Now that was a dynamic debut: Austin Seibert’s first game with the Commanders saw the kicker drill a team-record seven field goals in Washington’s 21-18 victory over the winless New York Giants.
And there’s plenty more to chew on.
First Down: The offense scored on seven of eight possessions, with the exception being a kneel-down at the end of the first half. That’s the good news as quarterback Jayden Daniels continues to progress and this week the running game tallied 215 yards.
One hopes that Daniels’ five sacks will decrease as he gets more comfortable and the offensive line gels. The defense allowed a bad Giants offense to score three touchdowns. Daniel Jones & Company managed a pair of field goals in their opener and might not tally three more TDs for the rest of the month.
Second Down: Washington faces Cincinnati in Week 3 and the Bengals are already in semi-panic territory starting 0-2. Two other surprise 0-2 squads are the Ravens, who lost Sunday to Las Vegas despite having a rest advantage (three more days off since their Thursday night game in Week 1) and the Raiders’ body-clocks playing at 10 a.m.
Another playoff team that’s 0-2 is the Los Angeles Rams, who got smoked by Arizona Sunday. Week two’s oddest result was New Orleans going into Dallas and drilling the Cowboys.
Philadelphia is also 1-1 after slipping on Monday night and because the Commanders have the lone division victory, Washington is technically in first place of the NFC East.
Third Down: The offense went 7 of 14 on the money down, with Daniels completing four of seven passes for four conversions. One of his two scrambles met the marker and the rookie was sacked once on third down.
His top option? Three passes were thrown to Dyami Brown, although Zach Ertz caught both of his targets for two conversions. Brian Robinson moved the chains on both of his runs while Austin Ekeler was held short on both of his third down carries.
Yardage breakdown: 3-4 on short-yardage, 1-3 when needing four to six yards, and 3-7 on long-yardage.
Flying Flags: Sit down, you’re going to be here a while. Ten accepted penalties for 69 yards will cost you more often than not. Seven were on offense (including a declined hold on Sam Cosmi), while two were on defense and two were on special teams.
Five of the penalties were false starts and the top culprit was Sam Cosmi with three whistles. Most costly infraction? A pass interference call against Noah Igbinoghene on a third down in the fourth quarter that moved the Giants to the Washington 10. They’d score shortly thereafter.
Fourth Down: Stepping-up into the big time! After getting FOX’s fourth and sixth broadcast crews, the Monday night matchup in Cincinnati draws the ABC/ESPN crew of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. Dallas meanwhile draws the No.1 crew for the third straight week. Hopefully, they’ll put together a better show than they did last Sunday against the Saints.
