ASHBURN, Va. — The Commanders are inching closer to kickoff with the Dallas Cowboys this Sunday at Northwest Stadium. Washington is looking to bounce back after two straight losses.
Defensive Coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. told reporters Thursday, the number one thing the defense needs to improve on is stopping the run.
Last Thursday, Philadelphia as a team ran for 228 yards in an 8-point victory. Running back Saquon Barkley accounted for 146 of those yards alone.
As a defense, the Commanders are allowing 5 yards per carry which is tied for second-worst in the league. Washington has also given up the most rushing yards in the NFL so far this season with 1,655.
“We’ve got to stop the run. Like that's the number one thing that we have to do ─ not shying away from it," said Whitt Jr. "We looked at the process over these last couple days of, ‘Alright, how can we be better with it?’ What do we need to do from a coaching standpoint, player standpoint, from a practice? How we're implementing the techniques, just back to the basics because you can't give up, I think we're at what, 150 yards a game? You can't do that and think that you're going to win in December football.”
“It sounds simple, just stopping the run, but I think everybody just doing their jobs and being in their gaps, keeping them one-dimensional and having them on throw-down territory for us and go get the quarterback," said linebacker Frankie Luvu. "It’s very simple, stop the run, but you’ve got to bring it to life.”