Commanders poor tackling leads to wasteful run defense

The Commanders had plenty of opportunities to stop the run but they were plagued by missed tackles

One of the biggest improvements we’ve seen with the Commanders defense this year has been stopping the run. The Commanders were ranked 30th in the NFL last year in run defense, giving up an average of 137.5 yards per game on the ground. This year, they have jumped up significantly and are currently sat at 14th in the NFL with an average of 107.5 rushing yards per game given up. It’s not where they want to be, but it is a significant improvement up front. However, they’d be even higher on the list had they not missed so many tackles against the Falcons on Sunday.

The Falcons running back stats at the end of the game weren’t particularly spectacular. Bijan Robinson had 17 carries for 75 yards and a touchdown, an average of 4.4 yards per carry. Good, but not outstanding. Tyler Allgeier, who split carries with Robinson, had an additional 16 carries but picked up just 51 yards and a touchdown at an average of 3.2 yards per carry. So combined, the Falcons backs had 33 carries for 126 yards and two touchdowns at 3.8 yards per carry on average. On the face of it, that’s not particularly damaging and the coverage issues were certainly the bigger problem in this game. But the numbers hide an underlying problem.

The Falcons came out looking to establish the run and the Commanders struggled to get many stops early on. But looking back, the run defense wasn’t bad from a schematic standpoint. Sure, there were the occasional play where someone had a bad fit, but generally speaking the fits were pretty sound. The issues that the Commanders had were missing tackles and enabling runners to pick up yards after the first point of contact. This started from the very first run.

This is the Falcons first run of the game. They show a bit of a funky formation, with tight end Kyle Pitts close to the formation, but detached from it. Meanwhile, a second tight end lines up in the backfield as a H-Back behind the left guard, while running back Bijan Robinson is behind quarterback Michael Penix in the pistol. Robinson gets the carry on a zone run to the right and initially, the Commanders fit this run well. They have enough defenders in the box to account for every gap and if you pause the play as Robinson crosses the hashmark, you’ll see that the Commanders are pretty gap sound with a defender in every available gap.

That sound run fit forces Robinson to hesitate. You can see with his footwork that he’s unsure if he should bounce the run or look to cut it back because there’s no clear lane for him to attack. That hesitation allows defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw to close in on him while running him down from the back side of the run. Kinlaw gets there and makes the initial contact, but goes too high and fails to wrap him up. Robinson bounces off the tackle attempt from Kinlaw and with Kinlaw now on the ground, a gap opens up for Robinson to work through. The Commanders do rally to him and bring him down, but he got five yards on a play that could have been a tackle for loss or at least no gain had Kinlaw made the stop at first contact.

Kinlaw wasn’t the only culprit though - and sidenote, Kinlaw was actually very impressive in this game, let me know if you’d like a separate breakdown on just him. Fellow defensive tackle Daron Payne, who also played well and has done all season, missed some similar opportunities too.

This time, the Falcons put both tight ends to the right side of the line and run another zone run to the right side. Payne is the three technique defensive tackle to that side of the line, lining up between the right tackle and right guard. At the snap, the right guard attempts to reach across Payne’s face and seal him off inside, but Payne is actually stunting inside as he attempts to go under the block. This means instead of fighting to stay in front of the defender or to the play side, which would be the offensive right side here, Payne goes the other way and tries to use his quickness to get around the blocker before the back to attack the hole created by him taking the back door.

Payne is successful getting around the right guard and penetrating into the backfield, but he fails to finish the play. He gets his hands on Robinson but can’t hold on to bring him down. Robinson only goes on to pick up three or four yards on the carry, but it was another opportunity that could have been a tackle for loss had Payne finished the play.

Payne had another one that cost them a few more yards later on.