The latest news from around the division.
Commanders Looking to Play ‘Full Brand’ of Defense vs. Cardinals – David Harrison, Sports Illustrated
Washington’s explosive offense has taken the focus away from their shaky defense.
Tempe, AZ — The Washington Commanders have reinvigorated their fan base with back-to-back wins including a historic performance against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 3.
As historic as the Commanders’ offense was on Monday night against the Bengals, the defense was nearly bad enough that that effort was wasted.
A win is a win, but Washington knows it can’t be a team that needs uncommon offense to continue winning in today’s NFL, and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. is already taking steps toward getting better production out of his unit.
Talking about some of the things he and his staff have done to improve the defense, coach Whitt said, “We talked about the first week there was some communication issues, and we shored that up. …We tweaked some of the coverages from the standpoint of reductions. Now it’s just, it’s still really the third down where, alright, sometimes we got to understand the leverage and make the plays. Now it’s to the, ‘Alright, how can I help him make the plays and get that done.’ So, hopefully, this is the week that we played a full brand of what we want (to) do.”
That brand includes hunting quarterbacks and the football. Something his group hasn’t done all that well thus far this season.
It’s a team effort, says Whitt. Coaching to players and players executing the coaching. When things go wrong, the blame isn’t held by one level of the operation, but the entirety of it.
So the plan is to continue tweaking, shifting, and adjusting their designs until they finally unlock the formula for playing Commanders defense.
“We haven’t played the brand of football that I was hoping for up until this point,” Whitt concluded. “And like I said, that’s on me. We want to be a team that produces the ball. We haven’t…So, this is not the style that I envision right now, but we’re trending that way.”
How Eagles can replace A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith − but not with Jahan Dotson or another WR – Martin Frank, DelawareOnline.com
Wide receiver injuries mean other weapons need to step up for Philadelphia.
PHILADELPHIA − The narrative is a good one that the under-the-radar Eagles wide receivers in Jahan Dotson, Johnny Wilson and Parris Campbell will produce the way injured stars A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith would against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this Sunday.
But it’s not realistic to expect that, not when the three have combined for 6 catches for 36 yards, total, through three games this season.
There’s a good chance the Eagles aren’t expecting that either.
“That’s not feasible,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “Everyone has their strengths, and everybody has their weaknesses. You try to help these guys as much as you possibly can, play to their strengths.”
The Eagles might lean towards a cautious approach with both because the Eagles have their bye week after playing the Buccaneers.
The Eagles are further short-handed after placing Britain Covey, who also serves as a punt returner, on injured reserve with a shoulder injury. Covey is expected to miss about six weeks.
But Dotson, Wilson and Campbell, and potentially John Ross, who was signed to the practice squad this week, can play an important role for the Eagles while preventing the Bucs from focusing on quarterback Jalen Hurts, running back Saquon Barkley and tight end Dallas Goedert.
That’s why, when Hurts was asked if the offense needs to be reinvented and changed without Brown and Smith, responded: “I don’t think those are the words. I think that everybody is here and has something that makes them great, so it comes down to putting them in positions to shine in the places they excel.”
“Everybody is old enough to know what we’re capable of, what we’re good at,” Campbell said. “And just doing what the team asks of us, what the coaches ask of us, what Jalen asks of us. Playing our role and playing it well. We know if we do that, we can go in there and be victorious.”
Giants forced to settle for 5 field goals in loss to Cowboys – Michael Eisen, Giants.com
Dallas’ defense showing up for the first time since Week 1 held New York out of the end zone.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The Giants lost to the Dallas Cowboys Thursday, 20-15, but perhaps the most significant score of the night was 2-0, the advantage Dallas had in touchdowns.
Five times the Giants offense traveled to the Cowboys’ 34-yard line or closer, including twice into the red zone. Five times they settled for Greg Joseph field goals.
Dallas scored a touchdown on its only advance inside the 20-yard line, in the first quarter, and reached the end zone on a 55-yard Dak Prescott touchdown pass to CeeDee Lamb.
The Cowboys also scored on a pair of field goals by Brandon Aubrey, including a 60-yarder.
“We were 0-for-2 when we got down there,” coach Brian Daboll said. “Some of those were third down conversions where we had some opportunities to get there. I think we punted one time. Hit some fourth downs, but ultimately, we threw the ball out there to (wide receiver) Wan’Dale (Robinson) on the one and they made a good tackle on him.”
“I think we just didn’t execute in those positions,” [Daniel] Jones said. “We got behind the sticks with some penalties and with some unforced errors and just didn’t execute the same as we had leading up to that point. I thought we moved the ball well and drove it, but we didn’t finish, and we have to go back and see what we could have done better there.”
“You can’t be settling by kicking five field goals and hope to win in the NFL,” guard Jon Runyan said. “You get down to the red zone, you gotta put touchdowns on the board.”
