Washington 27 Atlanta 34
One of the keys to a victory in Atlanta was not to let Michael Penix Jr. get his confidence back after laying an egg against Carolina.
Penix Jr. 20-26 for 313 yards and two touchdowns. He was comfortable behind a line that only gave up one sack and two quarterback hits. Penix Jr. played like a guy who didn’t want to give former Commanders quarterback Kirk Cousins a chance to play.
The lack of pressure allowed Penix Jr. to find his number one option, Drake London, early and often. London was targeted 10 times and finished with eight receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown.
Washington’s inability to contain Bijan Robinson was another defensive issue.
Robinson was the dual-threat monster Atlanta imagined when they drafted him. He finished the day with 75 yards rushing and 106 receiving, including a 69-yard catch-and-run up the sidelines. All too often, Robinson’s speed and shifty moves left Washington defenders grasping at air.
Atlanta’s ability to be comfortable on offense led to an efficient 6-12 third-down conversions. “Not winning on third down enough,” said Commanders’ head coach Dan Quinn. “You get them in that spot, you got to deliver.”
Washington’s offense was clunky at times, especially on third down, where they only converted once in eight tries.
It’s a bad combination when your opponent can extend drives and your offense can’t.
It all adds up as to why Washington had only 22 carries, which was never going to be a recipe for a win. In the win over the Las Vegas Raiders, the Commanders had 32 carries.
Today, Chris Rodriguez Jr. and Jacory Croskey-Merritt only had seven carries each, and Marcus Mariota only had two. It didn’t matter how many yards they were getting per carry it wasn’t enough to open up the playbook and possess the ball on a day when the defense wasn’t up to the task of getting the Falcons off the field.
The passing game wasn’t good enough to make up for it.
Deebo Samuels had six receptions, but the Commanders needed more contributions from Zach Ertz, Luke McCaffrey, and Chris Moore.
The Falcons did a good job on Ertz, McCaffrey had two catches on three targets, and Moore had zero catches on three targets.
On a day when the Falcons had a bevy of chunk plays, Washington’s offense had few and far between.
Washington has been terrible on the road, and it won’t get any easier next Sunday when they travel to Los Angeles to face the Chargers. Jim Harbaugh’s crew is coming off a disappointing loss to the New York Giants.
