It appeared Lions quarterback Joshua Dobbs had a quick and easy throw to make.
In the first quarter of Saturday’s preseason game against the Commanders, Dobbs looked across the line before the snap and saw seven defenders itching to blitz him, three defensive backs in man-to-man coverage, and a single safety sitting 20 yards back. The math would tell him that getting the ball out fast could lead to a big-yardage play.
But when the center snapped Dobbs the ball, only four of the would-be blitzers rushed. The other three joined defensive back Antonio Hamilton Sr. in zone coverage about 10 yards away, with the remaining three defenders another 10 yards behind them in a deeper zone.
So Dobbs had to improvise. He ran to the right, planted his feet and threw across his body toward the middle of the field, right into the hands of Washington safety Quan Martin.
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That’s the beauty of defensive coordinator Daronte Jones’ scheme: You may think the Commanders are doing one thing, but they’re actually doing something else completely.
And who is to credit for that exceptional pre-snap acting job against Detroit? Denzel Washington.
The Academy Award-winning actor, famously known for playing Coach Herman Boone in the 2000 movie “Remember the Titans,” has no actual connection to the Commanders. He’s never given the team a pep talk or appeared at Northwest Stadium.
But Jones often invokes Washington when teaching his players the importance of disguise. He wants his players to become Hollywood actors, showing one thing (say, all-out blitz), but then switching to something completely different (seven dropping back into coverage) after the snap. Jones constantly tells players to “put your Denzel Washington caps on.”
“I think he’s one of the best actors to ever do it,” Jones said. “And so that was just referencing how we have to sell our disguises, make every look, look the same. That requires putting on our best acting hat.”
Against Detroit, the defense often acted as if they were in a Cover 1 scheme, which meant man coverage for the cornerbacks and one safety providing help over the top. This approach normally makes a defense more susceptible to a long pass. But they were actually in Cover 3, which uses zones rather than man to prevent chunk yardage plays.
There are all kinds of ways to disguise a defense. A cornerback can disguise zone coverage by lining up right on the receiver before backing off at the snap. A safety can rotate from being 20 yards off the ball to playing more like a linebacker. Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, whom Jones worked under from 2023 to 2025, had 322-pound defensive tackle Domonique Orange drop back into coverage last week against the Ravens. It’s all about causing chaos for the opponent.
Disguising coverage isn’t a new phenomenon. But with modern offenses using more shifts, motions and run-pass options to confuse the defenses, disguises can provide a counterpunch that stalls the offense, even just for half a second.
“A lot of the quarterbacks in the league can read coverages,” defensive back Car’lin Vigers said. “But disguising it, making them second guess something, checking into something that they shouldn’t have checked into, it gives us the advantage.”
Not every play is as heavily disguised as the Dobbs interception: Amik Robertson’s strip sack of Dobbs on the second play of Saturday’s game was clearly a cornerback blitz. But for a defense that ranked near the bottom of the league in nearly every category, the returns through two preseason games are promising. The unit has allowed 109.5 passing yards per game, had five sacks and forced five turnovers. Last season, the defense caused just 10 turnovers, second worst in the NFL.
“It shows your high level of IQ,” cornerback Mike Sainristil said of the defense’s ability to confuse the offense. “The more we’re able to do that as a defense, the more plays we’ll get.”
But the “Denzel Washington caps” do more than just expose offenses — they also expose the age gaps within the team.
Jones, 47, was introduced to Washington after his grandfather had him watch 1984’s “A Soldier’s Story.” Jones is also a fan of 1989’s “Glory.” Millennials on the team skew more toward Washington’s early 2000s output like “Remember the Titans” (2000) and “Training Day” (2001). And the younger Gen Zers are most familiar with the “Equalizer” trilogy (2014 to 2023) and “Fences” (2016).
“Denzel got a whole lot of movies, and it’s crazy I’m on the spot and just can’t even think of them,” the 26-year-old Vigers said when asked about his favorite Washington flick.
Jones wouldn’t be shocked by that admission.
“Most of them are probably so young they don’t even know who Denzel is,” he said with a tone of defeat.
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