"The Washington Commanders' defense has made some encouraging strides this season. It's not perfect yet, not by any stretch of the imagination, but things are progressing. That wasn't evident on Monday Night Football against the Chicago Bears. The Commanders looked exposed against the run for one of the first times in 2025. D'Andre Swift got whatever he wanted, which also included some impressive gains on the game's final drive that Washington couldn't counteract effectively enough en route to a heartbreaking defeat."
"Goldman's good work won't show up on the stat sheet, but it's a big part of Washington's run defense. The 2015 second-round pick is a space eater. He knows how to absorb double teams effectively after spending time as a nose tackle during his career. He's tough to move off the block. This decreases running lanes between the tackles, making things easier for everyone else to make plays."
The Washington Commanders' defense has shown encouraging improvement this season but remains imperfect. The team appeared exposed to the run on Monday Night Football against the Chicago Bears, with D'Andre Swift gaining significant yardage including key plays on the final drive. Eddie Goldman missed the primetime game due to illness despite not being on the injury report, and his absence weakened interior run defense. Goldman functions as a space eater who absorbs double teams and reduces inside running lanes. Daron Payne, Javon Kinlaw, and the edge players struggled for consistency, and injuries to Dorance Armstrong Jr. compounded the problem. Goldman has become a core rotational piece after making the 53-man roster.
Read at Riggo's Rag
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]