Daily Slop – 22 Oct 23: The Giants game offers opportunities for Washington’s receivers

A collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders, the NFC East and the NFL in general

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Sports Illustrated

Washington Commanders Not Overlooking New York Giants QB Tyrod Taylor

Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera discussed the possibility of facing quarterback Tyrod Taylor in the team’s matchup with the New York Giants.

Ron Rivera discussed the possibility of facing Taylor, as Washington looks to move to 4-3.

“First of all, he’s got a lot of experience. He really has,” Rivera said. “He’s been in this league a long time. He’s had success in this league. He’s got a good arm. He’s a good decision maker. I think he’s played in one and a half games so far this year, started last week. I think the more he plays the more problems he’s going to pose for you.

“I know last week they gameplanned for him,” Rivera continued. “This week they have a little bit more sense of what they can you do with him. What we’ve got to do is we’ve got to be able to figure out exactly how they want to use him and his strengths.”

Thus far, it hasn’t mattered whether it’s been Jones or Taylor under center, the Giants have greatly regressed from being the team that won nine regular season games and upset the Minnesota Vikings in the playoffs a year ago. Coach Brian Daboll’s squad will enter Sunday’s matchup against the Commanders with a 1-5 record, along with a league-worst -96 point differential.

This matchup feels like it could be a turning point in the season for the Commanders. With a win, Washington will climb back above .500, and keep themselves in the NFC playoff picture. However, a loss will see the Commanders drop to 3-4 and put the future of Rivera, among others, under the microscope.

Commanders.com

Practice notes | Kendall Fuller active for Sunday vs. Giants

Kendall Fuller will be active for the Washington Commanders’ NFC East showdown against the New York Giants on Sunday after dealing with a knee injury this week.

Fuller, who is fourth on the team in tackles and leads the defense with two interceptions and six pass breakups, first showed up on the injury report Wednesday and did not participate until Friday, when he was listed as limited.

Seeing how Fuller is ranked fifth by Pro Football Focus in overall defensive grade (82.0) and fourth in coverage grade (82.9) among cornerbacks, losing him would have been a significant blow to the Commanders’ secondary. However, Fuller didn’t seem bothered by the injury when asked about it in the locker room on Thursday, helping to alleviate any concerns about his availability.

“I’ve been managing it since I came into the league with my surgery out of college,” Fuller said. “So, I know what it is, how to take care of it. Once you find your routine, you just stick to it and you trust it.”

Fuller and the Commanders will match up against a Giants offense that has struggled to do much of anything in the passing game, despite them having playmakers like Darren Waller, Jalin Hyatt and Sterling Shepard. They have only two passing touchdowns this season, which is the lowest number in the league, and they average 5.8 yards per attempt, which is the fourth lowest in the league.

Washington Post (paywall)

The NFL has many good wide receivers. One skill separates the elite ones.

For most wide receivers, the allure of going one-on-one with a defender is the simple challenge of proving who’s better. And it often comes with a baked-in incentive: Beat your guy, and you’re likely to get a memorable play.

“You can catch a ball and you make the guy who’s guarding you miss, there’s really no one else to tackle you,” Washington wide receiver Jahan Dotson said. “They can turn into some big plays.”

Which is why Dotson, along with veterans Terry McLaurin and Curtis Samuel and the rest of Washington’s wide receiving corps, have had Sunday’s game at MetLife Stadium circled for days.

The 1-5 Giants often try to create pressure up front with extra pass rushers and use more man coverage than most teams on the back end. Through Week 6, they sent five or more pass rushers on 38.3 percent of their defensive plays, the fourth-highest rate in the league, according to the website TruMedia. They also have been in man coverage for 33.6 percent, the third-highest rate. That includes plays in cover-zero, in which every defender is in man coverage; cover-one, in which everyone but a deep safety is in man; and cover-two man, with two safeties deep and the underneath defenders in man.

“It’s almost like a challenge, especially with the way they play man,” Dotson added. “They really don’t have any help. It’s kind of just one-on-one out there.”

ESPN

Commanders’ passing game shows signs of growth

They’re not getting as many yards after the catch though their receiving yards are comparable to last season after six games. As a group, the Commanders receivers rank 28th in that area. McLaurin had 367 yards at this point in 2022; he has 342 now but on nine more catches. Curtis Samuel has two fewer yards on seven less catches. Jahan Dotson has 12 fewer yards on five more catches.

Finding more production from the receivers was a topic among the coaches before Atlanta.

“You’re talking about the impact that each guy has and their ability to have a big impact that, ‘Hey, what can we do? How can we do it? What can we do better?’ Those are conversations that were had,” coach Ron Rivera said. “Getting the ball to them in space is very important because of their ability for yards after catch. I think part of it too is, again, getting the ball out of Sam’s hands quickly.”

No Commanders receiver has surpassed 100 yards in a game this season.

McLaurin has gone 10 consecutive games without topping 100 yards. The last time occurred in a 20-20 tie at the Giants in Week 13 last season. It’s the longest such streak of his career.

However, McLaurin also has finished with at least 100 yards three times in seven games against the Giants. And Dotson’s lone 100-yard game came in a Week 15 loss to the Giants.

New York likes to pressure quarterbacks and play man coverage. Washington hopes that results in more big plays. The Commanders wideouts have combined for six plays of at least 25 yards, tied for 21st in the NFL. Last season they ranked sixth on such plays.

But keep this in mind against a team that likes to play man: Washington averages 4.65 yards after the catch against man and 2.27 versus zone.

Riggo’s Rag

5 sneaky threats the Commanders should worry about at NY Giants in Week 7

Bobby Okereke leads the group of five sneaky threats the Washington Commanders should worry about against the New York Giants in Week 7.

Commanders have to put hats on Bobby Okereke

Letting Bobby Okereke be a force in every phase will stall the Washington Commanders’ offense. They must put hats on the former Indianapolis Colts starter who cost the New York Giants $40 million in free agency.

Okereke has tallied 53 tackles and blitzed 12 times, but his greater impact comes from deflecting passes. The 27-year-old has gotten his hands on five, with two of those tipped balls resulting in interceptions for teammates, per Bobby Skinner of Talkin’ Giants.

Offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy needs to design route concepts to draw Okereke away from quarterback Sam Howell’s primary reads. The Commanders also have to find ways to quickly get linemen onto No. 58 in the running game.

Controlling the core players of a solid defense, then beating up on an injury-hit offense is how the Commanders can earn a winning record at the expense of their NFC East rivals.

Commanders Wire

Commanders, Del Rio prepare for Saquon Barkley and Giants

At 6 feet and 232 pounds, the New York Giants’ Saquon Barkley is one of the most explosive running backs in the NFL. He has massive leg strength and is a great receiver out of the backfield, which could cause matchup problems for the Commanders’ pass defense.

On Thursday, in his weekly appointment with the media, Del Rio was asked about having had to prepare for such backs as Eagles RB D’Andre Swift, Falcons RB Bijan Robinson last week and now Barkley.

“All super talented,” Del Rio said. “Everybody has talent in this league, but that’s the way I’d answer that is they’re all super talented. They’re all a tremendous challenge. We prepare each week to face the one we’ve got. This week, we’ve got Saquon. He’s a heck of a player.”

Del Rio was then asked: What makes Barkley dangerous?

“It’s a combination. Everything everybody talks about. He’s explosive. His balance. His vision. Just a good football player.”

Podcasts & videos

LIVE from New York it’s B-Mitch and Santana Moss | Command Center Special | Washington Commanders

Payne is a DISRUPTER and Analyzing the NY Giants Playbook | Podcast | Washington Commanders

NFC East links

Big Blue View

Jamison Crowder can show Giants what they are missing on Sunday

Crowder excelling as Washington punt returner after being cut by Giants

One of the difficult decisions the New York Giants made in setting their initial 53-man roster was not keeping veteran wide receiver/punt returner Jamison Crowder.

That was, at the time, understandable. Even though the 30-year-old Crowder is an accomplished NFL player who entered the season with 415 career receptions, he is a slot receiver. The Giants were flush with those — Parris Campbell, Sterling Shepard, Wan’Dale Robinson, Cole Beasley.

The gamble in letting Crowder go was always going to be that he is also an accomplished, quality punt returner who entered the 2023 season with a career average of 8.2 yards on 95 punt returns.

Not keeping Crowder left the return job to rookie fifth-round pick Eric Gray, who had only nine punt returns and four kickoff returns in college for Tennessee and Oklahoma.

Gray has averaged 4.7 yards on six punt returns with two muffs and just 14.4 yards on four kickoff returns.

Crowder, who landed with the Washington Commanders, is currently fifth in the NFL with an average of 14.3 yards per return and no muffs or fumbles. He had a 61-yard return last Sunday in Washington’s victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

Big Blue View

Giants’ depth chart: Things have changed drastically since the season began

Let’s see just how much different things are for the Giants seven weeks into the season

On the team’s website, Parris Campbell and Isaiah Hodgins are listed as starting wide receivers. That is no longer true. Campbell has been buried behind Wan’Dale Robinson for several weeks, and barely plays. The Giants are now playing Jalin Hyatt far more than Isaiah Hodgins, with head coach Brian Daboll admitting that the team is committing to its young wide receivers.

The offensive line chart reflects the reality of where players are currently playing, and where a player like Tyre Phillips could play. I listed both Ben Bredeson and Justin Pugh as starting left guards. I suspect that job would go to Pugh if Andrew Thomas were healthy, but can’t in good conscience list Bredeson as a backup right now.

The big change on defense is that Tre Hawkins III is now a reserve. Second-year cornerback Cor’Dale Flott is now the slot cornerback, with Adoree’ Jackson back at his natural wide cornerback alignment. That is how the Giants began training camp, but they went away from that when Hawkins impressed.

With Azeez Ojulari on IR and Boogie Basham barely playing, the lack of depth on the edge is also being exposed.

The Giants, stubbornly, turned to Adoree’ Jackson as the punt returner when Eric Gray mishandled a couple of kicks. They have gone back to Gray, but the situations shows that they really don’t have a reliable returner right now.

Blogging the Boys

5 reasons why Mike McCarthy is not the right head coach for the Cowboys

The conversation around Mike McCarthy never ends.

We have identified five pieces of evidence that suggest he is not a very good coach which ultimately could lead to his departure in 2024.

REASON 1: THE GREEN BAY IMPROVEMENT

McCarthy left Green Bay on a downswing as he finished his tenure with two straight losing seasons after previously having eight straight winning seasons, including a Super Bowl win in 2010. There was a big debate about whether or not the Packers’ failures were due to McCarthy or possibly something in the front office that wasn’t giving the coach adequate soldiers to compete. But once McCarthy left Green Bay, the Packers proceeded to have three straight 13-win seasons.

REASON 2: THE FIRST-YEAR CATASTROPHE

While Green Bay had success without McCarthy, the Cowboys immediately derailed under McCarthy’s first year as head coach. Some are quick to asterisk that season because of the season-ending injury to Dak Prescott and it being a COVID year, but there were many other things that didn’t go well for the Cowboys that season. McCarthy and his new defensive coordinator Mike Nolan tried to install a new defense without access to spring workouts or a full training camp. Yes, this really happened. New coaches tried to onboard players to a new defense via Zoom. Rather than using his players to their strengths, he fit them into his scheme and had them running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

REASON 3: LACKING PREPARATION

• 2021 = 141 penalties (most in the NFL)
• 2022 = 113 penalties (3rd-most in the NFL)
• 2023 = 46 penalties (most in the NFL)

Since 2021, the Cowboys have committed a total of 300 penalties, the most in the league.

On Monday night, they looked extremely unorganized. They couldn’t get the right amount of players on defense (sometimes 12, sometimes 10). They had to burn timeouts three different times because they weren’t ready.

REASON 4: INEPT PLAY-CALLING

The Cowboys offense was better with Kellen Moore. We know this because Moore and a healthy Dak Prescott wreaked havoc across the league, moving the ball and scoring points. It wasn’t always perfect, but a great majority of the time it was fantastic and we all enjoyed it immensely.

The Cowboys wisely fixed their receiving group by trading for Brandin Cooks and they have a healthier version of Michael Gallup and a more improved Jalen Tolbert. But they unwisely replaced their young points-scoring coordinator in favor of an ultra-conservative, downfield adverse, “we play to our defense” style of offense led by McCarthy.

As a result, the explosive plays are gone. The drives are there sometimes, but they can’t finish in the red zone (Brandon Aubrey leads the league in field goals attempted under 30 yards). They are averaging just five yards per play which is their lowest output in 19 years. In a year where the weapons have improved and their quarterback is fully healthy, the offense somehow managed to take a huge step back.

REASON 5: IN-GAME DECISIONS

Resetting the defense and giving up the most points in franchise history was bad. Being the most penalized team in the league is also bad. And taking over the play-calling only to have the worst points per play efficiency in almost two decades is, well, it’s really bad. McCarthy has demonstrated all of those things. But there’s more. We’ve also experienced many instances where his in-game coaching decisions are just downright terrible. Granted, some of these miscues are brushed aside because they didn’t end up having a negative impact, but that doesn’t change the fact that he made a bad coaching decision.

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Articles

Front Office Sports

The Spread of Sports Misinformation on X Is Increasingly Apparent

The larger NFL aggregator accounts can make about $2,000 a month, but even accounts with smaller followings can generate hundreds a month since outrage in the replies count as engagement.

It wasn’t fake, but rather old news that drew attention to an X post from BroBible reporter Dov Kleiman about USC quarterback Caleb Williams seeking an ownership stake in the NFL team that drafts him. Many took his tweet from Tuesday — which has more than 9.3 million views — as a new report when it actually originated from a story written by ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio nearly three months ago.

Kleiman told Front Office Sports that he didn’t mean to mislead anyone in that post or any others. He noted that his X post included that it came from PFT in July, and he had seen it circulating again recently, in part, because of an Oct. 11 story from The Athletic that reported there “has been scuttlebutt in NFL front offices that Williams could demand equity from the team that selects him.”

“I saw it already in the news so I shared it as well, and linked to the actual report for full context,” Kleiman said. “I did it the right way.”

With nearly 260,000 X followers, Kleiman is among the most popular of the NFL aggregator accounts, and he’s posted league news for more than a decade. Kleiman, however, bristled when asked what it’s like to be grouped together with other aggregator accounts.

“I hate it,” Kleiman said. “It is what it is. And you know the worst part? In some ways I have a worse reputation on Twitter because of them.”

An X post from Tuesday picked up steam about the Los Angeles Chargers fan who went viral during Monday night’s game against the Dallas Cowboys. The account, MLFootball, penned a post that claimed the woman was a “PAID ACTOR.”

“I usually would ignore a fake story,” sports media personality Boston Connor wrote. ”However, this lady is too good a person to let this slide.”

ESPN’s Mina Kimes posted a screenshot of MLFootball blocking her on the platform.

Citing “league sources,” the account alleged the home of a Chicago Bears coach was raided by the FBI.

“False,” the community note stated that included links to multiple stories as proof. “The Chicago Bears said this is not true. No one in the organization had their house raided by the FBI.”

That tweet also remains up as of Thursday evening and has nearly four million views.

MLFootball did not respond to a request for comment.

Pro Football Focus

Fantasy Football Week 7: Three WR/CB matchups to target and avoid

WR Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders vs. CB Adoree’ Jackson, New York Giants

Terry McLaurin (71.4 PFF receiving grade) reclaimed his role as Washington’s offensive focal point, dominating via first-read targets while earning a season-high 12 targets against the Atlanta Falcons (72.0 PFF coverage grade). He enters a Week 7 shadow-coverage matchup against injured (neck) and struggling No. 1 cornerback Adoree’ Jackson (37.0 PFF coverage grade).

McLaurin earned a 50.0% first-read target rate in Week 6, ranking first among 71 NFL wide receivers with at least 15 first-read-target snaps. He turned the opportunities into two missed tackles forced (tied for fourth), two explosive pass plays (tied for eighth) and 2.95 yards per route run (14th). Crucially, six of his 10 first-read targets came via high–value throws over the middle.

Head coach Ron Rivera similarly featured McLaurin in the team’s narrow 34-31 Week 4 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles (64.0 PFF coverage grade) where McLaurin again excelled, turning a 25.0% first-rate target rate into two explosive pass plays and 2.25 yards per route run on 10 total targets.

Washington has scored 24 or more points in three of six games this year, two of which occurred in conjunction with McLaurin’s featured role. The positive outcome should yield a hefty first-read-target workload against New York in Week 7.

New York head coach Brian Daboll tasked Jackson with shadowing San Francisco 49ers No. 1 wide receiver Deebo Samuel (79.1 PFF receiving grade) in Week 3 and Seattle Seahawks nominal No. 1 wide receiver Tyler Lockett (74.1 PFF receiving grade) and stuck his 2022 No. 1 cornerback Fabian Moreau (37.1 PFF coverage grade) on McLaurin in Weeks 13 and 15 last year.

McLaurin will take limited repetitions against newly installed slot cornerback Cor’Dale Flott (68.2 PFF slot coverage grade), whose 77.8% catch rate allowed to opposing slot receivers ties for 27th among 38 NFL slot cornerbacks with at least 25 slot coverage snaps. Flott’s inviting rate results from battles against mildly productive opponents: Miami Dolphins slot receiver Braxton Berrios (70.5 PFF receiving grade) and Seattle Seahawks slot receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (55.8 PFF receiving grade).

McLaurin is a borderline WR1/2.

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