After four straight subpar performances, the Washington Commanders' defense needed someone to step up and right the ship.
On Sunday, Danny Johnson was among the players who played their best in the Commanders' 24-16 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
After only playing five snaps on defense through the Washington's first five games, he played 52 snaps against the Falcons. Across those 52 plays, Johnson had four tackles and a pass defended, which forced a turnover on downs with 2:30 left in the fourth quarter.
Johnson had only played on special teams this season before Sunday.
"I thought Danny stepped in and did exactly what we'd hoped he would do, did the job that we needed him to do," Ron Rivera said. "He came out and played some good football, made some plays, and he's a very smart football player which you can tell by the opportunity to intercept the ball on fourth down. Instead, he knocks it down and we get it in great field position. I mean, that's a very heads-up play and those are the kinds of things that Danny's very capable of."
Johnson saw much more playing time with Emmanuel Forbes being benched. Despite the defense putting together its best performance of the season with Johnson on the field more, Rivera was non-committal about him continuing to see that much playing time moving forward.
"As far as playtime, we're going to continue to practice and work our guys, and we're going to play the guys we believe give us the best opportunity to play football," Rivera said.
If Johnson can continue to play like he did against the Falcons, Rivera and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio will have no choice but to give him more playing time.
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