What went wrong for the Commanders' starting defense on the Browns' opening drive
Breaking down the issues the Commanders' starters had defending the run in their preseason opener.
The expectations on the Washington Commanders defense entering the season are sky high after finishing last season near the top in many statistical categories and having spent their top draft picks on additional pieces for the secondary. In training camp, we’ve heard about how dominant the defense has been to the extent that the second team defense has had to be subbed in to face the first team offense in order to allow the offense to get their work in.
So it was somewhat of a surprise during the Commanders preseason opener against the Browns when the starting defense let the Browns drive all the way down to the one yard line on their opening drive before eventually getting a stop on a goal line stand. That 12-play series was the only series the starting defense played, so it would be rash to jump to any conclusions from that one series alone. But we can still evaluate what happened on that drive to see what is correctable.
In terms of coverage, the Commanders were pretty solid. The Browns only completed three passes for 12 yards total on that drive. The bigger plays came on the ground. Quarterback DeShaun Watson was forced to scramble twice, once after Chase Young suffered a stinger while trying to tackle him and once where the coverage left nobody open. He picked up 17 yards total on those two scrambles. Obviously that’s not ideal but Washington wouldn’t have necessarily developed a specific game plan for a quarterback that can scramble like Watson and even in that case, a mobile quarterback can be hard to bring down.
Where I think the Commanders had the most issues was in the run game. The Browns had four runs of more than five yards on that drive. They picked up 39 yards on four runs by the running backs that got them down to the one yard line where the Commanders eventually got the stop. So what went wrong on those four running plays? Let’s take a closer look.
Here is the first run of the game from the Browns. They call a sweep to their left that gets the tight end and tackle to block down on Chase Young and Jonathan Allen respectively, pinning both inside while the left guard and center pull to the edge on the sweep. Allen does a nice job reading the tackle blocking down and works across his face to try and get back outside. Young also reads his down block from the tight end and manages to drive him backwards into the path of the pulling center.
Where this play goes wrong for Washington is from linebacker Cody Barton. Barton is an athletic linebacker and has the speed to go underneath blocks and shoot through gaps to try and make plays. That’s precisely what he attempts to do here. With the offense looking to pin Young and Allen inside, Barton should really be scraping over the top to the edge to try and reestablish the edge and force the run back inside towards the rest of the defense. But instead, he attempts to take the aggressive option of trying to run through the hole created by the pulling lineman and chase down the running back from behind.
Barton actually almost gets there, but at the last second the center spots him trying to sneak in from behind and peels off from his path to the edge to try and block him. The center makes just enough contact to disrupt Barton’s path to the running back, allowing the back to continue to run freely to the edge. Once he gets to the edge, there’s a big gap in the defense that Barton should have been the one to fill. That’s the risk a linebacker takes sometimes when they attempt to shoot a gap, go under blocks or try to run through the line of scrimmage. If they get it right and have the speed to pull it off, it can lead to a big tackle for loss, but get it wrong and it leaves a big hole in the defense.
Benjamin St-Juste attempts to save the play from the slot as he just manages to work around the pulling guard, but the guard forces him wide enough to allow the back to cut back inside of him. Montez Sweat and Jonathan Allen do their best to try and chase the runner down from the back side but can’t quite get there. The back bursts down the sideline before eventually being forced out of bounds by safety Darrick Forrest for an 18 yard gain.
Two plays later, the Browns ripped off another big run.
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