Jayden Daniels was nearly flawless, throwing for yards and two touchdowns. BetMGM lists the percentage of bettors landing on either side of the three main game lines. They are No. When the Commanders played man 26 percent of the time , they ranked 25th or worse in opponent completion percentage 60 percent and yards per attempt 7.
Holy crap. The Lions, who are the walking wounded on defense, have not fared well with scrambling quarterbacks all season. They are otherwise against Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Anthony Richardson and Josh Allen, giving up an average of 52 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns overall.
It gets better. McLaurin led all receivers in yards gained on go routes , while the Lions have allowed the second-most receiving yards per game on targeted go routes They are going to play man coverage and they are going to blitz. He made some smart adjustments, bracketing receiver Justin Jefferson and trusting they could cover one-on-one elsewhere.
His second-favorite target against man is Ertz 23 targets. The Lions gave up the third-fewest yards to tight ends in the regular season. Because of injuries, the Lions have moved Branch back to nickel after he played safety for most of the season. When the Commanders are in 11 personnel one back, one tight end, three receivers and the Lions are in nickel five defensive backs , Branch has to go to the slot receiver side, meaning Anzalone would have to cover Ertz. This could be a matchup the Commanders try to expose on early downs, especially if the Lions blitz to force Daniels to get rid of the ball rather than scramble.
Members of The Athletic's NFL Team take a closer look at each playoff game this weekend and one way each team can win. How Washington can win: Beat man coverage. Key stat: Terry McLaurin led all receivers in yardage on go routes , while the Lions have allowed the second-most yards per game on those routes If Washington connects on plays like this, look out:.
