Commanders' soft spot turns into surprising strength nobody expected

The first play of the fourth quarter in the Washington Commanders’ win over the Las Vegas Raiders captured what it was like to be running back Ashton Jeanty. It was 2nd-and-10 from Washington’s 41-yard line. The Commanders were up 34-10. Jeanty took the handoff from Geno Smith for a simple off-tackle run to the left. But Javon Kinlaw and Jalyn Holmes converged to stuff his lane four yards behind the line of scrimmage. Jeanty is a great runner, so he was able to bounce back to the right. Unfortunately, Washington’s run-stopping machine Bobby Wagner was waiting for him. Again, the Raiders’ rookie made a swift move to cut back inside of Wagner. That’s where his luck ran out. The Commanders’ two other de facto linebackers were pinching in. Frankie Luvu was coming from one side, Tyler Owens from the other. And the Commanders’ secret weapon, Jeremy Reaves, was closing like a missile from his safety position. All three got in on the tackle. Jeanty ran a long way to gain one yard. There was some concern that the los