Heading into the 2024 NFL season, most considered the NFC East to be a two-horse race, as the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles were far and away the favorites to come away with the division crown. Collectively, we all overlooked the Washington Commanders, who after a Week 4 beatdown of the Arizona Cardinals sit atop the NFC East with a 3-1 record.
With fourteen weeks left in the season, there’s obviously plenty of football left to be played, but what Washington has managed to do thus far doesn’t necessarily feel all that fluky. The Commanders are the league’s 3rd-highest scoring team and the 3rd-most productive rushing offense after finishing 25th and 27th in those respective categories last season.
Leading the way for the Commanders on the ground is Brian Robinson Jr., who began his career with a pair of 700 yard rushing seasons, but is currently on pace to top 1,300 yards assuming he could maintain that production over a 17 game season. Unfortunately, now it sounds like the league’s 10th-leading rusher may not be able to suit up for Sunday’s home game against the Cleveland Browns thanks to a lingering knee injury.
“Commanders running back Brian Robinson did not practice for the second consecutive day, calling into question his availability for Sunday’s game against the Browns,” writes Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk.
Robinson rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown against Arizona, but had two of his touchdowns vultures by Jeremy McNichols — as a Brian Robinson Jr. fantasy manager, I am still bitter. The only reason McNichols got the workload he did was because Commanders backup running back Austin Ekeler was unable to go due to a concussion he suffered in Week 3. But now after a week away from the team, Ekeler looks to return in Week 5.
“If Robinson ends up sidelined for Sunday, the Commanders are looking more likely to have Austin Ekeler back,” Simmons says. “Ekeler (concussion) was upgraded to a full participant on Thursday after he was limited on Wednesday.”
Ekeler is only two years removed from a 311-touch campaign with the Los Angeles Chargers. At 29 years old, he isn’t capable of that workload anymore, and the Commanders have been smart with his usage through the opening few weeks of the season. It’s yet another example of how new Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury is perfectly in tune with the group of players he’s coaching.
Kliff Kingsbury crafting a nearly flawless Commanders offense
Following a disappointing four season outing as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, Kliff Kingsbury returned to the NFL with a little bit of baggage and a healthy number of skeptics, all of whom have been proven wrong in the early stages of the season. Kingsbury is now calling an offense that is scoring almost every time they touch the ball.
After punting a combined 156 times the last two seasons, Commanders punter Tress Way is now on pace to punt just 17 times in 2024. No, this pace will not hold up, but the fact that through the first four weeks of the season, the Commanders have come away with points of some sort on 23 of their 30 drives is absolutely bonkers. Their score percentage is a full ten points higher than the New Orleans Saints, who rank second in the category.
Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels is the primary catalyst here, and as the Rookie of the Year favorite, he’s getting the recognition that he deserves. But don’t forget that it’s Kingsbury who has implemented an offensive scheme that suits Daniels’ skillset, easing the learning curve for the rookie QB.
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