The Washington Commanders are traveling to the Meadowlands to take on the New York Giants. Here are three keys to breaking their losing streak.
1. Put pressure on Jaxson Dart.
Although the Commanders ended up with four sacks on J.J. McCarthy, they didn’t bring much pressure to disrupt the Vikings quarterback. He was blitzed just nine times in the 31-0 Vikings win, and he made the Commanders pay for it with his best completion rate (69%) of the season.
The Commanders’ situation is understandable; they haven’t had the teeth to formulate a formidable pass rush in weeks with their top three defensive ends out for the season. Still, they cannot afford to let Dart sit in the pocket and pick them apart. Dart has completed 71.9% of his passes in a clean pocket this season compared to 41% when under pressure — ranked 53rd in the league — according to Pro Football Focus.
The good news for Washington is that the Giants don’t have a player of Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson’s caliber on their roster right now. That should allow them to play more man coverage, which they ran more than most teams in the NFL prior to Dan Quinn taking over as the defensive coordinator, and blitz more. Dart makes some of the lowest turnover-worthy plays when under pressure, but it at least disrupts the offense’s flow.
What’s more, the pressure tends to result in Dart being sacked. He’s been sacked 23 times — the 11th highest number – in 10 games.