Taking a closer look at the offensive and defensive schemes of the Detroit Lions divisional-round opponent: The Washington Commanders.
The Detroit Lions will take on the Washington Commanders in the Divisional Round of the 2024-25 NFL playoffs . They have a brand new coaching staff in 2024, but it’s full of a lot of familiar faces.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Dan Quinn,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said on Monday. “I’ve known Dan—from afar I know him, but it’s not like we hang out on a daily basis or anything or talk like that—but I’ve known him for a while. And certainly, when he was in Atlanta, having to play him twice a year, I mean, you gain a high level of respect for what they do.
“And Joe Whitt, the defensive coordinator, I mean, those guys were all there. And so, inevitably, his teams are always going to be competitive and they’re going to be ready to go. And they’re going to try to do things the right way, so I’ve got a lot of respect for what he’s done, and I’m not surprised that they’re where they’re at just knowing kind of the way he builds things, the way his attitude is. So, it’s impressive.”
Let’s take a look at the Commanders’ coaching staff and how their offensive and defensive schemes operate.
Commanders head coach: Dan Quinn
Quinn began coaching at the college level in 1994 and entered the NFL in 2001 with the 49ers (coaching the defensive line), followed by stints with the Dolphins , Jets, and Seahawks . After two years as the University of Florida’s defensive coordinator, Quinn jumped back to the NFL and was re-hired by the Seahawks this time as their defensive coordinator—where he laid the foundation for their “Legion of Boom” defense.
It wasn’t long before Quinn was hired as the Falcons head coach, and while he led them to Super Bowl 51 (the infamous 28-3 collapse game ), his overall record of 43-42 led to him being fired early on into his sixth season (2020).
Quinn would go back to being a defensive coordinator, this time with the Cowboys under (then) head coach Mike McCarthy, and helped turn Dallas’ defense into a solid unit. When the Commanders were performing their coaching search, it was believed to be down to Quinn and Lions offensive Ben Johnson, and when Johnson removed himself from consideration, it wasn’t long before a deal was made to make Quinn their next head coach.
Offensive coordinator: Kliff Kingsbury
Kingsbury played quarterback at Texas Tech in a high-octane, Air Raid offense and was drafted in the sixth round of the 2003 NFL draft by the Patriots. By 2009, he was out of the NFL and coaching at the college level. He developed several NFL quarterbacks along the way, including Case Keenum at Houston, Johnny Manziel at Texas A&M , Baker Mayfield (for his freshman season) and Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech.
His offensive success landed him a head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals , and while he drafted Kyler Murray, he was fired after just three seasons. After a year at USC as an offensive analyst—and working with 2024 No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams—Kingsbury was hired by Quinn to be the Commanders’ offensive coordinator, where he is tasked with developing rookie Jayden Daniels.
Offensive scheme
Virtually everything about the Commanders’ offensive scheme is designed to optimize Jayden Daniels, and Kingsbury has modified his previous schemes to help the rookie succeed by forcing defenses into more basic concepts
While there are still influences from Kingsbury’s Air Raid and West Coast concepts—like pre-snap motion, play-action, screens, and bunch formations—this version of his offense focuses on running the ball first and foremost. For the most part, Washington has been highly successful running the ball (run EPA per play of +0.13 is the best in the NFL, per Next Gen Stats). Some of that production can be attributed to early-season success from their running backs, but Daniels’ ability to execute designed quarterback runs—like power and RPOs—as well as knowing when to scramble, has this approach leveled up.
With Brian Robinson and Austin Ekeler in the backfield to complement Daniels, the Commanders have their thunder and lightning combination most teams aim for. In addition to each back having plays designed for them, Kingsbury also has several plays that feature both backs on the field at the same time—which they deploy over 10% of the time when Ekeler is healthy.
In recent weeks, the Commanders’ running back play has regressed, but Daniels’ success has kept things moving forward. For example, Ekeler was averaging 4.8 yards per carry, but since returning from his injury that’s dropped to 4.0 YPC, and he averaged 3.4 last week against the Bucs. Robinson’s even worse, as he is averaging 4.3 YPC on the season, but over the last month, that number dropped to 3.24 YPC, and last week, he only accounted for 1.6 YPC in the Wild Card. Meanwhile, Daniels averages 6.0 YPC on the season, and over the last month of the regular season, with Ekeler out and Robinson struggling, he increased that average to 7.5 YPC. That being said, the Bucs did hold him to 2.8 YPC last week, so there is a fresh game plan for the Lions to source.
In the passing game, their main focus is to have success on first downs in order to set them up into manageable second and third downs. That means high-accuracy plays that produce on short and intermediate routes and take their shots downfield on the later downs.
Additionally, the Commanders like to push the pace on offense, while maintaining ball control. While that may seem counter-intuitive, the drives where they feature no-huddle focus less on speeding up to the line of scrimmage to get off a quick snap, and instead, do this to put the defense in difficult and basic spots.
Here are some of the advantages of the Commanders’ no-huddle strategy:
- The defense can’t change personnel, so if you’re caught in the wrong set, Washington can exploit mismatches.
- The Commanders will run multiple formations with the same personnel, making it challenging for the defense to match up. For defenses who don’t communicate well, this is a problem.
- By rushing to the line of scrimmage, the defense is stuck making their play calls while in position, meaning they call basic plays instead of complex blitzes.
Lastly, the Commanders’ approach to staying ahead of the sticks puts them into convertible third-downs (convert 46.12%, sixth in NFL), but they’re also not afraid to go for it on fourth down in the right situations. Because they know the capabilities of their offense, when they gamble on fourth down, they typically convert and have found success on 20 of their 23 attempts (86.96%, best in the NFL).
This strategy of going for it on fourth down also centers around ball control and time of possession (51.27%, eighth in the NFL). Last week against the Bucs, they did not punt and instead, went for it on fourth down five times, converting three of those attempts.
Defensive coordinator: Joe Whitt Jr.
Whitt began coaching at the college level (Auburn) in 2000, entering the NFL in 2007 with Atlanta. He joined McCarthy with the Packers in 2008 and coached their secondary for 11 seasons. After a single season as the Browns ’ secondary coach, he was hired by Quinn during his final year with the Falcons. When Quinn departed for the Cowboys (and McCarthy) Whitt followed to coach their secondary. When Quinn was hired by the Commanders, Whitt—who was the favorite to be the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator—opted to follow Quinn to become the Commanders’ defensive coordinator.
4-2-5 base defensive scheme
Prior to hiring Quinn and Whitt, the Commanders were one of the worst defenses in the NFL, so the front office made a point to acquire several free agents that would fit their scheme in hopes of a quick turnaround. Edge rushers Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler, as well as corner Noah Igbinoghene, all came over from Dallas. Linebackers Bobby Wagner and Frankie Luvu were targeted for their unique roles. While Washington’s defense has taken some serious steps forward, they still have some flaws, though they have made adjustments to hide them as best they can.
While not identical, the Commanders’ defense is based on the same concepts as several of the Lions’ opponents this season, most notably in San Francisco and Green Bay. While Quinn has adapted his scheme over the years—like implementing more man-coverage—the fundamental base will look very familiar.
Up front, the Commanders deploy a 1-gapping four-man unit that uses twists and stunts to create pressure. This shuffle game is often used to cover up defensive linemen who don’t find a lot of success winning one-on-ones, and forces the offensive line to communicate on the fly—the Lions have shown a lot more of this since losing Alim McNeill.
According to Next Gen Stats, the Commanders have only generated 189 pressure on the season (26th in the NFL), and also like the Lions, have leaned on blitzing (32.9%, sixth in the NFL) to create more pressure. Unfortunately for Washington, the extra emphasis on creating pressure often leaves them vulnerable against the run, which is something the Lions will look to exploit.
At linebacker, they primarily use just two off-ball linebackers (Wagner and Luvu) on every down, with the occasional third in base formations. Wagner is the anchor MIKE in the middle of the field, while Luvu is the movable chess piece, playing the role Quinn crafted for Micah Parsons in Dallas.
In the secondary, the Commanders have stayed in sub packages anywhere from 85-100% of the time over the last month. They spend about a third of their time in man coverage, and two-thirds in zone, which is around the middle of the league for both coverage splits. Early in the season, the Commanders used more man coverage but their corners couldn’t hold up and they’ve played more zone to adjust.
In zone, they deploy mostly Cover-3 (25% of the time) and Cover-2 (18%), and when they shift to man coverage, it’s almost exclusively in single-high looks (30%). That means, roughly 55% of the time, they operate with a single-high safety, which is a look the Lions offense has seen a lot of in recent games, including from the Packers, Bears, and 49ers over the final month of the regular season.
Coaching/Front office connections
There are also a couple of fun coaching and front office connections between the Commanders’ staff and the Lions’.
- Anthony Lynn, run game coordinator (Lions offensive coordinator in 2021)
- David Blough, assistant quarterbacks coach (former Lions quarterback)
- Darryl Tapp, defensive line coach (former Lions edge rusher)
- Lance Newmark, assistant general manager (Lions senior director of player personnel, 26 years in Detroit)
- Brandon Sosna, senior vice president of football operations (Lions senior director of football administration from 2022-23)
- Martin Mayhew, personnel executive/advisor to the general manager (Lions GM in 2008-15, was in Detroit 15 seasons)