Preseason Washington Commanders at New York Jets
August 13, 2024
By Noonefromtampa
The first preseason game of the season is in the books. The Commanders lost but that wasn’t as important as the players showing their skills to the coaching staff. Today’s section headers will feature a famous 1967 film title, that even Steve might have heard of.
The Good
Jayden Daniels started the game and played one series. The best glimpse into the future came on third and six. Daniels checked out of the coaches play call and sent Dyami Brown on a go route which resulted in a 42 yard completion. Daniels capped off the drive with a three yard touchdown run on an option play.
If Daniels can continue to grow into the quarterback position, Washington may have solved one issue that has plagued for the past 20 years.
Ben Sinnott led the team with three receptions for 57 yards on three targets. His signature play was a 44 yard catch and run. Sinnott caught a 20 yard pass over the middle and powered his way upfield for an additional 24 yards dragging Jets defenders along the way. A good tight end is a young quarterback’s next best friend behind a good running game. With Sinnott and Zach Ertz on the roster, that security blanket may be in place.
On defense, we saw the impact that Frankie Luvu and Mike Sainristil are going to have on this revamped defense. They were always flying towards the ball.
Also, keep an eye on undrafted rookie free agent safety Tyler Owens. He is slowly playing his way on to the roster (or at least the practice squad) with his contributions on special teams and defensively. Overall, there were several younger players who showed enough promise to be considered for roles on the 53-man roster or practice squad. Players brought in by the former regime should be nervous and try harder to perform well.
The Bad
Emmanuel Forbes is quickly turning himself into a first round bust. He follows goods plays with bad plays and frequently looks overmatched at this level. Forbes broke up a deep throw to Jason Brownlee on the Jets first drive but gave up a touchdown to Brownlee early in the second quarter. On that play he let the receiver get ahead of him and could not make a play on the well thrown ball.
Overall, in the secondary, once the primary players left the game, the backups had plays in which they took bad angles taken and missed tackles. The coaching staff will need to clean this up.
The offensive line played without three of its top six players in this contest. At times it showed, even despite the fact that they were playing against Jets second string players. The depth of the offensive line is a major concern. None of the players drafted or signed by the Ron Rivera regime have seemed to pan out as consistent players except for Sam Cosmi. The front office may regret drafting Johnny Newton over available offensive line talent in the 2024 draft.
Sam Hartman was having a decent outing during the “scrub” portion of the game, showing his ability to both throw the ball and use his feet to escape the pass rush. He led a 12 play, 73 yard drive in which he completed four of five passes for 45 yards and ran for 17 yards. Unfortunately, he injured his shoulder in the 4th quarter and needed an MRI. Long term, this is not too bad since he was likely destined for the practice squad.
And The Ugly
The kicking game is scary right now. The week 1 kicker is probably on another team’s roster at this point. You don’t want your kicker to make what should be routine plays into gut-wrenching question marks of uncertainty.
And since we’re talking about the kicking game, in my opinion, the new kickoff rule is dumb. I predict it will be a one and done rule change since it is a temporary change anyway. I think the kickoff is dead and we will end up seeing teams just get the ball at their own 25. For onside kicks, it will be replaced by some form of 4th down and 15 yards or more play.
Next Preseason Game:
Saturday, August 17 at 7:00 in Miami against the Dolphins. The Commanders will also have a joint practice session against the Dolphins during the week prior to the game.