The Washington Commanders looked much more like themselves in their Week 5 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers than they did in their Week 4 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. With Jayden Daniels back on the field, it didn’t matter as much that Terry McLaurin wasn’t out there, or that the ground game was run almost completely by a seventh-round rookie.

That’s not all because Daniels was back on the field, though, a lot of the turnaround had to do with the defense. The Commanders‘ defense allowed a bad Falcons’ offense to put up 34 points in Week 4, and they spent the whole week hearing about it. Fans were calling for Joe Whitt’s head, and others insisted it was a Dan Quinn problem.

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And then they showed up to play on Sunday. At first, it seemed like the Commanders were going to bite it again, but then the defense stepped up. They stopped the Chargers from scoring after the first quarter, despite the Chargers’ best efforts. A big reason for this defensive success is second-year defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton. Look at this breakdown from Brian Baldinger:

“Watch this play by Johnny Newton. He sort of embodies just the effort that they play with. It’s a reverse to Quentin Johnston here, and there’s Johnny Newton chasing it down from behind. That’s pretty good.

“The play of the game came from Newton, right here. The Chargers are going in to score to cut the lead to 20-17 with eight minutes to go. Justin Herbert wants to throw it to Keenan Allen, and he’s got him right at the goal line. And then you watch Johnny Newton right here get his hand up and deflect the ball with his right hand, and Sainristil comes up with the interception.

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“That probably is a touchdown to cut it to 20-17.”

On that play, without Newton getting his hand on the ball and tipping it to Mike Sainrstil, that is absolutely a touchdown. Justin Herbert is an accurate quarterback, and Keenan Allen is a capable receiver. But Newton did what the Commanders needed him to do: He made a play on the ball and got the defense off the field.

“And then you get a delayed blitz,” Baldinger continues with the next clip. “And there’s Newton coming in. He’s got to come inside because the linebacker is coming in through that big gap and flushes Herbert, and there’s Newton right there. But Dorance Armstrong, Kinlaw, Wags (Bobby Wagner), they played great and had a good effort. That was a really good offensive team. But I thought Newton kind of jumped off the page a little bit in this game.”

Now in his second season, Newton has recorded eight tackles (six solo), one sack, one pass defensed, and two stuffs through five games. Last season, Newton recorded 44 tackles (19 solo), two sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and one pass defensed.

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It’s still very early in his career, but Newton could be one of those guys who is incredibly impactful over the span of his career.

This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: Newton ‘jumped off the page’ in Week 5 win