Three keys for Washington to win against the Falcons
The Washington Chiefs look to get back to .500 with a road game against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 6. Here are three keys to breaking their three-game losing streak, presented by KIA.
1. Forcing Desmond Ridder to make mistakes.
Desmond Ridder began his first season as a full-time starter with pedestrian statistics. The Falcons won the game against the Carolina Panthers and he completed 83.3% of his passes, but his 115 passing yards were the second-lowest of his career. He was also sacked four times by the Panthers’ defensive front.
Since then, things have been inconsistent for Ridder. There were some promising signs, such as his 329-yard performance against the Houston Texans, but there were also some head-scratching moments, such as his two turnovers against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Commanders must make sure to force Ridder out of his comfort zone as often as possible. Unlike previous quarterbacks the Commanders have faced, Ridder is not known for his ability to scramble much, although he still has that ability. It has to be the Chiefs, who are tied with the Seattle Seahawks for the most sacks in the NFC, who will crush the pocket around Ridder and put him on the ground or force him to make an errant throw .
Leading that offense should be Chase Young, whose 27 pressures this season are tied for fourth-most in the NFL. Young has looked stronger since returning to the field in Week 2. He will also have plenty of opportunities to get to Ridder, as the Falcons rank 26th in pass win percentage.
Ridder’s completion rate suffered significantly when under pressure. With a clean pocket, he completed 67.7% of his passes. When pressed, his completion percentage dropped to 56.3%.
2. Prevent Bijan Robinson from disrupting explosive plays.
Bijan Robinson has lived up to the hype that he is the rare running back worthy of a first-round pick. He ranks ninth in rushing yards and Pro Football Focus ranks him as the 10th best running back in the league.
Robinson’s performance so far has been inconsistent. He had two 100-yard games, but he was also stuck under 60 yards three times. Washington must do a better job of containing Robinson than it did with Bears running back Khalil Herbert, who had 76 yards on 10 carries.
The trick is to prevent Robinson from using reduced routes, which is a result of the Falcons’ efforts to move defenses laterally. To prevent this, Washington needs special play from its defense. Young and Montez sweated to stay upright as they moved up the field, which would prevent Robinson from bouncing to the outside and force him to take on Washington’s interior defenders.
And if Robinson’s past games are any indication, he has had little success running between the tackles. Just look at his dashboard on the Next Gen Index; there is a lot of green on the outside, but also a lot of red and yellow, indicating a solution to achieve a minimum loss or profit in the middle.
3. Avoid being forced to be one-sided when committing a crime.
The Commanders threw 55 consecutive scoreless passes in their Thursday Night Football game against the Chicago Bears. Part of that was because they were down 27-3 at halftime, but that simply couldn’t continue if they hoped to have an offensive success.
Commanders can avoid this in several ways. They want balance and that will force them to move the ball at a more consistent pace, especially in the first half. The best example of this was against the Philadelphia Eagles, as the Chiefs had 15 carries to Sam Howell’s 17 passing attempts. As a result, the Commanders led 17-10 at halftime.
Eric Bieniemy said “of course” he wants Brian Robinson Jr. and the running game is more involved. However, to achieve this, the Commander needs to be more successful earlier in the game. For example, against the Bears, Washington blew a 17-0 lead in the second half, making it much harder to justify running the ball when they needed to score quickly.
If the Commanders can get off to a fast start and get into the end zone on their first drive, it will be a first for the Falcons. They only managed three points from their opponents’ starting possessions and that happened last week against the Houston Texans.
Regardless of when they score, the Commanders can’t afford to be in an early deficit again. If they can keep things close, they can execute the offense the way the players know they are capable of.
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