Washington Commanders lose their sack leader; the stats show how bad it is

Quantifying the Impact

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, “With Armstrong on the field this season, the Commanders have generated a 41.2% pressure rate, which would rank 3rd-highest among all teams in the NFL (not including Washington). Without Armstrong, they have posted a 36.0% mark, which would rank 12th-highest. The starting edges without Armstrong available are Jacob Martin and Von Miller, who have combined for 31 pressures on 231 pass rushes for a 13.4% pressure rate (Armstrong: 19.1%).”

The “significant injury” suffered by Armstrong on Sunday is separate from the hamstring issue that threatened his game status in the first place, and this new injury is to his knee.

Running Out of Rushers

Without Armstrong, and after already losing defensive ends Deatrich Wise Jr. and Javontae Jean-Baptiste to previous injuries, the Commanders find themselves running out of pass rushers yet needing to find a way to generate even more pressure in the coming weeks with the likes of Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs), Sam Darnold (Seattle Seahawks), and Jared Goff (Detroit Lions) coming up on the schedule.

“[General Manager] Adam [Peters] and I are going to visit right after we're done here and kind of put the next steps in order of what that looks like. It'll likely be some combination of you know, like we did in the game, some other guys moving out to play on some early downs," Quinn said about moves that may follow the injury.

On Tuesday, when Washington placed Armstrong on injured reserve, it also announced the re-signing of defensive end Jalyn Holmes, who had been released prior to Week 7.

"But one thing I know from Adam and his team is that we're also going to look and see what other options are available for that,” Quinn also said, indicating the Commanders may look to outside opportunities to help secure the position. “It's a big deal for us."

Scouring the Market

Those options may include New York Jets defensive ends Jermaine Johnson II or Will McDonald IV.

Regardless of how it comes, Quinn knows he and his staff have to get someone, yet again, ready to step up after the loss of another starter.

“That's where my head goes to, to get someone ready. How do we fast-track them to get them the information, the looks that they need to be really ready to go compete?"

While Holmes’ return presents at least a third option to rotate with Martin and Miller, his nine tackles and one quarterback hit with no sacks or tackles for loss in 83 defensive snaps for the Commanders before his release indicate he might be part of a rotational solution, but not quite the one-for-one replacement any NFL team would like to be able to arrange.

Meanwhile, the NFL trade deadline, November 4, is in 13 days, and the next time Washington has to try and rush a passer is in five.