By james art The Washington Commanders may have pulled off a last-second victory over the Chicago Bears in Week 8, but offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury wasn’t happy with the offense’s performance in the red zone. Despite a steady move up on Sunday, the team missed key chances to put more points on the scoreboard. Kingsbury hasn’t been shy about pointing out where the offense is lacking and what needs to change.
“Yes, it should definitely be better. I thought we moved the ball well at times against Chicago, but we had a chance to really get it out a couple of times,” the Commanders offensive coordinator admitted. “I thought that could put a lot of pressure on them, make them more one-dimensional, and we were just hanging around down there, whether it was bad payments or not the kind of performance we expected.”
Kingsbury made it clear that struggles in the red zone are nothing new. Washington faced similar problems when they first met the Giants earlier this season, and he knows they can’t afford a repeat if they want to stay atop the division. Kingsbury sees room for improvement in his play and performance on the field, and he made it clear that changes are needed.
“And like the New York game, we just have to pay better plays and execute better. And our guys know we can’t expect to win like that,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Commanders defense continued to come up, struggling to keep the team in the game and creating scoring chances. But it’s hard for Kingsbury to see the offense losing the hard work of the defense. He acknowledged the defense’s efforts and expressed his disappointment that the offense couldn’t capitalize on those opportunities.
“The defense did a tremendous job of continuing to get the ball back, continuing to give us a chance to put this team away, but we just didn’t do it,” Kingsbury admitted.
This week, Kingsbury and the Commanders offense returned to practice focused on fine-tuning their red zone strategy, knowing that turning those opportunities into touchdowns is essential, especially if they want to beat the New York Giants for a second time.
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