Commanders' offseason gamble already collapsing (and fans can’t look away)

All summer, fans worried about the Washington Commanders’ lack of obvious pass-rushing talent. Adam Peters and Dan Quinn seemed entirely unfazed. Since the general manager and head coach have gotten so much right over the past year and a half, it was hard to doubt them.

But after watching Jordan Love have plenty of time to pick apart a porous Commanders’ secondary, those questions are coming back with greater urgency.

In many ways, the Commanders' defensive line is better than it was last year, especially when playing the run. The trio of big men in the middle — Daron Payne, Javon Kinlaw, and Eddie Goldman — has been solid. If second-year player Johnny Newton can play up to expectations, Washington will be hard to run on all year.

None of the traditional linemen, including defensive ends Dorance Armstrong Jr. and Deatrich Wise Jr., represent game-changing pass rushers. The Commanders hoped that a couple of free agents would give them what they needed to harass opposing quarterbacks. But two games into the campaign, that has yet to happen.

Von Miller is looking his age, and that's a problem for the Commanders

Jacob Martin was signed early in the offseason to help out with the pass rush. Veteran Von Miller was brought in late. So far, neither has provided a spark.

Miller is the career sack leader amongst all active players in the league. His 129.5 sacks place him 24th on the all-time list. Assuming he retains the half sack he was initially credited with against the Green Bay Packers, he’ll move up another spot.

But Miller has not shown very much of the speed that made him so dangerous when he routinely recorded double-digit sacks for the Denver Broncos throughout the 2010s.

These days, he lines up almost exclusively on the left side of the defense. With right tackle Zach Tom out, Miller got the chance to work against backups. Still, he was rarely able to affect the play.

Martin looked a little bit more active. He made a couple of plays against the run — something that Miller rarely does these days — and showed a little more quickness in his pass rush. However, he also gave up the edge on one early Love scramble, which allowed for an important third-down conversion.

Though both are platoon players, there were times when Miller and Martin were on the field together. It was always likely passing downs, and the two edge players would flip sides. That alignment seems to offer some promise, especially if Armstrong, the team's best all-around edge presence, moves inside next to a big pocket collapser like Payne or Kinlaw.

Fans got a few brief glimpses of what that type of lineup could do on Thursday Night Football. The problem is that those plays were outliers. For much of the night, the Packers handled the Commanders' rush rather easily, regardless of who was on the field.

Miller is a very smart player who has built up a variety of pass rush moves throughout his long career. The concern in watching him through two games is that at 36 years old, he no longer has the physicality to attack relentlessly on every play.

Too often against Green Bay, he seemed to hang back, looking for an opening or waiting for the play to come to him. Sometimes he would read things correctly, and he would find himself in an excellent position. And a few times, he would seem to turn on the turbo-boosters and really attack.

It just didn’t happen nearly often enough.

Is this a case of a veteran trying to preserve himself throughout a long season? Or is it an older player who recognizes he can no longer match offensive linemen physically, and is therefore trying to get by on hard-earned savvy?

If it’s the latter, that may not be good enough for the Commanders when they expect to win. And that would mean that Peters should still be looking for pass rush help in any way he can get it.