4 key plays the Commanders defense gave up in loss to Steelers

Breaking down four critical plays that went a long way towards the Commanders losing against the Steelers

The Washington Commanders 28-27 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers was a bitter pill to swallow this week, especially on the defensive side of the ball. For large portions of the game, they did a very good job keeping the Steelers in check, even when the Commanders offense was struggling to sustain drives and put points on the board early on. That makes it more frustrating to know that they largely played well and just had a few mistakes here and there which the Steelers capitalized on. But that is the reality of playing good teams in the NFL, they will take advantage of any mistake and sometimes they will just make plays you can’t do anything about.

They had a pretty good game plan overall, playing stout against the run. Sure, the Steelers picked up 140 yards and a touchdown on the ground but it took them 43 carries to get there. That’s an average of just 3.3 yards per carry. Starting running back Najee Harris carried the ball 21 times for 53 yards and a touchdown at just 2.5 yards per carry. To go along with that, the Commanders held Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson to completing just 50% of his passes for 170 yards and an interception, but Wilson also had three touchdowns to go with it. 

So for today's post, I thought I’d look at four key plays that the Commanders defense will want back. As I stated, for large parts of the game, they played well. They bottled up the run game for the most part, created two turnovers and got off the field more often than not. But these four plays were critical for the Steelers in winning this game. 

The first play I want to talk about came on the first possession in the second half. The Commanders had just scored two touchdowns either side of the half time break to swing the game completely in their favor. If the defense could get a stop, the Commanders would get the ball with all the momentum and a chance to blow the game wide open. The defense got into a great position for a stop too, with a short run and an incomplete pass setting up third and eight. Unfortunately, it went wrong from there. 

On this play, the Commanders opt to get aggressive, looking to blitz Wilson and force a hurried throw that will either result in an incomplete pass or possibly an interception. This blitz is known as a green dog blitz. Both linebackers are able to blitz here, but one of them is responsible for the running back in coverage. I suspect Frankie Luvu is the one responsible for the back, and we’ll get to why shortly. The idea of this blitz is to get at least five rushers, generating one-on-one matchups across the board. If the back stays in to help protect against the first blitzing linebacker, then the second has a green light (hence the name green dog) to add on to the blitz and become the sixth rusher. 

To run such a heavy blitz, the Commanders have to play man coverage behind it. You can see before the snap that all three receivers are assigned with an individual defensive back while Benjamin St-Juste is trusted one-on-one to the right of the formation. Safety Quan Martin is the single high safety asked to play in the deep middle of the field as a last line of defense. You might notice from the pre-snap diagram that the running back isn’t accounted for. He is the fifth eligible receiver and the Commanders would need to account for him, but I can’t say for certain who was meant to cover him. It was either Bobby Wagner or Frankie Luvu and I heavily suspect it was Luvu. 

As the ball is snapped, you can see the blitz play out. Wagner is the first to rush and he works inside to the center, allowing Luvu to loop around him. The reason I suspect Luvu is the man responsible for the running back is because he is the second rusher of the two blitzing linebackers. With Wagner going first and engaging with the center, he’s leaving Luvu to take on the running back in pass protection, suggesting Luvu is also responsible for the back in coverage if the back is to release. 

Now when the Commanders have run this blitz over the past few weeks, the back always stays in to protect to try and help the quarterback buy time to find another receiver. Here, running back Jaylen Warren initially sets up like he intends to block too. So as Luvu loops around Wagner, he sees the back approaching and assumes he has the green light to rush. However, once Luvu commits to the rush, the back suddenly leaks out to the flat. Luvu tries to close on the quarterback before he can find the uncovered running back, but Wilson does a terrific job getting his pass away. Warren receives the ball in the flat and has nothing but open field to run into. He easily bursts past the first down marker and picks up 26 yards before Quan Martin rallies from deep to make the tackle. 

Giving up 26 yards due to a coverage bust on third and eight is back breaking. It was a huge opportunity for the defense to get off the field and give the offense all the momentum to go and blow the game open and make it a three score lead. Despite this, the drive wasn’t lost. The Commanders could still get a stop and maybe force a long field goal. On the very next play, Dante Fowler got a sack to set up a second and 20 situation near midfield, outside of field goal range. 

On second and 20, the Commanders opt to play coverage and rush just the front four, hoping to protect against anything deep and force a short pass underneath to set up third and long. However, the Commanders end up with rookie cornerback Mike Sainristil working against Steelers top receiver George Pickens. Pickens runs a glance route, which is a little bit deeper than a normal slant route but shorter than a post route. Just before the snap, safety Quan Martin rotates across to the opposite side of the field. He appears to be staying as the middle field defender, but working across towards the three receiver side, assuming the threat is more likely to come from that side. 

That move from Martin leaves Sainristil even more exposed. Sainristil plays off coverage, so there’s no chance to try and press Pickens and disrupt him at the line of scrimmage, though that isn’t really Sainristil’s game anyway. But with no disruption and the safety help leaning towards the other side of the field, Sainristil suddenly has a lot of ground to try and cover. Before he knows it, Pickens breaks inside towards that vacant space and Wilson quickly delivers the football. 

When Pickens catches the ball, he’s still about five yards away from the first down marker. If Sainristil was there to make the tackle immediately, the Commanders would still have a solid third and five situation with a chance to force a long field goal. But the play doesn’t stop as Pickens catches the ball. Pickens is a tough, physical receiver that loves to fight through contact after the catch. Sainristil attempts to close on him, as does Martin from the other side of the field, both bounce off him as he breaks free of their respective tackle attempts. Pickens then fights through even more contact, breaking free of multiple defenders as he crosses the first down marker before he’s eventually brought down for a 34-yard gain. 

Giving up 34 yards and nearly 20 of those coming after the catch on a second and 20 play is brutal. Having that come two plays after a busted coverage on third and eight is even more devastating. The Commanders had not one but two golden opportunities to get off the field without giving up points and getting the ball back to the offense with a chance to make it a three score game. Instead they blew both opportunities and a few plays later Najee Harris ran in for a one-yard touchdown run to make it a 27-21 game. 

That for me was the drive that really swung the game back towards the Steelers. Now obviously, the Commanders still had the lead and the offense could and should have done a better job picking up the defense after that drive by extending the lead, but they failed to do so. 

The next key play I want to look at was the first touchdown of the game. The defense started the game well, forcing a three and out on the Steelers opening possession. The Commanders offense also went three and out, giving the ball back to Pittsburgh. The drive started off poorly for Washington, with Benjamin St-Juste getting too handsy and giving up a pass interference penalty on the first play of the drive. That gave the Steelers a free 14 yards to start the drive. A few plays later on second and 10, St-Juste contested a pass to Van Jefferson that fell incomplete which should have set up third and 10, but Jeremy Chinn was flagged for roughing the passer, giving the Steelers 15 more free yards and a fresh set of downs. Two plays after that, The Steelers did this: