Commanders need Marshon Lattimore’s return to beat Bucs

Marshon Lattimore has barely played for the Washington Commanders since his midseason acquisition. But he’s the key to their postseason future.

Washington faces the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday in the NFC playoffs opening round. The Commanders have enough offense to beat anyone. Quarterback Jayden Daniels always gives them a puncher’s chance even as his battered offensive line deteriorates around him.

But the defense can’t stop a good quarterback. Baker Mayfield threw four touchdowns in Tampa Bay’s 37-20 season-opening victory over Washington. While that seems like eons ago in football terms, it remains a big mismatch.

That is, unless Lattimore gets healthy fast. He has only played 1.5 games since Washington traded for him on Oct. 31. The Commanders knew Lattimore needed several games to rest his hamstring. That was fine. The trade was made for January games, not November.

But despite “trending upward” each week as coach Dan Quinn likes to say, Lattimore didn’t even finish his second appearance after aggravating his hamstring. The team decided to rest him the past two weeks in hopes of readying Lattimore for the playoffs.

Still, it’s uncertain whether Lattimore plays before next season. Quinn will provide optimistic updates while really saying nothing during midweek updates. It’s most likely a game-day decision.

And one Washington doesn’t want to accept should Lattimore not play. Washington’s replacements – Benjamin St-Juste and Michael Davis – have been terrible. Expect neither to return next season. St-Juste was overwhelmed in the first meeting against Tampa Bay receivers Chris Godwin (eight catches, one touchdown) and Mike Evans (five catches, two touchdowns.)

Lattimore is an X factor, though. He often matched up well against Evans when playing seven seasons for New Orleans, including allowing just two catches in an Oct. 13 meeting.

Lattimore’s physical style energized Washington during his brief return. Against his old New Orleans teammates, Lattimore wasn’t even targeted once. Versus Philadelphia, he made four tackles before leaving the game.

With an inconsistent pass rush, Washington can’t help its secondary. Without Lattimore, there’s little to counter Bucs receivers running free. The Commanders linebackers corps has protected the middle of the field well, but opponents have been able to exploit Washington's secondary downfield.

If Washington is to continue its amazing turnaround season, a new hero must emerge. The Commanders just don’t know if Lattimore is it.