4 Washington Commanders who must be better for rest of playoffs to win the Super Bowl

The Washington Commanders just keep winning. They don’t care that they’re led by a rookie quarterback, played in an easy division or have a defense that can be inconsistent. They’ll simply win at all costs. 

Which makes their matchup against the Detroit Lions in the divisional round exciting. Two teams that have a “win-at-all-cost” mentality. It’s why the Commanders have the chance of playing in yet another good NFL playoff game. 

But as good, or rather fortunate, as the Commanders have been to knock off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a last second field goal that needed the assistance of the goal post, they won’t be able to skate by against the Lions. 

They’ll need everyone to step up their game. The Lions are a team with a beaten up defense, yet a 15-2 record. They have an offense that is reinventing new ways to score and be efficient. They have a head coach that hates to kick the ball if it’s not a kickoff or extra point. 

All of that will come into play for the Commanders. They can’t lapse against the Lions or their playoff run will be over before it even begins. Here’s who needs to step up in Saturday’s divisional round game in the Motor City for Washington. 

3) All the pressure will be on Jayden Daniels as he’s been the reason the Commanders are one of the NFL’s hottest teams. 

Jayden Daniels has arguably been the sole reason the Commanders are in the playoffs, let alone ended a two-decade playoff win drought. The pressure on him to continue to dominate against the juggernaut Lions is at an all time high. 

To say he needs to step up would imply he hasn’t been pulling his weight. But he’s on this list because how he plays is largely tied to the Commanders’ success and he’ll need to play even better than he did against the Buccaneers to get another playoff win. 

The Lions may be beaten up on defense, but look at how they played against the Minnesota Vikings to lock up the No. 1 seed in the NFC. The only difference is they could be aggressive against Sam Darnold and not get punished. 

If Detroit tries to keep that aggressive mindset and blitz the Commanders into oblivion, it could haunt them. Daniels is one of the best quarterbacks this year against the blitz. That said, it means Daniels will have to continue to be elite against the blitz to get past the Lions. 

2) Brian Robinson Jr. and Austin Ekeler have to provide a spark in the run game in order for the Commanders to continue winning in the postseason. 

Brian Robinson Jr. and Austin Ekeler were essentially non-factors against the Buccaneers. And the Commanders were able to get the win. That’s good for them. But if they fail to get any momentum going against the Lions this weekend, it will be the reason they lose. 

The ability to run the ball is paramount in the postseason. And especially against the Lions. They will not be able to pass their way to a win. They’ll have to find ways to get the rushing attack going. 

That was their biggest problem against the Buffalo Bills in their second loss of the season. James Cook and Josh Allen ran all over the Lions in that game. Along with Allen throwing for nearly 400 yards and two touchdowns. 

The Commanders are good enough to do both. That is the recipe for them to pull off the upset. Especially against a Detroit defense that’s still trying to get healthy. Daniels will need some help offensively and that’s where Robinson and Ekeler come in.

If the Commanders use all three players to open up the run game and Daniels continues to be an elite passer, they very well could knock off the Lions. If nothing more, make the game a shootout and keep pace with them.

1) Marshon Lattimore has to lead the secondary against a lethal passing threat in the Lions.

Marshon Lattimore may be coming off a lingering hamstring injury, but if you’re available to play, that’s no longer an excuse. There was a lot of hype around his return to the field coinciding with a clash with his rival, Mike Evans. 

And while he helped the Commanders defense hold the Buccaneers to 20 points and Baker Mayfield under 200 passing yards, they won’t have that same luck against Jared Goff. With what Ben Johnson and this Lions offense has accomplished this year, there’s no telling what Johnson will have up his sleeve. 

Knowing how young and inexperienced the Commanders secondary is, expect Johnson to exploit that as much as possible. He has the weapons to do so. It’s Lattimore and frankly, the rest of the secondary’s job to limit that as much as possible. 

That’s the biggest question mark on a team that’s had a lot of success. And they’ve been able to get by for now. Getting by won’t be enough to get past the Lions. Lattimore has to lock down Amon-Ra St. Brown. Mikey Sainristill has to keep Jameson Williams from flying by him. 

And on the interior, Bobby Wagner has to keep Jahmyr Gibbs from running loose. This game will come down to how well Washington’s secondary plays. The Lions are going to score, it’s up to Lattimore and the secondary to keep it from getting out of hand.