Burgundy & Gold Reaction: Week 2 Takeaways

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September 20, 2022

by David Earl

Unwatchable First Half

The first quarter saw the offense go 3 and out on possession after possession while the defense just looked unprepared. It was a perfect storm of events that created an insurmountable deficit entering the second half. The scripted offensive plays were so well defended by Detroit that they gave the appearance they knew exactly what was coming. The Lions plugged every running lane perfectly and dominated the trenches, which made  Carson Wentz very uncomfortable in the pocket. It is not a secret that Wentz’s accuracy drops when he is rattled, as his accuracy drops dramatically as he develops happy feet in the pocket. With all that said the defense was truly the most disappointing of the two units Sunday.

Of these 3 chunk yards given up defensively the 49 yard catch and the 50 yard run accompanied by a special team breakdown allowing a 47 yard return happened in the first half alone. Despite head coach Ron Rivera‘s acknowledgment this past week about preventing Jamin Davis and Cole Holcomb from being isolated on the running back or slot receiver, they both lined up multiple times in these isolated instances. This is clearly a textbook definition of insanity and Davis is feeling the brunt of the criticism. Yes, being drafted 19th overall to be played out of position as a middle linebacker was a terrible decision; however, this kid can play an effective role but is continuously put in a position to fail. Jamin is just an example of the defensive issues – Washington has a high-priced man-to-man cornerback in William Jackson III playing zone and a slot corner in Benjamin St-Juste whose best position is as an outside corner. There are next to no gap responsibilities by the first and second levels of this defense and the pass rush is just too inconsistent. While the laundry list of issues can be piled high, Lions’ wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown might have been the most damning when he said, “[a]ll week, we kind of knew they didn’t handle bunches very well.” This is a complete failure of Jack Del Rio in his scheme and preparation. In fact, a legitimate question can be asked if this game has passed him by and if a younger fresh mined defensive coordinator may be needed as something needs to be done.

Wentz and Offense Not The Problem

The tale of two halves was the theme in Sunday’s game as the 180 degree turnaround was telling in many ways. For one, Scott Turner proved he can make the necessary adjustments and find a way for this offense to move the ball effectively. After a first half with unproductive scripted plays to poor pass protection and play design, Scott came into the second half with a whole new scheme. Instead of calling long-developing pass plays and utilizing a more traditional run game, he played to this offense’s strengths. The second half saw more misdirection run plays involving Curtis Samuel, J.D. McKissic targeted more, and the wide receivers doing more underneath and quick crossing routes. As a result, the Lions were off balance, and Wentz was able to have a cleaner pocket for longer developing passing plays.

Secondly, we saw a much different Wentz in the second half from the obvious aforementioned Scott Turner adjustments. Carson Wentz has been good thus far but he does have his flaws which were center stage in the first half. Many quarterbacks get uncomfortable under pressure, but Wentz has the tendency to allow pressure to get into his head too much. He started getting happy feet throughout the first half and was noticeably unsettled even in the rare clean pocket he received. There were plays in which he left the pocket early, thereby not allowing those plays to fully develop. Now, fast forward to the second half the offensive tempo picked up and Wentz was able to gain rhythm as we watched a potent offense come within a single possession of tying the Lions. Ultimately Carson Wentz and this offensive are explosive. Once Scott Turner discovers exactly what are his quarterback’s struggles and how to protect him from that backbreaking play, this offense will keep the team in most every game down the stretch. Understanding Wentz is not without his flaws, this game was not at all his fault, and (unlike Jack Del Rio) Scott Turner made the appropriate changes which yielded much better results. As I have said before this offense will not be the problem once they become cohesive and will keep us in many games this season.

Coaching IS THE Problem!

Scott Turner was the only member of this coaching staff that made any noticeable adjustment as we watched the rest of these coaches just continue in their futility. The defense got a little more aggressive but they still continued to be bailed out by missed opportunities such as Jared Goff missing a wide-open DJ Chark as he blew past a coverage breakdown. However, when Washington had an opportunity to pull within 7 points Ron Rivera called for an illogical 2-point conversion, although, apparently, the analytics say to go for the 2 points. While someone can explain that math and logic to me, you just don’t run a risk of leaving points off the board when the defense is struggling. The missed extra point attempt by Joey Slye may have been the reason for going for 2 points there, at face value that was inexcusable. All in all, it’s obvious fans want Jack Del Rio out, but is the seat now getting warm for Ron Rivera too? I personally believe in 2 ideas here: 1) you won’t build a winning organization cycling head coaches every year and 2) the job of changing this team’s culture, which he has done well with, is also going to keep him around a while longer whether fair or not. There is much greater detail I am leaving out but the point here is Ron Rivera, in my opinion, has a much longer leash that many won’t be happy about. If we hope this team can take full advantage of this talented offense, Ron will most certainly need to find a new defensive coordinator who’s younger and with effective fresh ideas to match that of his offensive coordinator, Scott Turner. Will that happen? That’s hard to say but the fans have grown restless and are beginning to tire of Ron Rivera. Check out the full game recap here.