Chig Okonkwo had 60 yards before halftime against the Giants, then one official target afterward. David Blough needs to keep him involved in the offense. | Philip Hughes | HTTR4LIFE LLC
The Washington Commanders entered Week 5 knowing they needed to get their tight ends more involved in the offense
, especially Chig Okonkwo, who returned in Week 4. Okonkwo caught four passes for 21 yards in two appearances before Sunday, then caught four passes for 60 yards against the New York Giants.
On the opening drive, Okonkwo made catches of 11 and 23 yards as the offense moved downfield for a 69-yard drive that ended with a touchdown from Jacory "Bill" Croskey-Merritt
. His 25-yard reception in the second quarter was part of the drive that ended in Drew Stevens' 28-yard field goal. Clearly, the offense does better when they build it around the play-action, but that's not always an option or isn't always utilized correctly. Now that both Daniels and Okonkwo are back
, the Commanders need to make the Chig-Jayden connection
a top priority, especially when their top receivers are dinged up.
Chig Okonkwo missed Weeks 2 and 3 with a hamstring injury he suffered during Week 1's game in Philadelphia. In London last week, several factors clouded Chig's return to action, leaving him with only two catches for five yards despite being open multiple times on the game film.
So, needing to build on that connection, Chig was targeted five times in the first half against New York and caught four of those passes for 60 yards. The problem is, Washington targeted him only once in the second half, on an incompletion late in the fourth quarter, and none in overtime.
To be clear, Daniels attempted 11 passes in the first half, five to Okonkwo. He had eight attempts in the second and another six in overtime. One target was erased in the third because of a defensive holding call on Deonte Banks. Okonkwo doesn't need to see every single target, but when something works, take advantage of it. How the Commanders get that first half from Chig and finish with only one official target the rest of the game is beyond me. This needs to be a growth moment for Blough if he wants to be a head coach, as the failed offensive coordinator world is full of guys who lose track of personnel and need the head coach to regulate that for them, a job Quinn isn't that good at either.
Quinn's comments on Monday seemed aimed at the entire setup: "I don't catastrophize things, but I do want to make sure that I don't minimize things either, and there are plenty of things for us to improve upon in this game, and not just the last play," Quinn said.
With Washington traveling to play the undefeated 49ers in San Francisco on Monday Night Football in Week 6, they'd better make dependable receiving roles that work a priority moving forward.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/commanders/onsi as Chig Okonkwo Can't Be a Second-Half Afterthought for Washington - Commanders Daily .
