Official Game Thread - Week 3 - Commanders @ Bengals - MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL!!!

[SilentThreat]

Washington Commanders @ Cincinnati Bengals

VS

When: Monday, September 23rd 2024 - 8:15PM
Where: Paycor Stadium - Cincinnati, Ohio
How to Watch: ABC
NOTE: -MNF will be featuring a double header. Jaguars vs Bills will kick off at 7:30pm on ESPN-

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[tshile]

Weeks 1 and 2 brought us the biggest dogs winning outright.

Starting off week 3, Washington opens as the biggest dog for the week.

 

[Boone]

This is a game we should pound the rock in and when we aren’t pounding the rock we should be throwing to our RBs. The Bengals are susceptible to the run and long extended ball control drives give us a chance to upset them. They also set up success in one of the things we’ve been missing so far, successful play action passes to Terry and Dyami.

 

[Bulldog]

Hendrickson made Kansas City's Suamataia look silly out there at LT as a rookie. I would advise Kingsbury NOT to try and test putting Coleman or Lucas for that matter out on him one on one too often in the passing game.

One thing I don't understand about this team sometimes is why we don't target the opposing team's key players and try and take them out of the game and make others beat us.

Last week, Neighbors was about all the Giants had at WR and yet we didn't double him much if at all and depended upon some challenged outside corners to cover him.

Cincinnati has some high performing offensive talents but again if Tee Higgins doesn't play, Washington needs to try and take Chase out of the game.

Seeing him catch 10 balls for 200 yards and 2 touchdowns spells an easy 20 plus point loss.

 

[DieselPwr44]

That's a big ask for a defense that so far hasn't shown us they can cover,tackle or rush the passer Bulldog.

With reports that Allen and Payne are getting double and chipped when they are out there, someone on the edge has to step up. Can they?

Remains to be seen. BTW, where's the blitz package at? Can Whitt scheme that up or is the cupboard just too bare?

 

[Boone]

Good listen from our buddies…

 

[Miles Monroe]

Looks like they may get Tee Higgins back for Monday night.... hope that hammy tightens back up

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

The formula to beat Cincy is exactly the same one we used against the giants: lost of completed, Quick throws, run the ball for a good average, control the clock. Keep the other offense off the field. Wear down the defense.

The one big change: when you get to the 10 yard line, don’t go backwards. Go forwards. And into the end zone.

The offense could control this game. But the defense might still give it away.

 

[Boone]

I heard allusions to this in the Knuckleheads pod, but I really want to start to see a 'Road Warrior' attitude on this team. They need to go into games like this determined to be the spoiler, play as if they have nothing to lose, leave it all out there on the field, and with a chip on their shoulder. I know ultimately in the NFL, the teams that rise to the playoff caliber level do so largely based on talent, but team identity and attitude also play a role. In a league where it truly is 'any given Sunday' and you can never be guaranteed an outcome no matter how big the talent gap between two teams, we should not be entering a game feeling we have no chance.

It's true that we have 30 years of unmet expectations and very frequent experiences of ending up horribly disappointed with our team's performances. But this team is absolutely capable of going into Cincy on MNF and knocking them off.

It's not so much that I expect it (how can I?) but I want to see them go into this game believing they are going to win, giving a full effort in all 3 phases of the ball, and taking some chances to pull the upset. That requires balls and aggressiveness from the coaching staff, and the team playing with the kind of attitude and toughness we kept hearing about in the offseason.

We certainly didn't see it in Tampa - let's hope we start to see that 'Road Warrior' mentality against the Bengals.

 

[Om]

First you win, then you inhabit Road Warrior identity.

 

[Boone]

An upset would be huge for our guys - because I could easily see both Philly and Dallas going down this weekend to the Saints/Ravens respectively.

 

[Bulldog]

I think Quinn and Whitt could have run the aggressive pressure scheme they seem to prefer if they had lobbied Peters to draft, sign or trade for a legitimate starting outside corner in the offseason.

Right now we are running the Jack Del Rio bend but don't break defense because the corners can't cover anybody.

We haven't had a decent corner since Kendall Fuller hurt his knee in the 2022 season and never fully recovered to 100%.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

I think Peters knew he needed a CB but I didn’t think he could expend draft capital to force it this year at the top of the draft. And I don’t think they want to spend big money for a Cab because rarely does that work out.

You want to draft your guy. But they had to get a QB at #2, and then the way the board fell, CB wasn’t the best option

This is going to take time. Ron just left the cupboard so bare.

 

[Boone]

I think St. Juste is 'decent', but he's not a #1. You pair him and Sainristil (maybe, TBD) with a true #1 top-of-the-draft CB and you would probably be okay. St. Juste gets exposed because he simply doesn't have the skills to match up against the very best NFL WRs and he's consistently being asked to do that.

 

[tshile]

So I drank too much one night last week and thought taking Washington +7.5 was a great idea

And then totally forgot about it.

Yesterday I decided to not bet any games this weekend

So this is a fun surprise right before the game starts.

 

[Boone]

 

[SkinsFTW]

Yay! Offense isn't offensive yet.

 

[SkinsFTW]

Team is looking good so far. Unbelievable really.

 

[burgold]

Nothing to say but "Wow!"

(Tomorrow, I might talk about the defense.)

Tonight, nothing but "Wow!"

 

[Kel Varnsen]

What a performance by the offense. Just a fantastic game all around. Not perfect, but you really can’t ask for anything more. If you had told me the defense would give up 33, I probably would have said yeah, that’s why they are going to lose. But that offense more than made up for it.

As for the defense, as bad as they looked most of the night, the difference in the game was forcing those FG tries in the first half. They made a few plays when they had to and it was enough to win.