Commanders, Week 1 — What Repeats: Washington Sent Five More Often

Washington sent five or more pass rushers on 13 of Philadelphia's 33 dropbacks on Sunday. 39 percent, the sixth-highest rate of any defense in the league in Week 1, with the median at 27. Across all of last season this defense sent five or more on 26 and a half percent of the dropbacks it faced, 164 of 618. The other rusher figure runs the other way, and both belong in one sentence: a charted blitzer came on only three of the 33, nine percent, against 27 percent last season, and the average rusher count went from 4.3 to 4.4. So more five-or-more rushes, fewer charted blitzers. Washington also had three sacks, the three the Recap counted, and all three were charted as the quarterback's own fault — a sack the charters lay on the passer rather than the protection — which is three of Jalen Hurts's 28 charted dropbacks against nine of 486 all of last season. His throws were catchable on 16 of 25, 64 percent, against 71 percent last season; he threw four away; his receivers dropped nothing. That is a defense that finished thirtieth in expected points allowed per play a year ago, as the Recap laid out. It also gave up the four plays that decided the game, and the charting has one honest note on that: none of Hurts's 25 throws was interception-worthy, a ball a defender should have caught, so none of them gave the defense an interception-worthy chance.

The other side of the ball is where the charting is less kind than the late comeback. Jayden Daniels threw 35 charted passes, and 22 were catchable — 63 percent, 20-sixth in the league this week, with the median at 71. Last season his throws were catchable 71 percent of the time, 135 of 189, which is a smaller sample than a full season of throws, and the comparison carries that. Five of the 35 were throwaways, against 11 on 189 last year. Five were contested, a receiver and a defender arriving together, 14 percent against 16. None was interception-worthy, against three on 189, and his receivers dropped one of the 22 catchable balls. The play-action throws were no better than the rest: six of them, three completions for 27 yards, where last season 34 play-action throws produced 21 completions for 284. The other 29 throws went 15 completions for 137. He was out of the pocket on 10 of his 36 dropbacks, and the one sack was not charted as his fault. So the settled read on the quarterback is a clean, inaccurate afternoon — nothing given away, 13 of 35 uncatchable, the run fake no better than the rest.

The scheme is where the biggest number in this pack lives, and it needs a caveat before it needs a sentence. Last season this offense went no-huddle on 61 percent of its pass-and-run snaps. On Sunday it was 12 percent. That is the largest move in any charting figure in this episode, and one game against an opponent that led for most of it is not the place to call it a change of identity. Around it, the rest moved less. Play-action on seven of 39 dropbacks, 18 percent, tied for 20-third in the league this week, against 26 percent last season. Motion on 42 of 89 charted plays, 47 percent, tied for fourteenth, against 42 percent. Screens on five of 39 dropbacks, 13 percent, against eight. The run-pass option on 10 of 68 snaps, 15 percent, against eight. Less tempo, less play-action, more screens, more option.

The run game saw last season's boxes. 29 designed runs carried a charted box count, 103 yards on them. Philadelphia showed six or fewer in the box on 19 of the 29 — 65 and a half percent, the sixth-highest share in the league this week, against a median of 47. Last season this offense saw a light box on 67 percent of its designed runs, 275 of 411, and those 411 went for 1841 yards. The average box was 6.2 defenders on Sunday against 6.3. The team's designed runs came against those boxes; in the settled lines, Jacory Croskey-Merritt carried 16 times for 63 and a touchdown. The Recap had the 50 percent success rate and the longest designed run at 11 yards.

Back to the defense for the box counts, because they are the part that did not move. Washington showed six or fewer in the box on 11 of 18 Eagles designed runs, 61 percent, and across all of last season it was 61 percent, 278 of 455. Same number. Those 18 runs went for 90 yards, and the Recap already told you 42 of them were one Saquon Barkley carry. Philadelphia ran play-action on six of 33 dropbacks, 18 percent, against 27 percent for this defense's opponents last season, and used motion on 50 percent of charted plays against 48.

The stat lines have settled, so here they are, scored half-PPR. Daniels led the team with 17.7 — 18 of 34 for 164 two touchdowns, no interceptions, five carries for 31. Antonio Williams caught all four of his targets for 64 and a score, 14.4. Stefon Diggs four catches for 55 and a touchdown on nine targets, 13.5. Croskey-Merritt 16 carries for 63 and a touchdown, with one catch for −7, 12.1. Rachaad White seven carries for 22. Terry McLaurin two catches for 14 on four targets, 2.4. For Philadelphia, Hurts went 14 of 25 for 203 three touchdowns with seven carries for 46, 24.7; Dallas Goedert four catches for 77 two scores; Dontayvion Wicks two for 73 and a score; Barkley 15 carries for 83.

A word on the comparisons, because the show is called What Repeats and there has been only one game. Every baseline above is all of 2025 — a Washington roster a year older, some of it in different jobs. Through Week 3 that is the only comparison there is, and it tells you which of Sunday's numbers were unusual, not which of them are true. The version of this show that measures the Commanders against their own recent weeks starts working around Week 4. Until then the baseline gets named every time it is used.

The thread starts here, and the Recap gave it the two halves: a five-and-12 team whose offense finished eighteenth in expected points per play and fourth at turning red-zone trips into touchdowns, with a defense that finished thirtieth and took the ball away 11 times. The charting adds three lines to the notebook. The defense sent five or more rushers at a rate well above last season's average with fewer charted blitzers, and had three sacks, all charged to the opposing quarterback, in a game it gave up 24 points, so the five-or-more rate and the long plays are both on the page. The quarterback's throws were catchable at a rate well under the small sample we hold for him, and he gave nothing away. And the offense that lived in no-huddle last season went no-huddle on 12 percent of its snaps.

That's your Commanders — every game, by the numbers. This is Muffed: we do the same deep dive for all 32 teams. Follow the Commanders show wherever you're listening, so next week's recap lands the moment it's out. No theater. Just the football.

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_Data via nflverse. Charting: FTN Data via nflverse._