Sam Darnold is back for the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, and the timing looks friendly. Washington’s defense, especially the secondary, has spent the first two weeks getting picked apart, and Seattle has a quarterback who already knows how to punish that kind of vulnerability.
That was the read from Commanders play-by-play voice Bram Weinstein during Thursday’s edition of Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk, where he didn’t mince words about Washington’s back end.
“The secondary has been a wreck through the first couple of games,” he said. “It is literally the reason why they lost game one.
If you just go look at the - you don’t even need to watch it - go look at the stats from (the) Philadelphia (game) and you’re not going to understand how they lost. They held Philadelphia to 10 first downs, they dominated time of possession, they did not turn the ball over - and they lost.
It’s because of, like, five moments that were own goals and specifically by the secondary.”
The numbers back up the ugly tape. In Week 1 against Philadelphia, Washington didn’t give up huge volume through the air, but the damage came in chunks.
Jalen Hurts went 14 of 25 for 203 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, and the Eagles hit on completions of 64, 31 and 43 yards that all fed scoring drives. The 43-yarder turned into a touchdown on third down, and Washington also surrendered a 17-yard touchdown pass on third-and-goal early in the second quarter.
Week 2 brought more of the same against Dallas. Dak Prescott completed 26 of 31 passes for 279 yards and four touchdowns, with four completions of more than 20 yards.
Through two games, Washington has allowed a league-worst seven touchdown passes and is one of only eight teams without an interception. The raw yardage sits at 224 per game, which is middle of the pack, but the efficiency numbers tell the bigger story: Washington has allowed a 71.4% completion rate, sixth-worst in the league. Pro Football Focus has also given the Commanders the second-lowest coverage grade in the NFL at 39.5.
That sets up a promising spot for Darnold, who had one of his best outings against Washington last season in primetime. In that Week 9 game, he completed all 16 of his passes in the first half for 282 yards and four touchdowns on the way to a 38-14 Seahawks win. He finished 21 of 24 for 330 yards, four touchdowns and one interception, and six of his completions went for 20 yards or more, including a 60-yard touchdown.
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