How Dan Quinn's aggressive play style translates to run defense

Breaking down the positives and negatives of the Commanders aggressive style when it comes to run defense.

The Commanders run defense against the Buccaneers was overall pretty effective. The Bucs finished the game with 30 total carries for 112 yards at 3.7 yards per carry. Compared to the passing defense, that’s a strong performance, but I thought the style the Commanders used was noteworthy. In the passing game, head coach Dan Quinn and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. are known for their aggressive blitzes and playing plenty of man coverage behind it. Their mentality is if they commit to blitzing properly, they’ll force the ball out quickly and enable aggressive corners to jump underneath throws and create turnovers. 

The run defense has largely been overlooked by all of us this offseason, but their philosophy is largely the same against the run as it is against the pass. It needs to be too, because the defense never knows for certain if the offense is going to run the ball or pass the ball, so any blitz or stunt they call needs to be effective against both the run and the pass. For this aggressive style to work, they need to fully commit to it in all aspects of defense, including the run game. You could see throughout the Bucs game that they had committed to it and it generated some nice plays for them as a result. 

Here is a good example of an aggressive stunt working effectively against the run. The Bucs are running a wide zone play to their left. The Commanders respond by stunting defensive end Jamin Davis inside of left tackle Tristan Wirfs. Now you can’t just stunt one defender and leave it at that because that would open up a hole elsewhere. Multiple defenders need to be involved in a stunt like this. With Davis stunting inside, slot corner Mike Sainristil works out to the edge to ensure the run can’t bounce outside. Behind them, linebacker Bobby Wagner works towards the edge too, replacing Davis in the gap he initially lines up in. 

By having this total commitment to the stunt, Davis can stunt inside freely knowing he has Sainristil and Wagner behind him to protect the gap he’s vacating. That enables him to show off his quickness and athleticism off the snap to dive inside and surprise one of the most athletic tackles in the league as he knives into the backfield and makes the tackle for a loss. It’s a great play by Davis, but it’s one he can only make if the rest of the defense works to back up his aggression. 

Later in the game, Dante Fowler had a similar play. 

This time the Bucs attempt a wide zone run to their right. Fowler is the edge defender on that side of the defense, so he’s the one that stunts inside this time, replicating the stunt Davis used. Behind him, linebacker Mykal Walker replaces Fowler on the edge, scraping outside at the snap to ensure Fowler is covered if his stunt doesn’t work out. The Commanders get a little bit of good fortune here as the running back and quarterback trip over each other, but you can see how both Fowler and Walker were in great positions to stop the run anyway thanks to the stunt. The stunt messes with the blocking scheme assignment and the right tackle tries to prevent Fowler breaking through, which leaves Walker unblocked on the edge. In the end, both are there to make the play. 

This aggressive philosophy is clearly built into the foundation of the defense. You can even see it when Bobby Wagner made checks and adjustments at the line of scrimmage.