Daily Slop - 21 Sep 24: WR Noah Brown is quickly making his mark in Washington; Zach Ertz among league leaders at TE

Commanders linksThe Athletic (paywall) Commanders WR Noah Brown, slowed by injuries, won't stop fighting: 'That's all I know' Parris Campbell later became a 1,000-yard receiver in 2018, while Terry McLaurin caught 11 touchdowns that year, a prelude to becoming the group's top NFLer with the Washington Commanders.

Then there was Noah Brown . The physical, 6-foot-2 receiver from New Jersey stood out from his fellow four-star freshmen.

After a one-catch freshman season — Ohio State fed the likes of Ezekiel Elliott, Michael Thomas and Samuel frequently — Brown roared into the following spring and fall practices. He became the most talked about player in the offseason and was set for a larger role. Days before the 2015 season opener against Virginia Tech, Brown suffered a significant leg injury.

"He shattered his leg," Meyer recalled. "It was heartbreaking. He had an incredible training camp."

Brown underwent surgery and spent two weeks in the hospital. Another procedure followed four months later.

When the big-bodied target returned to the field in 2016, he would flash his football potential. Brown caught his first career touchdown against Bowling Green. Two weeks later, he tied a program record with four touchdown receptions against Oklahoma, including a spectacular one-handed catch pinned against a defender's back that will remain in highlight rotations for decades. He finished with 32 receptions for 402 yards and seven touchdowns in what wound up being his final college season.

For the first time in his seven-year career, the path to an NFL starting role is clear. Based on his first appearance and chemistry with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, Brown might take the job Monday night when the Commanders (1-1) visit the Cincinnati Bengals (0-2).

Daniels and Brown connected for a 34-yard catch on the game's final drive as Washington rallied for a 21-18 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday.

"Well, what a first start for him," coach Dan Quinn said on Thursday. "Jayden absolutely ripped the (throw) inside on the last drive to Noah. He's an aggressive, strong player and I think he demonstrated that in the game."

McLaurin knows Brown's capabilities and desires better than most.

The four-time 1,000-yard wideout explained recently that Brown can play all three receiver positions and is physical "not only at the line (of scrimmage) but at the catch point." McLaurin recognized this isn't a "blow-by-you receiver," though Brown had receptions for 75 and 53 yards with Houston. "You turn on the film from last year. He (can) get behind defenses and run after the catch."

Commanders.com Practice notes | Commanders emphasize fixing red zone issues The Washington Commanders were on the cusp of trying a little trickery at the New York Giants' 14-yard line in the second quarter of the Week 2 matchup. Right before the ball was snapped, Jayden Daniels and Brian Robinson Jr. shifted to the left, putting the running back directly behind the center.

The Commanders never found out whether the play would have worked, because not long after the quarterback and running back shift, guard Sam Cosmi committed a false start penalty and turned a first-and-10 into a first-and-15. Four plays later, the Commanders settled for a field goal to go up by three points instead of seven.

That series of events became all too common for the Commanders in their 21-18 win over the Giants. Their offense, which put up 425 yards that afternoon, would move inside the 10-yard line, only for a penalty, sack or lack of productive plays to stall momentum and force Austin Seibert to try a chip shot field goal. The team failed to score a touchdown on six red zone possessions, adding more pressure to what could have been a blowout win had it managed to execute.

Kingsbury knows the Commanders' offense can execute in the red zone because he saw it work in Week 1. They scored touchdowns on all three of their red zone attempts and got inside the 10-yard line each time to do so. Robinson powered seven yards to get across the goal line in the first half, while Daniels took the ball in himself on the final two scores.

Against the Giants, the Commanders were actually more effective, driving into the red zone six times and nearly did so a seventh time in the second quarter. But while the Commanders were solid outside of the 20-yard line, they started to stall inside of it.

Assuming the Commanders don't get jumpy on Monday night, they do have some matchups they can exploit. The Bengals have not defended the run well to start the season, and the Commanders have been one of the best running teams in the NFL. The Bengals have the allowed the second-fewest passing yard per game so far, but Daniels' accuracy provides some confidence that he can find open spots in their coverage.

As long as the Commanders can stay out of their own way, they should be able to give themselves a chance.

Washington Post (paywall) 'He knows how to get open': Zach Ertz finds groove in Commanders' offense The veteran tight end could be just the thing for rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels to unlock a struggling unit.

The Commanders (1-1) signed Ertz in March, believing his experience (11 seasons in the NFL), familiarity with Kliff Kingsbury's offense, leadership and size could only help a team rebuilding around a young quarterback. Throughout training camp and preseason, Ertz began to prove them right; he appeared more like the player he did with the Philadelphia Eagles, with whom he earned three Pro Bowl selections and a Super Bowl ring, than he did over the past few seasons, when he was hampered by injuries.

Through Week 2, Ertz has seven catches (on eight targets) for 90 yards — 62 of which came against the Giants. His 12.9 yards per catch are the second most among tight ends.

The sample size is small, but Ertz's production has been a welcome change. Over the past four seasons combined, Commanders tight ends have accounted for only 17.3 percent of their receiving yards (ranking 29th in the league). Their 9.3 yards per catch in that span were the third fewest in the league, and only one team — the Cincinnati Bengals (6.3 percent), Monday night's opponent — had a lower percentage of tight end catches that gained 20 or more yards than the Commanders (7.6 percent.)

As Washington prepares for its first prime-time game in Cincinnati, Ertz could again be a difference-maker. He needs only four receptions to pass Jimmy Graham (719) to become seventh among NFL tight ends in career catches. Ertz is also only 39 receiving yards away from passing Vernon Davis (7,562) for 11th all-time.

Sports Illustrated How Commanders Can Take Advantage of Bengals OL The Washington Commanders' defensive line should have a day against the Cincinnati Bengals' offensive line.

The Bengals' offensive line has had issues protecting quarterback Joe Burrow for the better part of three seasons or so and has struggled mightily to begin the 2024 season as well. With the struggles being so glaring, let's see where the likes of Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, Dorance Armstrong, Clelin Ferrell, and Dante Fowler Jr. will be able to take advantage.

Attack G Cordell Volson and T Trent Brown on passing downs The Bengals have struggled in all areas along their offensive line, but a major point of the NFL game has transitioned into a quarterback-dominant one, and with that teams have paid extra close attention to ensuring their pass protection to help their respective quarterbacks have as much time to throw from the pocket as possible.

Stack the box Just when you thought things couldn't get much worse for Cincinnati's offensive line, it does. Yes, their pass blocking isn't great, but their run blocking might just be worse.

So far through two weeks of game action, the Bengals have only put up a total of 144 rushing yards, are only averaging 3.8 yards per carry, and have one of the lowest rushing yards per game in the league at 72 yards per game. Yes, Joe Mixon is no longer on the team and the backfield looks a bit different, but at the end of the day, a successful run game only goes as far as the offensive line allows.

After two NFL games, the Cincinnati Bengals starting offensive line doesn't have a single guy above a 70.0 run-blocking grade by PFF. Volson has the closest with a 69.3 grade while the rest of the offensive line sits in the mid-sixties and even into the fifties.

Upcoming opponentPro Football Focus Fire & Ice: Top starts, sits and sleepers in fantasy football for Week 3 Fire QB Start of the Week: Joe Burrow (vs. WAS) So far this season, Burrow has not lived up to his draft cost, but fantasy managers should be rewarded big time in Week 3 in a fantastic matchup. No defense has allowed more passing touchdowns, passing yards, or fantasy points to quarterbacks than the Commanders over the last two seasons.

The Commanders not only allowed Baker Mayfield to score 30 fantasy points in Week 1, but they also let Daniel Jones put up 18 points against them last Sunday – Jones had scored fewer than nine points in six of his previous seven games played.

It also looks like Tee Higgins is trending to make his season debut this week, which would be a huge bump for Burrow's upside.

Running backs Fire RB Start of the Week: Zack Moss (vs. WAS) It is usual to have a fire QB and RB start from the same team, but I expect the Bengals to whip the Commanders this Monday night. Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase can get it started with multiple big plays in the first half, and Zack Moss can close out the game with a huge second half.

Moss has played on 73% of his team's offensive snaps and has seven red-zone carries so far this season, which both rank eighth among all RBs. He is not only the early down back in Cincinnati, he is also being utilized as their third down and goal-line back.

Moss hasn't provided much fantasy value yet this season as he had two rough matchups to start the season, but he should have no problem putting up points against the Commanders — Devin Singletary just had 95 rush yards and a touchdown on just 16 carries against Washington last weekend.

Ice TE Start of the Week: Mike Gesicki (vs. WAS) Gesicki had a great outing in Week 2, but I wouldn't go trying to chase those fantasy points this week. Gesicki has been on the field for just 41.7% of the Bengals offensive snaps and has run just 37 routes through two weeks this season. In Week 1, he was barely utilized as he had just three receptions for 18 yards, and I am expecting a similar performance from him this Monday night. The Bengals should not need to get him heavily involved against a secondary that is so incredibly weak against wide receivers — especially if Tee Higgins is on the field.

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Commanders.com PHOTOS | Preparing for primetime The Washington Commanders had their first practice of the week to prepare for their Week 3 game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football.

NFC East linksPro Football Talk Jalin Hyatt denies wanting to be traded by the Giants Receiver Jalin Hyatt wants to be traded by the Giants. Unless he doesn't.

In the aftermath of an ESPN.com report that Hyatt believes the Giants should use him or trade him , Hyatt has denied any such desire.

" I didn't say that ," Hyatt told reporters on Friday, via the Associated Press. "I don't know where that came from, but that's false. I love being here. . . . I got so much respect for [the Giants] trading up for me and getting me. So, whatever that rumor was, it's not true at all."

It's hard to blame him for wanting out. Last week against the Commanders, Hyatt was on the field for 12 plays and wasn't targeted once. Against the Vikings in Week 1, Hyatt was on the field for 16 plays, with only one target and no catches.

Canal Street Chronicles Interview with the Enemy: Philadelphia Eagles Brandon Lee Gowton joins us for Week 3 of "Interview with the Enemy."

With star WR A.J. Brown expected to miss a few weeks due to a hamstring injury, are you confident in the Eagles' depth at receiver behind DeVonta Smith against this loaded Saints secondary?

BLG: No, I'm not super confident in the Eagles' receiver depth behind DeVonta (who is very good).

Britain Covey is a solid role player who ideally should see no more than two-to-three targets per game as a possession receiver. He shouldn't be getting six targets — including some designed touches in high-leverage scenarios — like he did last week.

Jahan Dotson has ability in theory but we've yet to see it in reality. Jalen Hurts doesn't seem to trust him considering Dotson has just two targets over the first two games.

Parris Campbell will likely be temporarily elevated from the practice squad to be a fourth receiver. He did not get a target in Week 2.

Rookie Johnny Wilson appears on track to miss Sunday's game due to a hamstring injury.

Realistically speaking, the Eagles can't majorly rely on their receiver depth to help replace Brown. Rather, they need to lean more heavily upon Dallas Goedert and Saquon Barkley.

What's going on with LB Devin White? Are his starting days in the NFL behind him? Saints fans are no strangers to the former LSU Tiger, as the former All-Pro caused problems for the Saints' offense during his five seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

BLG: It's been a weird arc. The Eagles signed White to a one-year contract worth $3.5 million guaranteed back in March. This despite the fact that he got benched late last season.

White had some good moments in OTA's and he took all of the first first-team linebacker reps in 11-on-11 in training camp. It looked like he was going to be a Week 1 starter, at least in a rotational capacity.

But then White suffered an ankle injury in practice leading up to Week 1 and did not travel with the team to Brazil. Around that time, it was reported that White lost the starting job to third-year linebacker Nakobe Dean anyway. Dean definitely had some nice moments in training camp, but I don't think White looked unplayable by any means.

White was healthy enough to play in Week 2 but the Eagles decided to keep him inactive as a healthy scratch. I'm guessing they might try to trade him before the deadline?

Dawgs by Nature Giants vs. Browns: Scouting the New York Giants with our Q&A with Big Blue View We ask about Giants rookie WR Malik Nabers, where Cleveland should attack their defense, thoughts on QB Daniel Jones, and more.

"The Giants' defense is off to another fairly rough start. If you were the Browns' offense, what is the biggest weakness they should attack?"

Ed: "Honestly, if the pattern of the first two games continues it is the dealer's choice. Do what you want. The Giants have been abysmal defending the run. They gave up 215 yards to the Commanders with poor tackling and poor run fits being the culprits. They have given up 7 passes of 20 yards or more, and the cornerback play opposite Tae Banks is a huge question."

Big Blue View Giants DC Shane Bowen: 'We've got to force them to punt' Bowen discusses player mistakes vs. Washington, takes accountability for his own

Daniels, known for his dual-threat capabilities, consistently found ways to extend plays with his legs. Bowen, reflecting on the game, admitted the team should have assigned a spy to limit Daniels' mobility.

"Looking back, we should've put more focus on Daniels," Bowen said. "He's a dynamic player, and giving him that much space to work with was a mistake. We needed to spy him, keep him under control."

"We knew he had the ability to escape the pocket, and yet we didn't do enough to contain him," Bowen continued. "You can't let a guy like Daniels find his rhythm—he'll make you pay."

NFL league linksFront Office Sports NFL Ratings Soaring, but Is Peacock Game Skewing Numbers? Through two weeks of action, the average viewership of all NFL games is 18.7 million , 8% higher than the average audience during the first two weeks of the 2023 season.

However, this season included the league's debut game in Brazil, an Eagles 34–29 win over the Packers, which was streamed exclusively on Peacock. That rare Friday night matchup in Week 1 drew 14.2 million viewers in prime time , including local over-the-air audiences in Philadelphia and Green Bay.

Since there's no previous game window to compare that to, the NFL has been excluding it from its viewership reports . Without the Peacock game, NFL broadcasts are averaging 19.7 million viewers—up 12% compared to last season, and the second highest on record through two weeks.

So, the story around NFL viewership to start the season is positive, either up 8% or 12%—dealer's choice. And as the weeks go on, the impact of the Peacock stream on overall NFL numbers will lessen.