OPINION:
There was once this legendary softball pitcher named Eddie Feigner, who traveled around the world playing softball teams with just three players on his team. He was unhittable: In a charity softball game, he struck out Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Roberto Clemente, Brooks Robinson, Harmon Killebrew and Maury Wills in a row.
He used one fielder for the rare instance when someone got a hit and a catcher because, like the great manager Casey Stengel once said when the New York Mets picked a catcher first for the 1962 expansion team, “If you don’t have a catcher, you’re going to have a lot of passed balls.”
Sunday at Northwest Stadium, the Los Angeles Rams beat the Washington Commanders 20-13 with three players — receiver Puka Nacua, linebacker Myles Garrett and quarterback Matthew Stafford.
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Think of Nacua, who caught 14 passes for 150 yards, and Garrett, who had three sacks and three tackles for losses, as playing the Eddie Feigner role on their respective sides of the ball. And think of Stafford as the catcher — if you don’t have someone behind center to take the snap, you’re going to have a lot of fumbles.
Washington’s defense handled the rest of what the Rams’ offense brought to the field. Stafford struggled, completing just 26 of 43 passes for 228 yards, one touchdown (to Nacua, of course) and one interception for a 72.6 quarterback rating. They did a decent job containing the Los Angeles running game, especially with defensive linemen Daron Payne and Javon Kinlaw sidelined with injuries. Running backs Kyren Williams and Blake Corum combined for 103 yards on 26 carries. Nacua (who else?) had two rushes for 20 yards.
But it’s hard to say the Commanders’ defense played well when one player was targeted 19 times for 14 catches and 150 yards. The whole Rams team only had 219 yards in receptions.
Linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson recognized that. He managed to find clarity in his answer to a question about how the defense stays motivated when the offense struggles to match its performance.
“We just have to keep finding ways to make plays,” Chaisson told reporters. “Today, I feel like it was good for us. They ran the same play all day, feeding the same person the same ball all day. So, as a defense, you have to figure out how you’re going to stop that. You know what I’m saying? If you’re not going to let it happen anymore. So, regardless of the individual results, when you have a game plan that easy, and they’re not hiding what they’re doing and running duo all day, they will find a way to get the ball to Puka. So, that’s what you have to hone in on, and find the ways to stop that and get your defense off the field and limit the points.”
The Commanders offense did not match the defensive effort — not because of quarterback Jayden Daniels, who completed 24 of 35 passes for 274 yards, one touchdown and again, no interceptions. (He did have his first turnover of the season, a fumble.)
Again, it was his supporting cast — receivers who weren’t even good enough to start the season in Washington’s mediocre offense and a flawed offensive line that wound up playing rookie Matt Guibin for much of the game when starting center Lucas Patrick (who continuously put the ball at risk with his high snaps) went out with a concussion in the second quarter. The Commanders’ running backs — Rachaad White and Austin Ekeler — rushed for a total of just 44 yards on 15 carries.
“Frustrating game,” coach Dan Quinn said. “And once again, we have not nailed our complementary football, and I’ll keep saying it until we do. We’re halfway through the season, and that all has to click.”
It may be unclickable.
The offense is bogged down by a lack of talent and a lack of coaching. Rookie offensive coordinator David Blough continues to look overmatched in play calling, and the Commanders’ tradition — the strange end-of-game play — continued when, with time expiring and the ball on the Los Angeles 31-yard line, Daniels failed to attempt an end zone Hail Mary. Instead, he dumped it off to tight end Chig Okonkwo, who made it to the Rams’ 11 yard line and then tried to pitch the ball backward to keep the play alive. The ball hit the ground, and another final play ended with questions about Daniels’ decision-making and Blough’s play calling.
This was Quinn’s explanation: “I think just more, like, tape history, too, of what could [they could call] and what they’ve done. Also, I want to give them [credit]. I’m not looking to take [anything] away [from] them, but I just want to see us give ourselves a real shot at it.”
No wonder nobody has a clue what’s going on at the end of these games.
Washington (2-5-1) fans are now in the familiar position of waiting for the season to end. There is the pretense that a win Thursday night over the division-leading New York Giants (5-2-1) will put them back in play for the NFC East title. But it’s a death watch now.
The season — and Quinn’s job as Commanders coach — died at the end of the first Giants game, when the offense seemed to be clueless about the moment as time ran out and they missed a chance at a game-winning field goal, finishing with a 27-27 tie.
That calamity can’t be unseen and seems to explain every failure that has followed.
• You can hear Thom Loverro on “The Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast.
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