Commanders vs. Rams: 3 things to watch, including a trend Washington is monitoring closely

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ASHBURN, Va. — The Commanders got a win to open up November.

But stringing them together? That will be a much tougher task.

The Los Angeles Rams, a Super Bowl favorite with a star-studded roster, are coming to town. Wide receiver Puka Nacua is among the best players in the league and quarterback Matthew Stafford is likely headed for the Hall of Fame. And their play caller, Sean McVay, already has a Super Bowl to his name.

“He’s always been on the cutting edge,” offensive coordinator David Blough said of McVay, a former Washington assistant under head coaches Mike Shanahan and Jay Gruden. “I’ve gotten to be around a lot of players that have been around him and talk about his excellence.”

Pass rusher K’Lavon Chaisson said of Stafford: “He has seen everything. [We have to] give him as many looks as possible.”

So if the Commanders are going to win two straight and climb back into the playoff race, they will need to knock off one of the best.

Here are three things to watch.

Another slow start

Washington’s win over the Eagles last week required a mini-intervention by Jayden Daniels. After getting down 10-0 to a team on its second-string quarterback, Daniels told his team their effort was “BS.”

“We needed that in that moment, somebody to speak the truth to what was going on,” Blough said. “The guys responded really well.”

The problem is, these slow starts are becoming a theme. The Commanders have the 17th ranked scoring offense with an average of 22.7 points per game, but are 22nd in first-half points (10).

Against the 49ers, Washington was down 20-3 before they climbed back into the game. It was ultimately too much to overcome in a loss.

It goes back to head coach Dan Quinn saying his team struggles to play a complete game. It’s a shocking admission for a group now nine weeks into the season.

And the Commanders know the Rams can jump on teams early. They scored 28 points in the first half against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 7.

“We know we have to start fast. The Rams have done a great job in the first quarter,” Blough said. “We know it’s definitely an area for us to improve on.”

A penalty issue

One of the biggest reasons for Washington’s slow starts has been penalties.

Washington had seven penalties in the first quarter last week, including back-to-back false starts that pushed them out of field goal range.

Blough laughed when somebody told him penalties were their biggest issue.

“They were,” he said.

But how can they stop them?

“I think consistency, right?” Blough said. “Consistency for more repetition of our operation, our cadence, our shifts, our motions, all of it together. So, we have to coach it, reflect really hard on it, and then we gotta really demand it of the group because it’s been killing us. We gotta really go out and nip it.”

Stopping Nacua

Puka Nacua has arguably been the best wide receiver in the NFL since he entered the league in 2023.

He already has over 500 receiving yards this year. That includes a game where he had 17 catches for 138 yards against the Buffalo Bills in Week 5.

But defensive coordinator Daronte Jones’ main fear with Nacua isn’t just the targets, it is how they come.

“The way they move him, the way they utilize him,” Jones said. “He’s really dangerous once he has the ball in his hands. So sometimes [the Rams] getting him the ball quicker allows him to become more of the running back after he’s caught the ball. So our guys have the awareness of where he is and then have the ability to just swarm and hunt.”

Jones said the return of a fully healthy Trey Amos, who started the year on injured reserve and was not activated until Week 6, has been a bright spot. The trusted cover corner’s presence allows Jones to open up the playbook more than usual.

“It allowed us to play two-man [defense], two-corner defenses and three-corner defenses,” Jones said. “So having him get his feet under him a little bit helps in that way.”