for this level of football. I just hope this “staff” didn’t ruin the young man.

-I thought Logan Thomas had a nice day providing a reliable target for Howell. His touchdown catch was really nice.

-Kam Curl’s strip of the football down inside the five yard line was HUGE.

-David Mayo was not terrible and that is saying a lot.

-Slye’s 61 yard field goal was impressive!