The quick knee-jerk reaction is to blame the officials, but the Commanders offense deserves most of the blame for the Commanders discouraging loss to the Giants in Week 15.
Yes, the defense gave up a 97-yard, 18-play scoring drive. But are you aware the other Giants possessions produced drives of 3, 19, -1, 17, 43 (field goal), 5, 33, 54 (field goal) and -2 yards (end of game)?
Consequently, the Commanders defense only yielded one touchdown and two field goals to the Giants offense for 13 points. How many NFL games do you think you should win if your defense and special teams only yields 13 points? 95 percent? 98 percent? Seriously.
On the other hand, the Commanders offense gave up a strip-sack touchdown when Taylor Heinicke was blindsided by Kayvon Thibodeaux and Thibodeaux returned the fumble one yard for a touchdown.
The Commanders offense produced a mere 12 points. In today’s NFL, isn’t this inexcusable? Looking at the scores of Week 15 games, only the Browns won with as few as 13 points and the Chargers won, scoring 17. Every other winner scored 20 or more, with six winners this week scoring 30 or more points.
The Commanders moved the ball several possessions, rushing for 159 yards on 26 carries and passing for 249 yards on 17 completions. However, the Commanders yielded three quarterback sacks, fumbled on four offensive plays, losing two of them, and had a costly delay of game in the first half. After moving the ball, the Commanders repeatedly could not convert third downs, finishing the night 1-10.
One of 10 on third downs? Yes, the Commanders moved the ball several times, but repeatedly could not perform on third downs, whether it was protections, decision-making by the quarterback, pulling the trigger by the quarterback, receivers not effectively running routes, or catching third-down passes.
How many NFL games does a team win when they only convert third downs ten percent of the time?
