In the NFL, when you start the season with losses in back-to-back divisional games, you've already got two feet of dirt on you. In those moments, some players' poor performances stand out more easily than others because expectations were excessively high entering the season. In some cases, expectations were higher than they should have been; in others, the underachievement is clear. While the season is only two games old, these three have scraped the bottom a few times over the last couple of weeks.
If there was one player in the secondary Washington needed to take a step forward this season, it was Mike Sainristil. The team had lofty ideas about Mikey being a full-time starter on the outside when he's clearly done his best work inside. Through two games, he's struggled in coverage, with focus and communication issues showing up along the way. Pro Football Focus
gave him a 30.0 overall grade and a 29.3 coverage grade against Philadelphia
, then a 45.0 overall grade and 41.8 in coverage against Dallas
.
The numbers aren't the only problem. Sainristil was involved
in some of the biggest breakdowns against the Eagles, including the 64-yard completion to Dontayvion Wicks
that helped Philadelphia put together 202 yards on only five plays. Commanders head coach Dan Quinn didn't sugarcoat it afterward, saying Sainristil is a good competitor but calling the lack of focus on one play "completely not acceptable."
You would have liked to see Dallas become the bounce-back game. It wasn't. Sainristil's grades improved slightly, but not enough to keep him from sitting 96th among 96 qualifying cornerbacks on PFF through two weeks, and he was part of a secondary that watched Dak Prescott complete 26-of-31 passes for 279 yards and four touchdowns
. Two games don't define a season, but Washington shouldn't be waiting for Sainristil to look comfortable in Year 3. He was supposed to be one of the players making things easier on the rest of the secondary.
Ben Sinnott is a different kind of disappointment because you can't look at his first two games and simply say he's played badly. The problem is that we are still waiting for him to become much of anything in the offense
.
Sinnott played only 18 offensive snaps against Philadelphia, but that jumped to 48 against Dallas with Chig Okonkwo out of the lineup
. That was his chance to see a much bigger role. He finished the game with one catch for six yards, which is also his entire receiving production through two weeks. PFF gave him a 52.4 overall grade in Week 1 and a 48.8 against Dallas.
That's disappointing because this was supposed to be the offense that finally gave Sinnott a chance to show more. He said as much during the offseason when talking about David Blough
's system. "I love it. I think this one really fits my play style, the kind of player I am," Sinnott said. Maybe it still will. Sinnott has done some good things as a blocker, and his pass-blocking grade against Dallas was one of the better parts of his afternoon. But this is Year 3 for a former second-round pick. At some point, the potential has to turn into a role you can actually see on Sundays. If the explanation before was that there weren't enough snaps available, Dallas made that argument harder.
Leo Chenal might be the biggest surprise on this list. Washington didn't just take a flier on him this offseason. They gave him a three-year deal worth $24.75 million after he posted a 75.1 PFF grade last season and had graded above 70.0 in each of his first four years in Kansas City
.
The fit was supposed to make sense, too. Chenal talked before the season about how Daronte Jones' defense
would allow the linebackers to play to what they do best
. "It really involves the linebackers. It involves playing to their skill set," Chenal said in July. So far, we haven't seen enough of that player. PFF gave Chenal a 40.6 overall grade against Philadelphia, with a 31.5 run-defense grade. Against Dallas, his overall grade fell to 37.9. His run defense and tackling were much better, but his coverage grade dropped to 29.0.
There were positives in Dallas. Chenal led the Commanders with 12 tackles after managing only three against Philadelphia, and he was much more effective against the run. The problem is that one weakness seems to have replaced another. After two games, PFF has Chenal at 41.0 overall and 33.3 in coverage, and at times he's looked lost - a long way from the player Washington thought it was adding in March.
Two games is nowhere near enough to write off Sainristil, Sinnott or Chenal. All three have 15 games left to change the way their seasons have started. The Commanders are already 0-2, though, and waiting around for players they expected to be part of the solution isn't a luxury they have much of right now.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/commanders/onsi as 3 Biggest Commanders Disappointments Through the First Two Weeks .
