The Washington Commanders got off to a 2-0 start before falling in back-to-back games to the Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles.
At 2-2, a Thursday night matchup against the Chicago Bears was supposed to be the game the Commanders got back into the win column, but that didn't go very well either.
This brings us to Week 6 against the Atlanta Falcons and Washington needs a win or else it will fall two games below .500 nearing the midway point of the season with a less-than-friendly schedule coming up in the back half of the year.
While many are concerned about the turn the Commanders have taken, the fact that tight end Logan Thomas led the team in targets last week is near the top of what has many outside the team worried.
"Well, I think it's a combination of both," assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy said when asked if Thomas leading Week 5 in targets was due to wanting to get him the ball or defense taking away other options. "Sometimes when you're in a situation where we just haven't been playing this well, you just wanna make sure that you can go out and do the things that can help your team to function. So right now, obviously Logan has more targets, I don't think anybody's upset about that."
Of course, every member of the team's job is to help win games, and in that sense, nobody is feeling good about the last three weeks.
In losses to the Bills, Eagles, and Bears, Washington allowed more points in that single contest than its opponent had been averaging all year prior to that game.
For Week 6, the Commanders visit an Atlanta Falcons team that is scoring an average of 16.6 points per game through five weeks.
Meanwhile, Washington itself is scoring 21.8 points per game leaving less than a touchdown worth of points it can surrender above Atlanta's average before likely putting the team in position for a fourth-straight loss.
So whether it's scheme, desire, or a combination of the two, the Commanders offense is going to need to keep up the trend of scoring 20 or more points this season and hope their defense can stop the bleeding on their end of things.
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