Commanders Defensive Line Dominates Giants

Breaking down how the Commanders DL dominated the Giants in the season opener

The Washington Commanders defense put in a dominant performance in the season opener against the New York Giants and it all started with the defensive line. Much was made about the offseason additions to the defensive line, adding bigger bodies like Javon Kinlaw and Deatrich Wise to beef up the defensive line and help be more stout against the run. Last year, the Giants averaged over 5.5 yards per carry across the two games they played against Washington, but on Sunday, the Giants running backs managed just 36 yards on 15 carries at an average of 2.4 yards per carry. On top of that, quarterback Russell Wilson was constantly under pressure and as a result, only able to complete 46% of his passes.

Now it must be stated that the Giants offensive line looked poor, especially without star left tackle Andrew Thomas who missed the game due to injury. But the Commanders defensive line deserves plenty of credit for their performance too. Barring Thomas, it was largely the same offensive line that helped the Giants run all over Washington twice last year, so the new additions clearly helped. That was immediately seen on the first play of the game for the Giants offense.

On this play, the Commanders showed what is essentially a 3-4 front. They have three interior defensive lineman on the field in Javon Kinlaw, Eddie Goldman and Daron Payne. Deatrick Wise is in at defensive end on the left side of the offensive line while edge rusher Jacob Martin is standing up on the edge to the right side of the offensive line. This alignment enables Kinlaw to get pretty wide, almost head up on the right tackle, rather than tight to the guard. From that position, Kinlaw stunts inside to the A gap between the right guard and center. Kinlaw shows great quickness for a man of his size, beating the guard to his spot and using a quick club and rip to burst though the block and into the backfield. He suddenly emerges in front of the running back and begins the process of making the tackle, with the help of Bobby Wagner to clean up.

That was far from the only play Kinlaw made in this game either. He showed up consistently, which is a huge boost for the Commanders defensive line.

This time, Kinlaw aligns to the left side of the offensive line as the nose tackle between the center and left guard. The Giants are running an inside zone play to their right. The left guard comes off the snap and looks to reach Kinlaw, cutting him off on the back side, but Kinlaw is too stout. Kinlaw comes off the snap with intent, landing his hands inside to the chest of the guard. With his raw strength, if he’s able to land his hands on a guard like this, Kinlaw is always going to give the guard issues. Kinlaw extends his arms and stands up the guard, getting underneath him and gaining full control of the block. From there, Kinlaw is able to shed the block and work into the backfield, where he’s able to make another tackle for no gain.

Kinlaw makes this play but it’s also worth pointing out Daron Payne’s involvement. Payne is the three technique defensive tackle working between the right guard and right tackle. At the snap, the right guard and center work across to try and double him, but Payne does an excellent job reading the blocks and stepping inside to split them. He shows great strength to take on both blockers, one with each arm, and not giving up any ground. Because of that effort, both linebackers behind him are kept clean and the back has nowhere to go as he attempts to work to the right side to avoid Kinlaw.

Having one player dominate a block and burst into the backfield can lead to big plays, as we’ve seen from Kinlaw on these two plays, but having multiple players do their roles well is what leads to consistently strong run defense. Kinlaw and Payne led the way in that regard. Both were incredibly stout throughout the game and the Giants found it very hard to run the ball when those two were in the game.