Situational football and clock management have been the two hot topics at the Washington Commanders' facility this week, but they are not the only things they are trying to fine-tune before their matchup with the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football.
The Commanders led the New York Giants, 27-13, with about eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. Jameis Winston threw two touchdowns to force overtime, leading the Giants on drives of 75 and 72 yards to do so. It has become an unfortunate trend for the Commanders to either let leads wither away or allow opponents to build leads of their own. They've allowed 95 points in the third and fourth quarters of games, resulting in a ranking of 32nd in points given up in the second half.
It's something defensive coordinator Daronte Jones and the Commanders are determined to fix.
"Let's just reset," Jones said. "Let's just take a deep breath and focus on our technique and our footwork and our eye placement and just do those things we were doing in the first half."
Most of the potential Washington's defense has shown has come in the first halves of games. They are around league average for first-half points allowed and seventh in points given up in the first quarter. They are disruptive at the line of scrimmage and competitive in the secondary. Four of their seven turnovers have come in the first half, and their performance against the run -- the unit's best quality -- is particularly stingy, as opponents average just 40.8 yards on the ground against Washington in the first two quarters.
But things change for Washington in the second half, and the Giants game is the latest example of that. At the start of the third quarter, the Giants had just 77 net yards, and Winston had seven completions. The Giants ended the game with 408 yards, including 103 on the ground, and a 47.1% third-down conversion rate. Winston threw the ball 54 times -- tied for the second-most of his career.
The players know that it is not enough to start strong. They need to finish games, too.
"Just being able to finish strong and play four full quarters," Kain Medrano said.
Jones emphasized that he could do a better job helping his players, too. That involves calling plays that allow them to "just line up and play" and continue to be consistent "consistent in some of the things we're asking and doing." He added that he could do a better job of reminding the players that in a "rally situation," where they are playing with a lead, it is more acceptable to keep the ball in front of them to eliminate big plays.
"We're okay with a three- or four-yard catch; just gotta rally make the tackle," Jones said. "And just changing the mindset that way. And then as the ball is starting to move, let's just relax, calm down, and I can help them with the calls that way."
Jones has seen moments where the defense performs as expected. He has made a point to show them specific plays where they have played cutbacks well and done their job in the secondary. He has also shown them moments where they have not performed up to expectations.
"It'd be one thing if we haven't seen what it should look like at this point," Jones said. "And I think that's where the frustrating part can be if you allow it to creep in that way, whereas we've shown it and we've shown that we can do it."
Jones and the Commanders' defense have another challenge coming up with the 49ers, who rank second in second-half points through five games. Brock Purdy leads the league in touchdowns and QBR with a top-10 completion rate. Mike Evans has been their most reliable weapon, as 21 of his receptions have resulted in first downs. There are also Luke McCaffrey and George Kittle, who have combined for 691 total yards and nine touchdowns.
The point is, as Jones pointed out, that there are several moving parts the Commanders need to account for.
"They can have the same personnel grouping and give you totally different looks, but we've been stressing to our guys motion causes emotion and it's a lot of motion to expect that this week," Jones said.
For one half, at least, the Commanders have shown it is possible for them to match up well with San Francisco. However, it will take a complete effort to upset the 49ers on the road, and the Commanders know that.
"We can just kind of calm things down," Jones said. "And I think it's, again, just slowing it down a little bit and being in the moment and not worried about the game, not worried about the score or anything like that or, 'oh my God, here it goes.'"
