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The Washington Commanders hope to have running back Brian Robinson Jr. back in the mix while quarterback Jayden Daniels continues to assault defenses with athleticism and sharp mental processing. With the Panthers up next, here are bold predictions for the Week 7 contest.
While the Commanders’ defense seems to have a long way to go, the offense has been hitting on most cylinders throughout the season. Even in last week’s loss to the Ravens, the Commanders put up 305 total yards despite owning only 24 minutes of possession. The potent Ravens offense had 484 yards in 36 minutes for 13.4 per minute while the Commanders had a comparable 12.7 average.
This week, the Commanders face a Panthers’ defensive unit that has surrendered 380 yards per game for 29th in the NFL. The Panthers are No. 23 against the pass and No. 30 versus the run. They’ve given up 33.8 points per contest for dead last.
Commanders QB Jayden Daniels will account for three TDs
With the Panthers struggling against both the run and pass, the door is wide open for Daniels to hit big plays through either avenue. The benefactor through the air should be receiver Terry McLaurin, who reeled in a 55-yard catch from Daniels in Week 3 against the Bengals that drew rave reviews from head coach Dan Quinn. The Commanders head coach said Daniels causing hesitation in defenses and create big plays off of it, according to commanders.com.
“Yeah, it's both things,” Quinn said. “I was pleased to see … specifically on the deep ball that we had to (McLaurin) and (Daniels) remaining a passer, staying alive and then absolutely throwing a dime on the run. That is, to me, when the whole thing comes together. Because I think early in the season that may have been one where he got outside the pocket and made somebody miss and gained some yards, but not 55 of them.”
Quinn said Daniels is opening eyes daily with the Commanders, according to the Commanders’ YouTube page via athlon sports.
“For me, getting a chance to be around excellent quarterbacks and seeing what it looks like and knowing that we have an excellent quarterback here, it's fantastic,” Quinn said. “I would say the common thread on that is relentless work ethics and I've seen it with Jayden. Going back through Dak (Prescott) and Matt (Ryan). That is a trait that definitely sticks out to me. There's just so much preparation that can go (into) finding the right balance of decision-making, competing, making the plays go. That is a trait that sticks out to me. There's just so much preparation. I love Jayden and what he brings to us. I can't wait to see him grow, man. He is absolutely relentless about it.”
Commanders favored, but shouldn't be overconfident
Daniels said the Commanders won’t take the this opponent for granted, according to Sports Illustrated.
“For us, we just got to go out there and play our game and execute,” said the Commanders rookie quarterback. “At the end of the day, it's the NFL. Any given Sunday, you could lose any game against any opponent. It doesn't matter who you play; you got to go out there, have the same process, respect the process, respect the grind, and put your best foot forward.”
Quinn echoed Daniels on the subject.
“We don't (overlook opponents), and the reason is so much of the focus is on us,” Quinn said. “Like we got plenty to work on. And we are absolutely going to go sharpen our game as strong as we can, knowing that will pay dividends moving forward. But no, we're absolutely going forward as hard as we can and we want to see those leaps and that progress take place and that's what we intend on doing for sure.”
The Commanders would also do well to consider where they stood in NFL eyes before their four-game winning streak. It’s not like they were — or even are — NFL elite. They were considered a lower-level team, and they’ve taken advantage of a soft scheduled so far. This is another winnable game, but to suddenly think of the Commanders as a prohibitive favorite doesn’t seem logical, even with Daniels playing well.
WR Terry McLaurin will have his second straight two-TD game
After two weeks, it looked like a lost season for the Commanders’ standout wide receiver. Daniels couldn’t find him, and McLaurin totaled only 39 yards on eight catches. That put him on a season pace for 68 catches for 332 yards. Yeah, that’s horrendous.
But since then, McLaurin has caught fire. He has 317 yards over the last four games. That gives him a season total of 356, moving his pace to 1,008 yards. Wow. What a difference.
Week 7 should provide more good numbers for McLaurin for two reasons. The Panthers should struggle to cover him, and the Commanders should try to pepper him with targets. Fantasy managers take note.
McLaurin has played with 10 different quarterbacks in his Commanders career. He still managed to put up four straight seasons of 1,000-plus yards. McLaurin and Daniels have connected for a 67.4 completion percentage and Daniels has a 114.1 rating when throwing to McLaurin.
Of course, the Panthers won’t go away easily. They are 1-5 and hungry for a win. Head coach Dave Canales said it’s back to the drawing board, according to charlotteobserver.com.
“We are going to attack the fundamentals and the basics, because if we can just make the story as simple as that — can we get better at fundamentals?” Canales said. “Just the basics of what we are doing, how we fit in different type of run styles and that’s the challenge for us, just to keep taking that next step and improving our football.”
Perhaps one worrisome spot for the Commanders is their run defense, especially with Allen no longer in the middle. Washington ranks No. 22 in the NFL against the run, and Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard has rushed for right around the 100-yard mark in four straight games.
