Snap Counts Plus: Week 2 Commanders vs Giants

In just the second game of the rebuild, the new look Washington Commanders led by first-year head coach Dan Quinn and rookie QB Jayden Daniels, defeated the New York Giants 21-18, on a last second field goal by midweek acquisition, kicker Austin Seibert. The win propelled Washington from last to first place in the NFC East division, where they find themselves in three-way tie with the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys.

It may come as a surprise to Commanders fans to learn that winning their second game following a total franchise reset puts the Commanders' rebuild well ahead of the pace set by the 2017 San Francisco 49ers and the 2021 Detroit Lions in their first seasons under new management. The 49ers did not record their first win until Week 10, and Lions' fans had to wait until Week 13.

A lot was made about the inability of the Commanders' offense to find the endzone. However, fans should not underestimate the achievement of the team scoring on each of their 7 possessions. The last time that the Commanders scored on 7 offensive drives in a game was the Week 10 loss to the Seahawks last season. In 2023, Rivera's Commanders averaged scoring on 35.4% of drives. Very few teams in NFL history have scored on every possession in a game. It is difficult to check, but this might have been a franchise first for the Commanders.

It is fair to say that the Commanders' worst-to-first turnaround is one the quickest witnessed in the NFL in recent decades. Whether they can sustain it into the third week of the rebuild is another matter.

To celebrate the first win of the Peters/ Quinn era, let's have a look at which Commanders played a part and where they spent their time on the field, as well as a few key statistics.

In his second outing in burgundy and gold, Jayden Daniels took a step forward, completing 23 of 29 attempts (79.3%, ADOT 5.0 yds) for 226 yds. According to Pro Football Focus (PFF) his average time to throw improved from 2.93 sec in Week 1 to 2.84 sec against the Giants. Nevertheless, despite facing only one more defensive pressure this week (13 total pressures), his sack total jumped up from 2 to 5, resulting in an alarming Pressure to Sack Rate of 38.5%, up from 16.7% in Week 1.

Daniels did demonstrate good escapability on some broken plays, and demonstrated his dual threat ability by rushing for 44 yds on 10 attempts with 2 runs over 10 yds.

After 2 games, Daniels' 46.8 Total QBR ranks 20th among starting QBs, well ahead of fellow rookies Bo Nix (35.7, 27th) and Caleb Williams (24.2, 30th).

Jeff Driskel filled in for one play when JD5 got the wind knocked out of him.

*NEW THIS WEEK - Blocking Snaps* Starting this week I will be reporting on blocking snaps by offensive skill players to give Commanders' fans a better feel for what the players are doing when they aren't recording production stats.

Brian Robinson Jr had the second biggest day of his career, logging 136 yards from scrimmage. He rushed for 133 yards on 17 attempts to set a new career high rushing average of 7.8 Y/A. Along the way, he rushed for 6 first downs, with 5 runs over 10 yds and a long of 40 yds. Pro Football Reference (PFR) credits Robinson with 3 broken tackles while PFF credits him with 4 forced misses. A whopping 75 rushing yards came after contact, resulting in an impressive 4.4 YAC/att average.

Austin Ekeler provided the lightning to go with Robinson's thunder, rushing for 38 yds on 8 attempts (4.8 Y/A), with a long of 13 and 1 broken tackle. He added 47 yards on 3 receptions from 3 targets and was second on the team in overall receiving productivity, with an impressive average of 3.13 Yards/Route Run.

The wide receiver position in Kliff Kingsbury's offense remains a work in progress.

While Terry McLaurin, Dyami Brown and Luke McCaffrey got the most playing time again this week, newcomer Noah Brown vaulted into the lead in terms of productivity when he was on the field. Despite playing fewer than 1/3 as many snaps as McLaurin, the bigger Brown led the WR group and was second on the team in receiving yards. His overall productivity of 4.67 Yds/Route Run led all Commanders' receivers.

McLaurin was second among the WRs in total receiving yards, with just 22 yds on 6 receptions out of 8 targets (ADOT 4.0).

When they weren't running routes, Kingsbury's WRs were earning their keep making way for the Commanders' resurgent rushing attack. All but Luke McCaffrey spent more than 40% of their time on the field as run blockers. For the second week in a row, Dyami Brown took a snap lined up at fullback.

Zach Ertz led all Commanders' receivers, catching all 4 passes thrown his way for 62 yds (ADOT 12.5 yds). He was third on the team in receiving productivity at 1.94 Y/RR, and had the best contested reception of the season when he yanked an interception away from Giants' safety Jason Pinnock. Here it is:

John Bates got his first reception of the season, catching his only target for 5 yards.

As a group, the tight ends spent 43.5% of their time on the field as run blockers, with 9.4% of their offensive snaps taken at the fullback position.

The offensive line has remained stable through the first two weeks. Brandon Coleman got to see the field at left tackle for 8 more snaps than last week.

Was he an improvement over Cornelius Lucas in pass protection? Nope. Despite playing just 13 pass blocking snaps, compared to 41 snaps for the starters, Coleman led the team in pressures allowed, with 3. That equates to a pressure rate of 23.1% of pass blocking snaps. You don't need to be a blocking stats wonk to appreciate that his performance has room for improvement.

Nick Allegretti and Andrew Wylie were the next most porous pass protectors, allowing 2 pressures each for pressure rates of 4.9%, which is a little better than average for a starting OT and below average for a G. Sam Cosmi and Tyler Biadasz allowed one pressure apiece, while Lucas was not credited with any.

Offensive Line Penalties If Austin Siebert kicking 7 field goals in his first Commanders' outing was the good news story of the week, the reason he got so many attempts was the biggest area for improvement on offense. The Commanders' offensive line committed 7 penalties, distributed as follows:

LG Nick Allegretti – 2

RG Sam Cosmi – 3 (1 declined)

LT Cornelius Lucas – 1

RT Andrew Wylie – 1

Five of the OL's called penalties were committed in the red zone, directly or indirectly impacting the Commanders' ability to score touchdowns on the respective drives:

In the third offensive drive, Sam Cosmi was flagged for a false start on 1st and 10 at the NYG 14 yard line. Nick Allegretti committed a false start on 2nd and goal at the NYG 4 yard line in the second drive of the second half. Two plays later Cosmi committed holding on 3rd and goal from 11, which would have nullified ay TD scored on the play. In the third drive of second half, Cosmi was called for a false start on 1st and goal at the NYG 6 yard line. Three plays later, Cornelius Lucas made a false start on 3rd and goal at the NYG 10, moving the third down attempt back 5 yards. TE Ben Sinnott also chipped in with a false start on 4th and 1 at the Giants' 4 yard line to force a field goal attempt on the opening drive.

Clelin Ferrell was the main right DE and Dorance Armstrong was the main left DE. Armstrong was spelled by Dante Fowler and Javontae Jean-Baptiste, while everyone platooned to spell Ferrell.

Ferrell generated 2 QB pressures, one of which was a sack. Armstrong led the team with 3 pressures, but failed to get home.

Ferrell also led the DE group with 2 solo tackles and 1 TFL according to PFR. PFF credits him with 2 missed tackles which PFR did not see. Dorance Armstrong had 1 tackle, which was a stop, and one assist. Fowler and Jean-Baptiste also registered tackles which were stops.

For the second week in a row, Joe Whitt moved his DTs over to the edge a fair bit. Each DT played around 25% of snaps at DE this week, which is about Quinn did last season in Dallas. Big Phil Mathis also got on the stats board with 1 QB hurry and 2 assisted tackles.

Johnny Newton made his Washington debut at DT, where he failed to register a defensive stat. The DTs faced a high rate of double teams, which kept them quiet. If anyone knows of a free source of double team rate data, please let me know.

Frankie Luvu led the commanders in tackling, no matter whose stats you use. PFR credits him with 6 solo tackles and 5 assists, while PFF says 7 tackles and 2 assists with 4 stops, which is also a team high. PFF says he missed a tackle, but PFR disagrees.

Bobby Wagner had 5 tackles and 4 assists with 1 TFL, according to PFR. PFF agrees on the tackle counts and scores two of the tackles as stops.

According to PFR, Luvu allowed 1 completion on 2 targets in coverage for 0 yds. PFF says he allowed 0 targets or receptions.

PFR credits Wagner with allowing 2 completions on 4 targets for 15 yards, whereas PFF scores him at 1 completion out of 3 targets for 8 yds. Both agree he had one PBU.

For comparison, in Week 2 last season, Cody Barton allowed 5/5 receptions for 100 yds and a TD, and Jamin Davis allowed 1/2 for 21 yds.

Benjamin St-Juste was the most active CB, and acquitted himself well, allowing only 50% completions on 10 targets for 85 yds, with 3 pass breakups. He allowed 2 receptions on 6 targets for 38 yds against Malik Nabers with 2 PBUs, while allowing 3 receptions on 4 targets for 33 yards with 1 PBU against Darius Slayton.

He was also second on the team with 6 solo tackles, according both stats services and forced a turnover on a textbook peanut punch. Here's how you do it, kids:

With Emmanuel Forbes out with a thumb injury, the calls from fans to start Michael Davis were answered. His time as the starter was likely cut short after allowing 3 receptions on 6 targets for 62 yards with 3 missed tackles according to PFR, or maybe it was 5 targets, according to PFF.

Noah Igbinoghene got more snaps at left boundary corner, despite not being listed as the starter, and allowed only 1 reception on 2 targets for 4 yards (Passer Rating 56.3). PFR calls it 2 completions on 3 targets for 8 yds. Whatever.

Mike Sainristil allowed 2/2 completions in coverage for 14 yds and a TD. He was also credited with 3 tackles and 1 assist with 2 stops. I think people might be being a little hard on him in just his second game.

The utilization of the safeties was similar to last week. Quan Martin was the primary free safety. Jeremy Chinn played strong safety, with a healthy dash of pass rushing duties. While Percy Butler filled in in an interchangeable safety role.

Martin stayed out of trouble in coverage, going the whole game without being targeted. He had 2 tackles with 1 assist and 1 missed tackle.

Accounts of Jeremy Chinn's play vary. According to PFR, he had 2 solo tackles, 1 assist and 1 missed tackle. PFR credits him with allowing 1 reception on 1 target for a 4 yd TD, and gives him 1 pressure on 3 blitzes. PFF counted 1 solo tackle for a stop and 3 misses, to go with allowing 3 receptions on 3 targets for 8 yds and a TD. PFF also credited him with 2 pressures on 2 pass rush snaps.

The stats services mostly agreed on Butler. Both credit him with 3 tackles. PFR counted 1 missed tackle, while PFF counted 2. Both agreed that he was not targeted in coverage.

SPECIAL TEAMS The story of the week was kicker Austin Seibert, arriving midweek and kicking 7 of 7 field goals, including the game winning score. It is difficult to check, but it is likely that he set a few franchise records in the process. With Seibert scoring on every offensive drive, the Commanders did not need to punt.

Austin Ekeler returned the opening kick for a 98 yard touchdown, but it was nullified by a holding call on Nick Bellore. Ekeler had one allowed kick return for 35 yds.

Olamide Zaccheaus had a gutsy, tackle-breaking punt return for 24 yards, along with 1 fair catch.

Tyler Ott and Tress Way were mistake free getting the ball to Seibert.

Percy Butler and Nick Bellore were the leading tacklers in special teams coverage. However, Butler claims the honor due to Bellore's touchdown nullifying penalty on the opening kickoff. Tyler Owens and Mykal Walker also had 1 tackle apiece.

Jeremy McNichols and Bobby Price find themselves on the naughty list with missed tackles.

Week 1 Poll Quiz Answer In last week's poll I asked which Commander would see the greatest proportional increase in playing time aside from Austin Siebert.

The top picks by readers were: Brandon Coleman (54%), Noah Brown 17%, Noah Igbinoghene and Michael Davis more or less tied at 8%.

Voters picked the top 4 correctly, but in the wrong order. The answers were: