Commanders' defensive communication and pass rush improved last week

Washington defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. was rather defensive in his answers regarding the secondary but he was also rather positive regarding two aspects of the defense’s play against the Cardinals last week.

In previous weeks, Whitt had been rather frustrated with his defense’s communication. However, he was much more pleased with this in the Cardinals game.

“The communication was outstanding. I mean, we cut the missed assignments down a ton. One thing we did coaching wise is we streamlined the call. So, we narrowed the call sheet down some, maybe I was trying to do too much. And so, I was like, ‘Okay, let’s just make sure these guys can set their feet and go play fast,’ and let’s not be cute with anything. Let’s just play fast. And that’s what we did. And the communication was outstanding with the guys. And then they went and played, they hit, they ran. It’s the way it’s supposed to look.”

Sunday, the pass rush kept Kyler Murray contained to such a degree the Cardinals only managed 14 points.

“We rushed as a complete unit. And so, like I said, we wanted to build high walls because we should have had two more where we didn’t build a high wall. We came underneath, and we flushed them, and he escaped. They played more discipline. And if you just execute it the right way and play as a unit and not make any, say, ‘Well, I’m gonna do this. I’m gonna be the lone ranger and I’m gonna do it myself,’ the stats will come.”

Indeed, Murray was held to 142 passing yards, sacked four times and the Commanders also registered 7 QB hits.

It would be great if the Commanders’ pass rush could have a similar performance Sunday at home against the Browns.