Assessing David Blough as Commanders OC Halfway Through Year One

The Washington Commanders decided to roll into year three of Jayden Daniels with a change at offensive coordinator, and the results haven’t been what we’ve expected.

Yes, they stuck with a familiar face in David Blough, but he’s also a first-time offensive coordinator, and the growing pains have been very alarming through the first nine weeks of the season.

The passing game has been more efficient out of shotgun, like it was in 2024, and the play-action has been a failure for many reasons. One, the offensive line is a liability right now, and they can’t sustain blocks long enough for plays to develop. Secondly, there’s no true run-game threat on the field right now for teams to worry about.

The Commanders have allowed 20 sacks, with 16 being on Daniels, and they have the second-highest scramble rate in the league at 9.2%. Plays can’t develop, and Daniels can’t get into a rhythm.

The Commanders are also 21st in yards per attempt in the passing game, and we aren’t seeing as many shots from Daniels as we did in 2024. The inconsistency on the offensive line, the plays not developing, and the lack of a true run game are killing the passing game, but that’s not all.

David Blough also doesn't seem to target his playmakers much at all, like we see other teams do. There have been too many times when we have asked where Terry McLaurin, Stefon Diggs, and Antonio Williams were, especially in critical situations like 3rd downs.

The best way to fail on offense is by not being on the field long enough, and that’s what’s happening to the Commanders. David Blough’s offense is dead last in the NFL on 3rd-down conversions at just 31.3%. They’ve converted just 33 3rd downs out of 106 attempts. That’s how you lose games.

3rd downs are also being crippled by penalties, and the Commanders are the 4th-most penalized offense in the NFL with 38 flags through eight games. Between the play calling, penalties killing drives, and just failing to execute, the offense can never sustain a long drive that leads to points. This offense has no identity other than shooting itself in the foot and not being able to convert 3rd downs. A lot of this is on David Blough, but also on the players executing the plays. However, he is in control of calling plays, and that’s been inconsistent as well.

Now, it hasn’t all been terrible, but there have been way too many times when David Blough’s play-calling has been questionable in some very critical times. It all started in the very first game of the season when the Commanders fought back against the Eagles, just to lose on a two-point conversion that was supposed to be a TE shuffle pass to John Bates, of all people. 

Not Terry McLaurin, Stefon Diggs, or Antonio Williams, but a pass behind the line of scrimmage to your blocking TE, where your struggling offensive line had to make a play, and didn’t.

Fast forward to the overtime game against the New York Giants. Yes, everyone remembers this game very clearly. 

The final play call, with the game on the line, was in 13 personnel (where he had to make multiple substitutions), under center, and a designed throw to Ben Sinnott that never had a chance. The only receiving options on the field during the most important play of the game were Chig Okonkwo, Ben Sinnott, John Bates, and Treylon Burks. 

That’s not even including the miscommunication between Blough and the offense, which watched the game tick down to zero seconds and end in a tie.

The next biggest issue came against the San Francisco 49ers, with the game on the line once again, and a real shot to win the game. The Commanders fought back and needed a touchdown to win the game by one. They never had a chance, however, because David Blough called a four-verticle play on 2nd down with 21 seconds left, which resulted in Jayden Daniels getting hit, throwing the ball away, and drawing an intentional grounding penalty.

The Commanders had a 10-second runoff, and the game ended with a sack on Jayden Daniels. David Blough’s offense whiffed another opportunity to win the game with a questionable play call.

The latest malpractice was against the Los Angeles Rams when the Commanders ended the game with a five-yard pass to Chig Okonkwo from the 32-yard line with three seconds to go and no timeouts. They went with a lateral play instead of a Hail Mary attempt because the Rams showed a five-man blitz when the Commanders had six blockers. That play will never make sense to me, and they had no shot at scoring because of it.

It’s been a rough start for David Blough’s first opportunity as an offensive coordinator, but he also hasn’t had much help from his head coach. Dan Quinn brought in Steve Wilks to help with the defense, but he never added help on the offensive side of the ball, while Blough continues to struggle.

Now, the season could end on Thursday night against the Giants, which will likely lead to major changes to the coaching staff the following Friday.