Commanders' Kliff Kingsbury problem now prominent after defeat to Cowboys

LANDOVER, MD. – The question clearly didn’t sit well with Kliff Kingsbury. The first question was posed to the Prime Minister during his weekly meeting with the media on Thursday. Washington Commanders The offensive coordinator was simple enough.

What prevented the offense from reaching the heights it reached at the beginning of the season?

“In what way?” Kingsbury responded by dismissing the suggestion.

In many ways, it seems, the team’s 26 points in Sunday’s 34-26 loss to the Dallas Cowboys were more of a mirage than a harbinger.

Kingsbury all-star receiver Terry McLaurin and rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels put up some late-game heroics that might have helped clear the vestiges of an inconsistent offense that had stalled all afternoon, and suddenly the Commanders were an extra point away from tying the game at 27. 12 seconds left.

Austin Seibert’s kick sailed left for his second missed extra point attempt of the day. Dallas cleared Seibert’s onside kick to no avail. Hail Mary repeat.

“We didn’t play at our best. We didn’t play complementary football,” said McLaurin, whose 86-yard catch-and-run in the final minute of the game appeared to have sent the game into overtime.

Washington defense kept quarterback Cooper Rush outside of a few big plays and finished the season Starter replaces Dak Prescott – we keep control of most of the game. Although the attack was routinely given solid starting position, the score was 3-0 at half-time.

“We have to find a way to start faster and sustain drives,” McLaurin said. “It’s everyone. The whole coaching staff and offensive players are trying to find ways to stay on the field and help the defense.”

The Commanders had their worst offensive performance since head coach Dan Quinn and Kingsbury arrived this offseason. Adding to the pain: The result left a listless Cowboys team losing key pieces on both sides of the ball Sunday (including right tackle Zack Martin and cornerback Trevon Diggs) in what turned out to be a losing battle for the Commanders’ NFC East rival.

Even if the first year of the new regime is a step in the right direction, without improvements Commanders may suffer the same fate in 2024.

“When you make a mistake, is it due to technique or due to overtrying?” Quinn wondered after the game. “… Any player or coach can (say) ‘I’m going to make the perfect call or the perfect run’ or whatever that looks like. And more often than not, the best execute.”

Quinn said the team has been introspecting all year. But given the historical trend that his offenses have decreased over individual seasons — there are years of data showing that — Kingsbury said he needed to know the details before commenting on the issue.

“I was thinking of doing a triple option, do you think so too?” Kingsbury said this earlier in the week. “I don’t know, yeah, we’ll do our best, I mean.”

The Commanders averaged 5.8 yards per carry against one of the NFL’s worst defenses, but Daniels and the receivers couldn’t get anything done through the air until it was too late. The 2023 Heisman Trophy winner went 25-of-38 for 275 yards with two interceptions, 74 yards on the ground (seven attempts) and one rushing and passing score each. It was his most comfortable appearance running the ball since suffering a rib injury against the Carolina Panthers on Oct. 20.

The Commanders cut the Cowboys’ lead to three points after Daniels’ touchdown pass to Zach Ertz and his run for a two-point conversion with 3:02 left. Kingsbury, Daniels and Co. cannot be held responsible for KaVontae Turpin’s ugly spin on the ensuing kickoff that turned the contest into a two-possession game.

McLaurin said playing with tempo and staying on the field helped Kingsbury retain his entire playbook. Commanders also need to put themselves in better third positions; Washington went 4-for-12 in the third down against the Cowboys (three of those conversions occurred in the third quarter). In the two games before Dallas, the Commanders averaged 253 yards of total offense. They had recorded at least 356 yards in seven of the previous eight games.

“I think teams or coordinators will see what success other teams have had against us and try to figure out how to incorporate that into their own plans.” Daniels said that third-and-long opportunities allow defenses to reduce exotic pressure. . “We have to be better on first and second downs and stay ahead of the chains.”

Sustaining drives was a driving factor in the offense’s early season success.

“It’s not like that right now,” McLaurin (five catches, 101 yards) said. “We need to figure out how to turn that into our offensive strength.”

He added: “We need to fix some things in the film room.”

Playing in his first game since November 3 and suffering a right hip injury, Seibert missed both extra point attempts as well as a field goal in the first quarter.

“I definitely don’t want to do that,” Seibert said. “I just didn’t hit it very well.”

After the game, Quinn said there was no hesitation in sending in the special teams unit rather than keeping the offense on the field and getting the two-point conversion that would give Washington the lead.

“This guy who coaches us, whatever he does, I’m all for it,” said punter Tress Way, who also owns the team and took a clear look at Seibert despite Tyler Ott’s bad kick on the game-tying extra point. attempt. “It’s a bomb. That’s why we have to do what he signed us for. “I love how much he trusts us and how he pumps us up like that.”

On Turpin’s comeback, Seibert said his goal was to hit the dirty ball. He did so and Turpin initially fumbled the ball. Seibert’s teammates were unable to make the play. The next Cowboys scoring return, coming on an onside kick attempt, was hit directly to safety Juanyeh Thomas, who had open field in front of him and a walk-off score.

Kingsbury said Daniels, who has been dealing with a rib injury for more than a month, will fit the first-team offense well in a week of practice. The former Arizona Cardinals and Texas Tech head coach declined to elaborate on changes (if any) made to accommodate the “even more confused” Daniels.

“But hopefully we play better this week,” Kingsbury said. “I’ll just say this.

“I’m just nailing the details, calling better plays. I mean, we can collectively get better offensively in general.”

They were not on Sunday.

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