LANDOVER, Md. — Deebo Samuel and green grass is a good combination for the Washington Commanders.
Add in Laremy Tunsil and John Bates, and it’s even better. Washington showed off its new-look run game to perfection on Samuel’s 19-yard fourth-quarter rushing touchdown to create breathing space from the Giants, and the defense did the rest en route to a 21-6 season-opening win.
Washington has long valued Bates for the dirty work — fellow tight end Zach Ertz is one of many teammates who call him “the best blocking tight end in the league” — and they showed how much they valued Tunsil and Samuel this offseason, trading a total of five picks to acquire them from the Texans and 49ers, respectively.
“First of all, it started up front,” Samuel said. “It started with the offensive line, and then Luke [McCaffrey] getting a great pin block and just following the guys all the way to the end zone, and I just did what I had to do.”
He’s underselling what he had to do, though: run through an arm tackle attempt from Dru Phillips and then drag Bobby Okereke into the end zone.
“From that vantage point, it didn’t look like he was gonna score,” said Nick Allegretti, who got to see it unfold from the opposite side of the field. “But I’ve watched Deebo for years on other teams, and it don’t always look like he’s gonna score, but he finds a way to continue to get north and south and get into the end zone.
“Really cool to see him in action, because he’s a special athlete.”
On a day when Terry McLaurin had just two catches for 27 yards, Samuel also stepped up as a receiver, with team highs in receptions (seven) and receiving yards (77). Still, it was the run that stood out, not just to his teammates, but to his head coach.
“That was, to me, quintessential him,” Dan Quinn said. “We’ve seen that movie, we know what that looks like and how to feature it into this offense.”
Samuel and Daniels established a strong rapport throughout training camp and the preseason, when the team’s other top wide receivers, McLaurin and Noah Brown, were largely absent.
Samuel’s all-around offensive talent and a plethora of ball-carriers reflect what Washington hopes can be team-wide offensive versatility. The Commanders ran for 220 yards on the day, their second-most in a season opener since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
Seventh-round rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt accounted for a team-high 82 — including a 42-yarder to seal the game — and Jayden Daniels added 68. Five different players had at least one carry.
“I feel like that just makes things 1000 times better, just having a lot of playmakers around you because it just keeps people guessing,” Croskey-Merritt said. “Me being around these guys, it just makes me want step up to the level these guys are at.”
Croskey-Merritt was all smiles postgame, and it was easy for that to be the case. After playing just one game last season at Arizona due to an eligibility issue and waiting almost the entire NFL Draft to hear his name called, he said “the whole day was amazing” even if he, overcome with excitement, forgot to keep the ball from his first regular-season touchdown (McLaurin eventually tracked it down). He also admitted his touchdown celebration remains a work in progress.
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Ryan Wilson
That’s the best way to describe Washington’s offense as a whole, too: good moments, but much to do. Daniels took three sacks, and the offense committed six penalties (the team had 12 in total). Washington was credited with four drops, Daniels missed a few throws he normally made last season, and Washington missed a chance to score before halftime when he committed an intentional grounding.
“We were sloppy, but it’s always better to come out with a win than a loss, though,” Daniels said. “We’ll learn from that.
“There’s always first-game jitters or whatever. You’re not gonna be at your peak form in Week 1, and you don’t want to, but there’s little stuff that we gotta clean up and be attentive on.”
Still, when things went wrong, Daniels often made them right.
When Ertz dropped a pass for what would have been a third-down conversion on the opening drive, Daniels went right back to him on the next drive for Washington’s first touchdown of the season.
When Washington fell behind the sticks on twice on their second scoring drive, Daniels was there, converting a second-and-16 by improvising with his legs before finding Samuel for 16 yards and later converting a third-and-6 with an 11-yard scramble. They were the types of plays that drove opposing defenders and defensive coordinators mad all last season. On Sunday, they simply helped Washington’s offense stay afloat.
And when even Daniels couldn’t bail the offense out, the defense did.
Washington didn’t allow a touchdown for the first time since Week 7, 2020. And much like the offense, the defense got standout efforts from a mix of newcomers and returnees. Javon Kinlaw stuffed Tyrone Tracy Jr. for a 1-yard loss on the Giants’ first offensive play, setting the tone. The player next to Kinlaw on the interior of the defensive line, Daron Payne, had a sack and a pair of passes broken up.
Washington, one of the worst rushing defenses last year, limited New York to 74 yards on 23 carries, a dismal 3.2 yards per attempt. The running backs combined for just 30 yards on 15 carries. The Giants made two trips inside the Washington 5-yard line. They came away with just one field goal.
“I’m just trying to one-up myself every week, go out there and just be intentional during practice so I can go out there and play well on Sundays” Payne said.
“He played his ass off,” Dorance Armstong said. “[Deatrich Wise Jr.] played his ass off. The whole d-line, bro. This was our first game, so we all wanted to come out here and put a stamp on how we could impact the game individually, for sure, and collectively.”
Russell Wilson, meanwhile, completely just 17 of 37 pass attempts for 168 yards, a 4.5 average. He completed just two of seven passes thrown 15-plus yards downfield. Malik Nabers, who had 19 catches for 186 yards in two games against Washington last year, managed five catches for 71 yards, but it took 12 targets to get him there.
“We knew what we were coming into,” said second-round rookie Trey Amos, who broke up one deep pass intended for Nabers. “We knew Russ was gonna challenge us regardless, but we just kept our head down. We knew the game plan, what we had to do, and just did it.”
A work-in-progress win is much better than a work-in-progress loss, which is how the Commanders started last year. With a quick turnaround before a Thursday night showdown against the Packers, Daniels is taking a balanced approach
“I mean it’s always good to get a win versus a division rival,” Daniels said. “So I would think we still got room to grow, but it’s always good to start 1-0, and especially in the division, too.
“We’re not gonna be content with everything. We won the game, but we’re on a short week now. We can’t live off that high that we just did. You kinda got 24 hours to get over it, or really less than that, because we’re onto Green Bay.”