Previously quiet Commanders offense seems to have energy again originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Just before stepping out of bounds to complete a 26-yard catch versus the Packers, Curtis Samuel dropped his left shoulder and initiated a collision with Green Bay corner Eric Stokes. As the two spilled over onto the visitors’ sideline, Samuel briefly got into Stokes’ face, which Stokes responded to with a forceful shove.
The official who was closest to that exchange separated the two and then launched a flag up into the FedEx Field air, and for a moment, it was difficult to tell whom the infraction would be called on. Seeing as it was the fourth quarter and Samuel’s grab moved the chains on a third-and-8 for the Commanders, it was a nervous couple of seconds for those associated with Washington.
Well, not everyone was nervous, actually.
“I just was smiling,” Samuel explained on Wednesday. “I know I made a great play, I laughed and I guess he got a little upset. I don’t feel like I did anything. I was innocent.”
Stokes indeed was the player whistled for unsportsmanlike conduct, as Samuel was free to bound back to his huddle unscathed.
For an offense that could very recently be described as hopelessly spiraling, it was a refreshing display of energy — one of many from the Commanders’ win, in fact.
After a two-snap stretch in which he took a handoff for ten yards and hauled in a pass for eight, the usually-reserved Antonio Gibson gestured toward the crowd, cajoling them to make noise. Cam Sims jawed with a member of the Packers after his lone reception of the contest.
And then there’s Terry McLaurin.
McLaurin has always shown passion after particularly clutch sequences, but in Week 7, his fervor was especially high. It was almost as if everyone else in uniform was hydrating with water yet he was chugging a mix of Red Bulls, Monsters and straight caffeine.
Others noticed.
“After that 37-yard touchdown to him, I’ve never seen him so animated,” Taylor Heinicke told the media Wednesday. “He pushed me, he was yelling at me. It was really cool. And then I saw a clip when I got back to my phone where he kept going. He took his helmet off, he was screaming. I was like, ’This is cool man.’
“You never seen that part of Terry. At least I haven’t. When you see Terry like that, that gets everyone juiced, because he’s mostly a calm, collected guy.”
In the club’s previous outing, a 12-7 victory in Chicago, there wasn’t much cause for celebration for the offense. The unit’s lone touchdown came after a muffed punt, so the ensuing scoring drive spanned only six yards. Washington was just 2-of-11 on third down, meanwhile, which miraculously was an improvement from a 1-of-11 performance against Tennessee.
But in their defeat of the Packers, the squad was 7-of-16 on third down, controlled the ball for more than 37 minutes of action and eclipsed the 20-point mark for the first time since Week 2.
Those numbers, plus the presence of the beloved Heinicke at signal-caller and the momentum that comes from winning twice in a row, all helped raise the group’s enthusiasm.
“We were animated this weekend as receivers,” Samuel said, using the same word that Heinicke did above. “We were out there enjoying it, having fun, making plays.”
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What Heinicke lacks physically when compared to Carson Wentz, he makes up for with the credibility and friendships he’s built in the locker room. His always-fully-committed-and-sometimes-frenetic style is what those who share a huddle with him most often compliment, and though he doesn’t intentionally ponder how his approach impacts his peers, he understands that it does.
“I just try and be my authentic self and go out there and play my best ball and if that brings out the best in everybody else, then that’s great,” he said. “I think that sometimes rubs off on people.”
McLaurin is another one of those special guys who can galvanize an entire roster with one highlight or one vocal back-and-forth with an opponent. He won’t initiate the latter, he shared Wednesday, but he will aim to finish them if they begin.
“I’m just me,” McLaurin said. “It’s never calculated, it’s never like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna talk this game, I’m gonna do this this game.'”
These kinds of quotes had been absent for the past month or so, as the Commanders were mired in a losing streak and simply couldn’t produce points.
Now, while tallying 23 points isn’t exactly the stuff of legend, it was enough to get the likes of McLaurin, Samuel and Gibson going — and perhaps that’ll be enough to keep them going, too.
“One of the things y’all got to pay attention to is when one of our guys makes a play, just watch everybody else,” Samuel said. “The excitement we have for each other is amazing.”
