Commanders have a painfully obvious Week 3 danger staring them in the face

"In just his second year, Brock Bowers has already put himself among the top active tight ends in the league. He finished his rookie year with 112 catches for 1,194 receiving yards and five touchdowns, leading all players at the position in receptions and yards. The pass-catcher continued to grow on last year's performance, finishing Week 1 with five receptions for 103 receiving yards. Bowers' numbers did fall off in Week 2, as he played through an injury, restricting him to five catches for just 38 yards."

"Veteran quarterback Geno Smith had one of the worst games of his career, finishing with three interceptions and going 0-for-12 when throwing more than 10 yards downfield. He also only targeted Bowers, one of his best receiving options, once in the entire first half. That's not a formula for success. If Washington's defense has a similar performance to Week 2, Smith won't have a problem moving the ball. The Commanders allowed Packers quarterback Jordan Love to complete 61.5 percent of his passes that went beyond 10 yards, which placed the NFL in the 99th percentile for average depth of target (ADot)."

"Bowers is an atypical tight end, which poses match-up challenges for defenses. In college, he lined up in the slot or as an outside receiver for more snaps than he did at an in-line tight end position. That diversity in his route running has continued with the Raiders. Defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. called Bowers "a dynamic young tight end" and said you "have to almost treat him like a receiver." He's not wrong."

Brock Bowers has quickly become one of the NFL's top tight ends, finishing his rookie year with 112 catches for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns. He posted 103 receiving yards in Week 1, then dealt with an injury that limited him to 38 yards on five catches in Week 2. Geno Smith struggled with three interceptions and poor downfield accuracy while targeting Bowers sparingly in the first half. Washington's defense allowed high completion rates on throws beyond 10 yards, creating matchup problems against Bowers' receiver-like alignments, route diversity, and notable straight-line speed.

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