What an absolute disaster.<\/p>\n
The Commanders dropped a 37-20 result<\/a> to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday at AT&T Stadium to fall to 0-2 on the season and in the NFC East.<\/p>\n They lost quarterback Jayden Daniels to a left elbow dislocation that looked to be significant. Right guard Sam Cosmi (concussion), left tackle Brandon Coleman (finger), defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw (shoulder) also left with injuries of unknown severity.<\/p>\n Most everything that could go wrong did after the Daniels injury<\/a>, which occurred on the last play of the first half. This game wasn\u2019t without bright spots, but everything seemed to go against Washington with a series of unfortunate events that could have a lasting impact beyond those four quarters.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll get more into the game than in most other stories, but we\u2019ve still got a game to grade in this Week 2 report card:<\/p>\n Daniels was dynamic when in scramble mode (and pre-injury), averaging 9.9 yards per carry. Bill Croskey-Merritt was inefficient in this one and not as effective as Rachaad White<\/a>, who averaged 6.1 yards per tote on seven carries. Don\u2019t be shocked if White starts eating into Croskey-Merritt\u2019s snap count. He was the better runner, but it was hard to establish a designed running game when the Commanders were playing from behind all afternoon.<\/p>\n Daniels and Mariota were both solid throwing the ball, with 207 yards and two touchdowns between them. Antonio Williams missed a wide-open Terry McLaurin on a receiver pass and Dyami Brown lost a fumble. Both of those moments were strikes against. Washington got screwed out of a touchdown from Mariota to Brown, where a bogus incompletion call in the end zone was confirmed on replay.<\/p>\n The Commanders targeted Terry McLaurin nine times, but he only had two completions. Stefon Diggs had two touchdowns and the pass protection was generally okay.<\/p>\n The Commanders run defense wasn\u2019t too bad. Javonte Williams averaged just 2.5 yards per carry and no one outside of Dak Prescott could move the ball on the ground. The effort from the front seven was strong in this regard, though the pass defense couldn\u2019t stop a gosh darn thing. Why run when you can throw wherever you want, whenever you want?<\/p>\n