The Washington Commanders have a “kind of stunning” plan for when they see former offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury during Week 9’s matchup against the Los Angeles Rams. It’s a plan that could spell trouble for Rams’ quarterback, reigning NFL MVP Matthew Stafford, and it’ll certainly test how much influence Kingsbury has on head coach Sean McVay’s staff.
Kingsbury looked like he got the better end of the deal after being ditched by the Commanders this offseason. He landed as assistant head coach with the Rams, many people’s pick as would-be Super Bowl champions.
Things haven’t played out that way, largely because the offense Kingsbury is part of designing around Stafford has a fatal flaw. It’s a vulnerability Commanders’ defensive coordinator Daronte Jones can exploit at Northwest Stadium on Sunday, November 8.
Commanders Have Perfect Answer to Matthew Stafford, Rams
Jones’ likely strategy was laid out by ESPN’s Mina Kimes. Speaking on “The Mina Kimes Show,” she told former NFL defensive back Domonique Foxworth to “be prepared for them (Commanders) to blitz Matthew Stafford when he’s under center.”
Kimes based this on how “the team that blitzes the most versus under center in the NFL is the Vikings, who do it like, 80 percent of the time or something stupid. The Commanders do it 71 percent of the time, which is like kind of stunning, until you remember that their defensive coordinator comes from the Brian Flores tree.”
Jones’ experience as an assistant to niche blitz designer Flores is showing up more and more in how the Commanders play defense. Notably, during the 27-10 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 8.
Washington’s defense had 10 pressures and a sack on 12 blitzes against the Eagles. That pressure rate, 83.3%, is the second-highest by any defense in a game this season (min. 5 blitzes), per Last Man Standig writer and host Ben Standig, citing Next Gen Stats.
This Flores-style influence is why Kimes “would be very surprised if they (Commanders) don’t send pressure when he’s (Stafford) under center.” Kimes also pointed out how “we saw Denver really blow up their (Rams) gameplan” by blitzing under-center Stafford.
The Denver Broncos blitzed Stafford 21 times during a 30-26 win in Week 3, per Pro Football Reference. Stafford was sacked four times, hit 10 more and pressured on 25 percent of his dropbacks.
Those numbers are incentive enough for Jones to send the heat this week. The Rams’ answer could involve Stafford “not going under center as much as you normally do,” according to Kimes.
Kingsbury would surely be influence that change.
Kliff Kingsbury Approach Could Haunt Former Team
Kingsbury was let go partly because his shotgun offense had become predictable. He was removed to make way for new play-caller David Blough’s under-center schemes.
The irony is the shift away from Kingsbury’s methods hasn’t yielded spectacular results. Particularly for franchise quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Instead, as Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic pointed out, “Daniels has yet to display the same comfort in Blough’s system that he seemed to instantly find in Kingsbury’s offense, which was intentionally built around some of the same concepts and formations Daniels was accustomed to in college.”
Blough is trying to accelerate the change. He’s increased “under-center formations to 28.1 percent of dropbacks, up from an average of 10.9 percent over the previous two seasons. And their use of no-huddle has plummeted to only 8.2 percent this season, down from their league-high 61.2 percent from 2024 to ‘25, according to TruMedia.”
It would be ironic if the old Kingsbury formula came back to haunt the Commanders this week. He and ex-Washington passing game coordinator Brian Johnson occupy senior positions on the Rams’ staff, but McVay runs the show.
That’s meant heavy doses of under-center formations. Jones is ready to attack this familiar staple and undermine Stafford.
Unless McVay lets Kingsbury spoil the Commanders’ party.
Commanders Have ‘Stunning’ Plan for Kliff Kingsbury, Rams