National Football League

Commanders' biggest strength has become biggest weakness: 'Not a good defense right now'

Published Oct. 6, 2023 11:31 a.m. ET

The Washington Commanders defense was a problem for just about every team they faced last season. So far this year, they're just a problem.

The defense that was supposed to be the strength of this upstart team has shockingly turned into Washington's biggest weakness. That was crystal clear on Thursday night in their humiliating 40-20 loss at home to the previously winless Chicago Bears. The Commanders gave up 451 yards to a team that had lost 14 straight games and they were carved up for 282 yards and four touchdowns by Justin Fields, one of the most embattled quarterbacks in the NFL.

And here's the worst part: It shouldn't have been surprising given how they've played so far this season. The Commanders have now given up more than 30 points in four straight games, after giving up that many just twice last season. They're yielding 372 yards and 32 points per game.

"We just played like s—t," said Commanders defensive tackle Jonathan Allen. "We are not a good defense right now."

He's right, but that's stunning considering this defense returned most of its starters off a unit that ranked third overall in the NFL last season. They even thought they might be better this season with the return of a healthy Chase Young up front and the addition of first-round corner Emmanuel Forbes in the back.

Forbes was benched in the second half on Thursday night after two weeks of struggling and his contribution to a sieve-like secondary against the Bears. And while Young played well, with three quarterback hits and a half sack, the Commanders' vaunted defensive line was maddeningly inconsistent and completely invisible for long stretches of the game. Fields was sacked three times and hit nine times, but for the most part he had plenty of time to camp out in the pocket and take his pick of open receivers downfield.

Considering the Commanders' line features four first-round picks, plus two defensive tackles playing on contracts worth a combined $162 million, that shouldn't happen. Ever. There's no doubt some of their issues on Thursday night had to do with Fields' ability to escape trouble (he ran 11 times for 57 yards). But they're not paid to just buzz around the quarterback and let him escape. They're paid to disrupt him, rattle him and bring him down.

And they should have been able to do that against Fields, who had been sacked 17 times through the first four games — the third-highest total in the league. It should've been easier considering the Bears were rotating their linemen heavily because of injuries and lost center Lucas Patrick to a concussion during the game, too.

"It's very frustrating," said defensive end Montez Sweat, "especially knowing the guys we got in the room. We definitely got to get back in the lab to see what's going on. Everybody's got to look in the mirror."

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When they do, they'll also see a secondary that's also a mess. And Fields made a point of testing them early. He almost threw a 75-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the game, when he barely overthrew receiver Darnell Mooney who had gotten open way behind Commanders cornerback Kendall Fuller. Two plays later, Bears receiver D.J. Moore burned Washington corner Benjamin St-Juste for a nearly uncontested 58-yard gain.

And so it went. Moore finished with eight catches for an astonishing 230 yards and three touchdowns, burning just about everyone who tried to cover him. He had five catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns by halftime. Fields had thrown for 189 yards and three touchdowns by then, and the Bears had run for 122 yards, putting Washington in a deep, 27-3 hole.

Those were numbers some teams struggled to put up in full games last season. For the Commanders, it was an absolutely disastrous half.

"We came out flat," Sweat said. "They had more intensity than us. It's like we like to get punched in the mouth first and then respond. We've got to stop doing that."

It wasn't the first time, and it's not always just at the start of a game. This was really only a more extreme example of how poorly this defense has played over the last month. And if this is what the Commanders defense really is this season, it's the last thing this team in transition needs. They were counting on the defense to carry their young quarterback Sam Howell through his expected ups and downs, to keep him in games and give him the time and room to grow.

They can't be in a position where their 23-year-old quarterback, with just six NFL starts, has to carry them.

"We've got to own that and we've got to get better," Allen said. "That's what's causing us to lose games right now. Defensively, we just were not executing. We've got to be better. "

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"There's reasons why things happen," added Washington coach Ron Rivera. "You look at those things and those are things that we have to correct."

Rivera hinted at changes that could come since they've got 10 days until their next game on Sunday, Oct. 15 in Atlanta. But the truth is there aren't a lot of personnel moves he and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio can make. The defense is relatively thin all over. About the only logical move is the one they made on Thursday night — benching the struggling Forbes for veteran Danny Johnson. But Forbes is still a first-round pick and at some point, they'll have to play him.

Even schematic or strategic changes won't be easy for Washington to make. Del Rio could blitz more to help out the pass rush, but that could leave his struggling secondary exposed. He could drop more into coverage to help them, but that wouldn't help their front four.

What they need mostly is the one thing they haven't been able to get out of their defense since their Week 1 win over the Arizona Cardinals — the only thing that can truly fix this defensive mess.

"We've just got to play better," Allen said. "I think every single player on this defense needs to take a good hard look at themselves and see what they've got to do to improve."

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.