Chase Young's dominant return shows he's the X-factor for Commanders defense

Young played on a limited snap count as he was eased back into the lineup, and wasn't heavily involved in the game early as the Commanders went down 21-3. But he helped turn the tide by pressuring Russell Wilson on this play, which swung the momentum in Washington's favor.

He later was involved in multiple sacks of Wilson, including one on a crucial third down that forced the Broncos to kick a field goal. He ended the game as Washington's second-best-rated defensive player, behind only Daron Payne.

This is why Washington drafted Young. He's a player whose full impact doesn't always show up in the box score, but the defensive unit goes as he does. The more involved he was in the game, the better the Commanders played. 

In other words, Young is the "X-factor" — an incredibly gifted player with the highest ceiling of anyone on the defensive side of the ball. When he's on his game, he can turn Washington's defense from merely good into outright dominant, as we all saw during his rookie year.

Whether or not Young still has that ability following two years of injuries and inconsistent play was the big question entering this season. And if there's anything to take away from his performance on Sunday, the answer is a resounding yes.

Young does need to clean up his penalties, however. He was flagged twice on the Broncos' late drive that allowed them to kick a field goal to cut the deficit to one score, both for careless mistakes. One was for roughing the passer, and another was an offsides.

Other than that, though, Young played about as well as Commanders fans could possibly hope for. He'll need to continue to do so in order to elevate the defense to an elite level and, of course, to earn himself a contract for next year and beyond.