The Washington Commanders have continued to struggle after their Week 1 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Those struggles reached a new level in their 25-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4. The Commanders hung around in the first half before letting Dallas run away with the game in the second half, leading to a very disappointing result.
There's no way to avoid the fact that the Commanders have been pretty awful on both sides of the ball to start the season. Their offensive production comes and goes in stretches, making it tough for them to actually be competent. Their defense on the other hand is just consistently bad, and they have allowed at least 24 points in every game they have played this season.
The Commanders aren't exactly expected to be a playoff team, but this was easily their most disappointing outing of the season. Against the Cowboys backup quarterback, Washington wasn't particularly close to winning; that doesn't exactly bode well for their future contests. Let's take a look at the two biggest takeaways from this contest for the Commanders and see whether they can turn things around in Week 5.
2. Antonio Gibson appears set to lose his role as the Commanders top running back
Antonio Gibson's status as the Commanders lead running back this season has always been fairly unsecure. Gibson appeared to be on the verge of losing the lead role to Brian Robinson entering the season, but took things back over after Robinson got shot in the leg twice in an armed robbery attempt.
Gibson hasn't been particularly efficient (he's averaging just 3.3 yards per carry) but he also has been phased out of the game plan early on for the most part because of Washington falling behind early in games. In their one win this season, Gibson picked up 130 total yards; in their three losses, Gibson has combined to pick up 144 total yards. That's a huge drop in production.
Part of that is due to Washington's poor offensive play, and part of that is due to Gibson. Whatever the case may be, it doesn't look like he will be leading the charge much longer. Gibson only had 13 of the Commanders 27 carries on Sunday against the Cowboys, which isn't exactly a good sign. J.D. McKissic had eight carries, and Jonathan Williams had five for whatever reason. The problem is they both were more effective than Gibson.
Combine that with the fact that Robinson appears set to return from the injured reserve this week, and it's hard to see Gibson staying very involved in the offense moving forward. Head coach Ron Rivera hasn't seemed very willing to give Gibson a lead running back workload, and while that's probably hurting his offense, it's his call. As a result, it will be interesting to see how the running back room looks moving forward.
1. The Commanders offensive struggles fall on Carson Wentz
Washington's offense has run hot or cold to open the season. Against the Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, the Commanders offense looked terrible. Against the Jaguars and Detroit Lions, though, they have shown the potential to be a very dangerous unit. Their inability to do so consistently falls on quarterback Carson Wentz.
Wentz was brought in to be an upgrade under center for the Commanders, and in some ways, he has been. He has some good relationships going with Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel, and Jahan Dotson, which is exactly what you need if you want to win football games. He also hasn't had a ton of help, as he's often been playing catch up thanks to his defense, and is taking an absolute beating thanks to a porous offensive line.
But Wentz also shoulders a lot of the blame. Against Dallas, he was miserable. He only picked up 170 yards in the air despite throwing it 42 times, and he never looked capable of leading Washington to a win here. That shouldn't ever be the case when you have the weapons that the Commanders have at their disposal.
Wentz has often mixed periods of extreme struggles with stretches where he looks like one of the best quarterbacks in the league, and that's been a pretty accurate representation of that start of the season. The Commanders' offense has the potential to be really good. But there are a number of different factors that are holding them back.
Wentz's poor play appears to be at the top of that list. There was no reason for the Commanders to lose by 15 points to the Cooper Rush-led Cowboys, yet they did. That's not a knock on Rush or the Cowboys, but the Commanders had everything they needed to at least keep this game close. But they didn't, and if Carson Wentz continues to struggle under center, it's tough to see Washington's fortunes changing anytime soon.
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