So seeing some post game review by people that get all 22 and PFF, couple things became apparent:
1) Waldron got annihilated by a very good DC. He had no plan to beat what the Ravens were doing and his gameplan was almost immediately sniffed out. Many, many routes were basically being run by their defensive backs. In so many downs, especially on third, there wasn't a soul running over the middle of the field. Coming from the Rams who crush defenses with two route crosser concepts, the ignoring of this area of the field is pitiful. Waldron has been alright but their efficiency metrics, especially on third, are awful. Geno is the 40th ranked QB on third and long. Partly due to him, partly due to the OL, partly due to Waldron. The whole unit needs to do some serious self evaluation quickly because this is a gauntlet of good teams coming up.
2) OL was atrocious. Pretty much everyone but Lewis lost their 1:1 most downs. They have to be better. It also goes back to point 1 though that Waldron did nothing to get some quick hitters unless it was 3rd and forever. More TE sets, more middle of the field, more dump offs to RBs when the line is struggling. Throughout the game Romo was also critical of Geno for not doing enough pre-snap to help adjust protections. Ravens do an amazing job of masking pressure, so it’s possible basically everyone just crapped their pants.
3) Geno was really bad and has been below average for about a month now. Many of his historical poor traits have showed up, probably due to him pressing, and is certainly a big factor for offensive disarray. Yesterday could have easily been a 4+ turnover effort from him, that is bad. Team only had 6 first downs, that is horrific, cardinals had 59 yards total and got more firsts. When he actually had time his passes were off, I recall a handful in garbage time throws that guys had to stop and go back instead of in motion. Listening to Pete today and yesterday, he’s basically saying other guys need to help put Geno in easy conditions, which is about as critical of a QB I can recall Pete-speak being. He also emphasized it’s not all on Geno and has unwavering support. I think that is accepting Geno is who he is, can be a really good QB when run game is cooking and OL is blocking well but off script will likely be frustrating. We’ve basically seen that play out since end of last year through yesterday.
4) Run game simply needs to be better. Yesterday on paper had smash mouth, ice baths for everyone written all over it but only one team came out violent. Ravens dominated in their run game and their run D, two things Pete emphasizes. Credit to the Ravens for kicking the Hawks asses. I’m hoping this was a gut check moment and the defense embarrasses the Commanders.
