Commanders' emphatic win masks a costly flaw that refuses to disappear

If you want to quibble about deficiencies in the Washington Commanders’ Week 1 performance against the New York Giants, you could find a few things to harp on.

Jayden Daniels wasn’t as sharp as you’d like him to be. Josh Conerly Jr. showed he will go through some growing pains. Frankie Luvu didn’t have a very good game. There was a punt deflection.

When you balance that all out with the improvements the team showed, there are very few things to cause sleepless nights.

Except for one thing. The maddening, frustrating, and, against a more competitive opponent, potentially game-changing penalties that Dan Quinn’s club can’t seem to kick.

Commanders must clean up their penalties to improve playoff chances

Against the Green Bay Packers in Week 2 on Thursday Night Football, Washington will be facing one of the very best. If they commit sloppy and reckless penalties the way they did against the Giants, the Commanders are not going to be 2-0.

The Commanders were the fifth most penalized team in 2024. In terms of yardage given up, they were fourth-worst. It was primarily a result of defensive penalties. Offense and special teams were generally in the middle of the pack in terms. The defense committed the second-most.

This is a regular-season stat. Had Luvu’s playoff encroachments against the Philadelphia Eagles been included, the Commanders might have set an unbreakable league record.

No team wants penalties, but in a vacuum, having a lot of defensive penalties is not necessarily a bad thing. If they come as a result of undisciplined play or from inferior talent needing to grab receivers to prevent big plays, that is, in fact, a serious problem.

But with the Commanders in 2024, it was more often the result of Dan Quinn and Joe Whitt Jr.'s aggressive philosophy. They want their defenders attacking and playing to the last echo of the whistle. That is true of many of the best defenses — and best overall teams — in the NFL.

There’s a limit, and against the Giants, Washington was testing where the boundary is. Several times, they failed to get New York’s offense off the field because of defensive penalties.

The offense was no better. Three different offensive linemen were flagged for holding, though the call on Laremy Tunsil was declined. There were also three pre-snap penalties, which cannot continue moving forward.

On defense, the Commanders committed three potentially damaging infringements due to overly aggressive play. There was an unnecessary roughness call, a roughing the passer call, and a hands-to-the-face call that extended drives for the Giants.

Washington was flagged for 14 penalties, 12 of which were accepted. That was the third-highest total in Week 1, and it was ahead of last year’s pace.

Part of what makes this troubling is that these penalties are not being committed by rookies. The pre-snap calls on offense were on Zach Ertz, Noah Brown, and Austin Ekeler. That’s three players with 31 years of collective experience.

On defense, Bobby Wagner, Von Miller, Deatrich Wise Jr., and Marshon Lattimore (2 calls) were all flagged. That’s four players with 47 years under their belts.

Against New York, Washington overcame those offensive penalties because of Daniels' rare skill set and playmaking talent. On defense, they overcame the flags because the Giants have a very limited offense.

But against Green Bay, they will not be so fortunate. If they continue committing penalties at this pace, it is going to cost them.