Commanders, Week 2 — What Repeats: Five Rushers Worked, Four Didn't

Washington sent five or more pass rushers on 17 of Dallas's 36 dropbacks on Sunday. That is 47 percent, the seventh-highest rate of the 32 defenses this week. Last week in Philadelphia it was 13 of 33, 39 percent, sixth-highest. Across all of last season this defense sent five or more on 26 and a half percent of the dropbacks it faced. Two games, both far above last season, both in the same direction: that is the first shape of something repeating. And the charting splits Sunday cleanly in two. On the 17 dropbacks where Washington sent five or more, Dak Prescott completed 11 of 15 throws for 71 yards and one touchdown, and took one sack. On the other 19, he completed 15 of 16 for 208 yards and three touchdowns. Three of the four touchdown passes came on the snaps where Washington sent fewer.

The rest of the pass defense's charting is whole-game. 27 of Prescott's 31 throws were charted catchable, 87 percent — a ball a receiver could reasonably catch — and that is the third-highest rate any of the 32 defenses allowed this week. Last week Jalen Hurts's throws were catchable on 64 percent, and across last season opponents managed 70 percent against this unit. Dallas also faked the handoff on 13 of its 36 dropbacks, 36 percent, the fifth-highest play-action rate any defense faced this week, against 27 percent for this defense's opponents last season. Four of the 31 throws were contested, a receiver and a defender arriving together, 13 percent, tied for fourteenth and almost exactly last season's 12 and a half.

Then the interception-worthy line, a ball a defender should have caught. None of Prescott's 31 counted throws was charted that way, and none of Hurts's 25 last week. The one Prescott throw that was, the end-zone ball Nick Cross caught, came off the board on Washington's own offside penalty, so it sits outside the count. Two games, one charted chance, erased by a flag. Last season opponents threw 16 interception-worthy balls in 542. One more thing held from last week: both Dallas sacks were charted as the quarterback's own fault, and all three in Philadelphia were charted on Hurts. Five sacks in two games, every one of them charged to the passer.

The run defense changed its boxes and got a different result. Washington put six or fewer defenders in the box on six of Dallas's 18 designed runs, 33 percent, 20-first of the 32 defenses this week. Last week it was 61 percent, and across last season it was also 61. The average box went from 6.4 last season to 6.7 on Sunday. Those 18 designed runs went for 43 yards, 2.4 a carry, and only five defenses in the league allowed fewer yards per designed run this week. Last week Philadelphia's designed runs averaged five yards, and last season opponents averaged 4.7. More bodies near the line, fewer yards. One week of it.

On offense the passing charting reads like last week's, with two quarterbacks this time. Washington's passers threw 35 balls, two of them by receivers, and 24 were catchable — 69 percent, nineteenth of 32, after 63 percent and 20-sixth last week, and against 68 percent across last season. Jayden Daniels was catchable on 12 of 17, Marcus Mariota on 11 of 16. Here is the detail the box score hides: Terry McLaurin was targeted nine times and only three of those were catchable. Six of the 11 uncatchable balls went his way, two of his nine were contested and one of the three catchable ones was dropped. And the clean-sheet line repeated. None of the 35 throws was interception-worthy, and none of the 35 last week was. 70 throws, zero, against 14 in 473 last season.

Dallas mostly declined to send extra numbers: five or more rushers on 11 of 42 dropbacks, 26 percent, 20-first of 32, against 32 percent for this offense across last season. When it did, Washington completed three of eight throws for 21 yards and three dropbacks turned into scrambles. On the other 31, 20 of 27 for a hundred 86.

Among the scheme figures, Week 1 and Week 2 disagree everywhere but tempo. Last season this offense went no-huddle on 61 percent of its snaps. Last week it was 12. On Sunday it was seven and a half, ninth of 32. Two games in a row, a fraction of last season's rate: that is the most consistent change in this team's charting. The other scheme changes Week 1 introduced reversed. Screens went from five of 39 dropbacks last week, 13 percent and seventh in the league, to one of 42, two percent and 20-ninth, against eight percent last season; neither quarterback threw a screen, and the one charted screen was a receiver's throw. The run-pass option went from 10 snaps last week to one. Play-action came back to its old level, 11 of 42 dropbacks, 26 percent, thirteenth, the same 26 as last season. Daniels's six play-action throws went three for 19 yards; Mariota's three went three for 22.

The designed run game is the other thing that held. Dallas showed six or fewer in the box on 15 of Washington's 25 designed runs, 60 percent, tied for seventh-highest with the Raiders and Eagles. Last week it was 66 percent, and last season 67. About the same box, three times over. The difference was the yardage: a hundred 10 on those 25, 4.4 a carry, sixth of 32, after 3.6 and 20-third last week, and against four and a half last season. The light boxes went for 67 yards on 15; the heavier ones for 43 on 10.

The stat lines have settled, so here they are, scored half-PPR. Stefon Diggs led the team with 19.2 — five catches on six targets for 47 two touchdowns. Daniels 14.7, 11 of 17 for 96 and a touchdown, +7 carries for 69. Rachaad White caught all six of his targets for 40 and ran seven times for 43, 11.3. Mariota 11 of 16 for a hundred 11 and a touchdown, 8.7. McLaurin two catches for 50 on nine targets, six. Jacory Croskey-Merritt 12 carries for 43. For Dallas, CeeDee Lamb caught eight of nine for a hundred 53 two touchdowns, 31.3; Prescott 29.8 on 26 of 31 for 279 four touchdowns; Jake Ferguson four of four for 43 two scores.

The fine print, in new words, because the show's name is a promise. Every comparison above sets Sunday against all of last season, a Washington roster a year older and in places rebuilt, and against one game last week. That tells you which numbers were unusual. It does not yet tell you which are true, and two games do not settle anything. The version of this show that measures the Commanders against their own recent weeks starts around Week 4.

Here is the thread, for anyone new. Washington went five and 12 last season with a pass defense the Recap ranked thirtieth. It lost 24 to 22 in Philadelphia and 37 to 20 in Dallas, and is oh and two. Three lines go in the notebook, each now seen twice. The defense sends five or more far more often than last season, and on Sunday that was the part that worked; the damage came when it sent four or fewer. Opponents have given this defense one interception-worthy ball in two games, and a penalty erased it. And the no-huddle offense of last season has not shown up in either game. Watch who is rushing on the snaps that go wrong.

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._