Three Games In, Washington Is Already Trying to Change What Defenses Think They Know

Commanders Daily — David Blough is already self-scouting Washington’s offense as the Commanders prepare for Indianapolis. | Philip Hughes | HTTR4LIFE LLC

One of the more ambiguous things about the 2026 Washington Commanders was new offensive coordinator David Blough's scheme and how he planned to use said offense. Three weeks in, Blough realizes the Colts now have a luxury the Eagles, Cowboys, and Seahawks didn't: film to study before they meet on Sunday.

"Over the first couple weeks, we've dove a lot into our own self-scout because we know there's only three weeks of information that the Colts are getting to look at on our offense," Blough said. "And so, how do we predict what they're seeing, and how do we kind of adapt to that hopefully before they catch on? So, you know, it's always a chess match, and we got a lot of respect for this team, this head coach, defensive coordinator that we're going up against this week, and we want to stay ahead of that curve as well."

One thing that has haunted the team this season has been pre-snap penalties; Blough understands they're undermining his offense. "We've talked about urgency out of the huddle and so we mix up our cadence a lot, and it kind of got us, you know, nipped us in the butt a little bit... second and eight turning into second and 13 was not where we wanted to be. And it happened too many times." Too many times is right; eight of the team's 20 total accepted penalties this season were pre-snap infractions, one of which cost them Jacory "Bill" Croskey-Merritt's long touchdown.

By coming out and admitting that the Seattle performance was "not really up to our standard as an offense," Blough has done two things: he's set the bar after three games, letting his offense know where he stands in that conversation, and he's admitted he's willing to self-scout, which is important for a young coach. While you never want him to dwell on everything, learning from it is the only way he'll improve his game. "I think it's both. I think it certainly starts with me and our unit coaching it. And you can't ever let that standard slip, whether it's in a practice or a prior game," Blough said. "We got to learn from those lessons on the player side as well... we felt it cost us certainly in the first quarter on Bill's long touchdown run. We felt it at other points, and unfortunately, you have to learn those lessons the hard way."

Blough definitely understands and appreciates the mental preparation Marcus Mariota brings to the table, and what that did for Washington against Seattle. He also plans to work Austin Ekeler into the offense, pointing specifically to his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. The lack of production from the tight end unit hasn't escaped Blough either. “From a broad stroke, we'd love them to be more involved in the passing game,” he said, before explaining that each player in the room brings something different.

While three games is not enough for opposing teams to truly know what David Blough's offense will become, it is enough for them to start developing a scouting report. That means the Colts have more information on the Commanders than any other team they've faced this season. Blough's job now is making sure the picture the Colts studied all week isn't exactly the one they see Sunday.

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