No Daniels, no-show defense prove disastrous for Commanders in loss to Falcons

ATLANTA — It’s a bad day for any NFL secondary when its best play of the game arrives on a 69-yard catch-and-run by the opposing offense. 

That was the case for the Commanders during Sunday’s 34-27 loss to the Falcons in Atlanta. It was a day for the Washington defense to forget as Atlanta’s offense caught fire.

The defensive highlight in question came on the Falcons’ first drive of the second half, with Atlanta looking to add to their 17-13 lead. Falcons running back Bijan Robinson took a routine swing pass 69 yards toward the Commanders’ end zone, breaking away from linebacker Bobby Wagner as he barreled toward paydirt.

Safety Jeremy Reaves, starting in place of an injured Will Harris, wouldn’t let that happen. He chased the notoriously explosive Robinson down, tackling him at the seven-yard line. 

Reaves reached a top speed of 22.6 mph on the play, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats. Robinson topped out at 21.9 mph.

The safety wasn’t aware of the exact speed at the time. 

“Definitely feels like he’s that fast,” Reaves said after the game. “‘Give us a chance,’ that’s all I’m thinking at that point.”

Reaves did give his defense a chance. They didn’t capitalize. Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts waltzed over the goal-line for a seven-yard touchdown on the next play. 

It was a banner performance for the Falcons’ offense, just a week after embarrassing themselves in a 30-0 loss to the Carolina Panthers. 

Robinson racked up 106 receiving yards and 75 rushing yards in an impressive performance. His lone touchdown of the day arrived on a dizzying 12-yard run that saw him spin through a crowded line of scrimmage and into the endzone. 

“He’s one of the best running backs, if not the best running back,” Commanders defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw said, who criticized his own missed tackles. 

He then parroted a line echoed by the rest of his teammates following the loss. 

“I’ve just got to be better.”

The blame didn’t lie solely on the defensive line. The secondary was routinely gashed by Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. in the best outing of his professional career. 

Apart from a lone mistake — a poorly lofted pass that was intercepted by Mike Sainristil — he posted a near-perfect game. The second-year signal-caller threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns while completing 20 of his 26 pass attempts. 

The high-yardage plays, including the Robinson catch-and-run and a 43-yard bomb to Drake London, were the most glaring examples of the Commanders’ defensive shortcomings.

“We’ve just got to find a way to stop the explosives. A lot of this is being over-aggressive at certain times or just messing up the coverage,” cornerback Marshon Lattimore said. “Just some stuff we’ve got to fix and clean up on our own.”

They had problems defending underneath, too. Penix completed all 13 of his pass attempts that were less than 10 yards from the line of scrimmage. He added 180 yards from those short targets, according to the Next Gen Stats. 

“We just didn’t execute on certain situations when we were out there,” Reaves said. “We communicate at a high level, we pride ourselves on that. But when the opportunity comes to execute those plays, we’ve just got to do our job — each man.”

Washington’s offense wasn’t setting the world on fire, either. Without quarterback Jayden Daniels, tight end John Bates and wide receivers Terry McLaurin and Noah Brown, the group struggled from the start. 

Back-up signal-caller Marcus Mariota didn’t complete his first pass until the second quarter. He ultimately completed 16 of 27 passes for 156 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. 

Despite the injury-adjusted lineup, the Commanders’ attack had its bright spots. 

Running backs Chris Rodriguez and Jacory Croskey-Merritt continue to impress in place of the injured Austin Ekeler. The duo combined for 106 yards on 14 carries — buoyed by a 48-yard run by Rodriguez that sparked the offense at the start of the second quarter. 

Deebo Samuel, an offseason trade acquisition, led the receivers with six catches for 72 yards. Second-year receiver Luke McCaffrey scored his second touchdown in as many weeks and continued to show growth as a returner, taking a second-quarter kickoff deep into Atlanta territory. 

They lacked consistency and explosiveness, though. 

“We’ve just got to execute. It comes down to execution in this league,” tight end Zach Ertz said. “I say it all the time, redundant in that regard. Ultimately, it just falls on the players to make the plays and execute better.”

But it’s early in the season. The 2-2 Commanders were quick to point out that they endured a three-game losing streak last season before making a run to the NFC championship game. 

“You got to learn from it. Man, it can’t be the end of the world because you didn’t make that play,” Reaves said. “You got to learn from that play and build for the next one.”

The post-game routine starts almost immediately with film sessions on Monday. The Commanders have a slightly modified week, though; they fly to Los Angeles on Thursday evening to prepare for next week’s game against the 3-1 Chargers. 

Despite a pair of disheartening losses, the players in Washington’s locker room aren’t catastrophizing. 

“We’ll go back and watch the tape, treat victory and defeat as the impostors that they are and see where we can get better and keep growing,” wide receiver Luke McCaffrey said.