Listening to Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr., Thursday, you could hear the frustration of dealing with all that went wrong with the Commanders’ defense Sunday in Tampa.
The primary concern for Whitt on Thursday was how weak the Commanders’ defense was on third downs. On nine of thirteen third downs, the Commanders could not force a Buccaneer fourth down.
“”The inability to get off the field on third downs” is how Whitt succinctly summarized what lost the game. There are three major reasons that happened. “Losing leverage in certain situations. Times we did get to the quarterback, we didn’t get them down, and we had some communication issues.”
Then Whitt turned the forward direction on himself. “It’s my responsibility to make sure they don’t happen…It’s our job as coaches to make sure that the players are not thinking they are playing fast and that we are on the same page.”
Whitt wanted turnovers created by the defense, which is what he preached throughout the preseason. “We didn’t create any turnovers. We had real opportunity at one. We have to make those splash plays when we have them.”
When he took the job, Whitt enthusiastically asserted that the Commanders would be a defense that played with intensity and speed. He mentioned perhaps having as many as 18 people routinely rotating on the defense.
However, on Sunday, Bobby Wagner and Benjamin St-Juste played each defensive snap in that excessive heat and humidity. Mike Sainristil, Quan Martin, and Frankie Luvu were not far behind, playing 95, 92, and 92 percent of all defensive snaps, respectively. Why?
#Commanders Bobby Wagner looked really tired and pooped on that long screen pass gain that was called back. #RaiseHail #NFL
— Ivan Lambert (@IvanLambert18) September 8, 2024
“Towards the end of the game, I just didn’t feel the speed that we talked about and that’s our responsibility to make sure we do a great job of rotating. We said we were going to roll with a deep crew, and we have to do that.”
So, look for the Commanders to rotate personnel more often on defense on Sunday.
