Week 4 Takeaways – Washington Commander vs Atlanta Falcons

By: Sam Myer 9/28/2025

The Washington Commanders travelled to Atlanta in week four to face off in an NFC clash with the Falcons. Both teams had good days on offense, but in the end the Falcons came out on top 34-27. It was a big bounce back day for Michael Penix Jr. and the Atlanta passing attack as Penix threw for over 300 yards and Drake London and Bijan Robinson each eclipsed 100 yards receiving. The Washington secondary struggled all day long as they continuously gave up big plays in the passing game. Marcus Mariota gave a spirited effort as the Washington offense performed well, but it wasn’t quite enough to keep up with struggles from the defense.

This was also the first time that the defensive line could not dictate the line scrimmage, and it allowed for the secondary to be exposed all afternoon. Washington is going to need to get after the quarterback much quicker moving forward and it will give their secondary some much needed help. As for the secondary, they have a lot to get figured after giving up 100-yards to four different receivers in the last three games. The biggest issues in the pass coverage came when Bobby Wagner was targeted in the flats. The 35-year old linebacker gave up several big plays in the passing game to Bijan Robinson and Kyle Pitts. Moving forward, defensive coordinator Joe Whitt needs to find ways to keep Frankie Luvu in pass coverage and allow Bobby Wagner to work downhill. Wagner was not the only player who was a liability in pass coverage as Mike Sainristil and Marshon Lattimore struggled to contain their assignments. Lattimore was unable to stop Drake London at almost every level and has had a significant holding problem whenever he gets beat on a route. The splash trade acquisition from the deadline last year has yet to make much of a positive impact and is trending to be a big miss from Adam Peters.

One other player who had a rough outing was Jaylin Lane who fumbled twice and had zero return yards on two punt returns. While both of those fumbles were recovered by Washington, they will likely cost him some playing time next week to Luke McCaffery who had a breakout performance in week four. McCaffery returned six kickoffs for 199 return yards and logged two catches for 21 yards and a touchdown. McCaffery seems to be taking advantage of the absences in the receiver room and has done well to solidify future playing time. At very least, he’ll be used as a returner moving forward as he’s excelled in the last two games and now leads the team in return yards.

Another member of the special teams who had a big performance was kicker Matt Gay who made all five of his kicks, including field goals from 41, 42, 43, and 52 yards. This was certainly a welcome sight for Washington as Gay was 3/6 on field goals in the first three weeks.

The rest of the positives all came from the offense as they put out a good performance putting up 27 points on the road, which was the most given up by the Falcons defense all year. Marcus Mariota made a valiant effort throwing for two touchdowns but had thrown a key interception late in the game that stalled Washington’s comeback in the third quarter. Washington was not quite as prolific on the ground as they did not eclipse 150 rushing yards as a team. That being said, Chris Rodriguez Jr. had a big 48 yard run early in the game and Bill Croskey-Merritt was a sparkplug, averaging six yards per carry and catching both of his targets. Additionally, Deebo Samuel continued his hot start scoring another touchdown and catching all six of his targets. Jayden Daniels is expected to return next week as the Commanders travel to Los Angeles to face off with the Chargers.