Commanders lack obvious answer for glaring problem

Week in and week out, it has been the same deal for the Washington Commanders offense that can’t convert on third downs. Washington has converted just 31.9% of third-down conversions this season, ranking 31st out of 32 teams.

Between injuries to left tackle Laremy Tunsil, quarterback Jayden Daniels, tight end Chig Okonkwo, and now Terry McLaurin, Washington’s offense hasn’t been whole all season, but injuries alone don’t explain the biggest issue holding this offense back.

Digging deeper into the games where they have performed well makes the whole situation even more confusing.

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But one thing is certain: if the Commanders want to have a better record in the second half of the season than the 2-4-1 one they have through the first eight weeks, sustaining drives is going to have to become a priority — and the solution to its third-down struggles is less obvious.

Commanders’ penalties contributing to stagnant offense

Penalties are playing a large part in Washington’s third-down conversion issues. The Commanders are averaging 7.9 penalties per game, tied for eighth-most in the NFL. And the problem has gotten worse in recent weeks. Over the past three weeks, the team has averaged 8.3 penalties per game, tied for the fourth-most in the league.

“We need plenty of work on penalties, false starts in particular, and corrections that eliminate beating ourselves. That’s the thing that kept us honestly from playing what I would consider like a complete game,¨ head coach Dan Quinn said after the Commanders Week 6 win over the Eagles.

The Commanders have committed 15 false start penalties through 7 games this season, fourth behind the Chargers and Giants, who both have 16 through 7 games, and the Ravens, who have 20 through 8 games.

The second-year lineman is tied for second in the league with 4 so far this season, and Brandon Coleman is right behind him with 3.

The Commanders are averaging 327.1 yards per game (20th in the league) and scoring only 22.7 points per game (17th). Those totals won’t be enough to make the playoff push this team says they want in the back half of the year. To make their offense more efficient, maybe just avoiding third-down situations is the way to go.

Commanders need to do better on early downs

The best strategy for overcoming their third-down struggles seems to be for the Commanders to avoid the situation altogether.

The Commanders are averaging 13.4 third downs per game, the 11th most in the league, while only converting 4.2. The Commanders’ 30 third-down conversions this season are tied for last with the Broncos. They’ve converted 128 first downs, which is fourth-lowest (though there are a few teams with 8 games under their belt right ahead of them on the list, but they are bottom tier).

So already fewer than 25% of their total first downs are coming on third down, but apparently that number needs to be lower.

“Too many pre-snap penalties, too many third downs where we couldn’t convert, and it starts with me and coaching it, teaching it better, and there is certainly a lot of good stuff as well,¨ Commanders offensive coordinator David Blough said after the team’s Week 3 win over the Seahawks.

Two weeks later, after the team frittered away a win against the New York Giants, ending up with a tie, Blough reflected on the team’s third-down issues once again.

“We’ve certainly spent a little bit of time this week going back to reflect on it, and we’ve been in too long of third and, you know, third and eight too frequently rather than playing third and three. That’s the most common denominator for our group,¨ Blough said. ¨So, being more efficient on first and second down will certainly help our third down offense.”