Sunday’s 38-31 loss to Philadelphia delivered equal parts encouragement and aggravation to the Washington Commanders fan base.
For the second time in five weeks, they played the reigning NFC champs to a one-possession game, but for the second time this fall, they let a double-digit first-half lead evaporate.
We saw last year’s first round pick Jahan Dotson emerge for his best game of the season while this year’s first-rounder Emmanuel Forbes got roasted multiple times while playing minimal snaps.
And though they’re just one game out of the NFC’s third Wild Card (thank you, NFL playoff expansion), this team is five or six plays away from being 0-8.
Because of the nature of the sport, the NFL trading deadline is not as active as other sports, as it’s much more difficult to integrate new players into offensive or defensive systems. But as we reach the deadline (4 p.m. ET Tuesday), the Commanders must make decisions on a few players, especially defensive linemen Montez Sweat and Chase Young.
Does the current front office think big picture and try to help the Commanders of 2024 and beyond by gathering draft capital? Or do they try to grind out a playoff season in the short term? Hindsight will curse them either way.
Howell About That: Quarterback Sam Howell threw for 392 yards! He needed 39 completions on 52 attempts to do so. He threw four touchdown passes! He also tossed a fourth-quarter interception and lost a fumble on a fourth-down sack in the final period. That was the only sack he took that day after being dropped an average of 5.7 times over the first seven weeks. He’s on pace for 4,560 yards, but Howell’s eight interceptions currently lead the league.
Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood: Quality instead of quantity? The good news is running back Brian Robinson Jr. averaged 5.9 yards per carry. The bad news is he only had 10 attempts on the afternoon. As a team, the Burgundy and Gold averaged 5.3 yards on 16 carries, and that was with the team leading for multiple stretches and not in a constant catch-up mode that necessitated passing on every down.
Pass Catch Fever: Jahan Dotson enjoyed a breakout afternoon, recording eight catches for 108 yards and a touchdown. That’s 27% of his catches and 37% of his yardage this fall coming in one game. Jamison Crowder also had a big day with seven catches for 95 yards and a score. Terry McLaurin took a back seat and a TD while Curtis Samuel added four grabs with 22 yards. Logan Thomas provided a solid threat at tight end with six catches for 44 yards and a touchdown.
Hold the Line: Major props to a revamped OL that allowed a season-low one sack. Let’s see if they can put consecutive efforts together.
Third and … who is this team? Washington moved the chains on 7 of 12 attempts after going 3 of 25 the previous two weeks. Howell completed 7 of 9 passes with four conversions while scrambling for a first down and making the needed distance on a designed run. Robinson gained two yards on a third and one. His top target? Lane Thomas caught all four passes thrown his way for two conversions. Yardage breakdown: 2-2 on third and short, 3-6 when needing four to six yards, and 2-4 on third and long. Better than the 58% conversion percentage: eight of 12 third downs saw the team needing fewer than seven yards. For the season: 9-17, 10-24, 12-57.
D earns a C: After allowing 30 points the previous two weeks, Washington coughed up 30+ points for the fifth time in eight games. Philly converted 8-13 third downs (and, on one of their misses bounced back to convert a fourth down). Once again AJ Brown tore through the secondary like a blowtorch through butter, this time making eight catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns (he had 9-175 for two in the week four win). For a unit with a ton of high draft picks, this crew is allowing the second most points per game in the NFL — not acceptable from an assets allocation standpoint. Two fumble recoveries inside the red zone kept this from being a failing week while also prevented the Eagles from reaching the half-century. David Mayo notched nine tackles while Casey Toohill and Montez Sweat each posted a sack.
Special Situations: Tress Way averaged 48 yards on his two punts while Joey Slye stole the spotlight with a 61 yard field goal. He also converted all four extra points and his only kickoff that wasn’t a touchback was a squib to end the first half. Antonio Gibson returned one kickoff for 27 yards while Jamison Crowder had an 11-yard punt return. Punt coverage allowed a 25-yard return that put the Eagles at midfield in the third quarter, jump-starting their touchdown drive that tied the game 17-all.
Flying Flags: Making up for lost time? The team’s committed 17 accepted penalties the last two weeks after being penalized 32 times over the first six games. Sunday, Washington was whistled nine times with Philadelphia accepting seven of those penalties. Five were on offense (low block, grounding, illegal contact, ineligible receiver downfield and unnecessary roughness), four were on defense (neutral zone infraction, illegal use of the hands, pass interference and illegal contact), and one was on special teams (false start). Benjamin St. Juste was the only multiple offender, and both fouls were on the same play: illegal use of the hands and pass interference. Most common infraction? A tie between false starts and offensive/special teams holding (nine apiece). Player who should be cautious? Andrew Wylie has a team-high four penalties. Most costly penalty Sunday? Actually, two that happened on back to back snaps: Sam Cosmi’s ineligible receiver downfield turned a 3rd & 4 into a 2nd & 15, a play where Howell was intercepted. On the return, John Bates was flagged for unnecessary roughness, moving the ball from the Washington 15 to the seven. Philadelphia took the lead for good on a touchdown two plays later.
Digesting the Division: Philadelphia (7-1) remains in first place and owns the top seed in the NFC. Dallas (5-2) is in second place of the division and holds the second Wild Card and No. 5 seed. Washington (3-5) is in third place of the division and in 11th place of the conference thanks to an overtime loss by the last-place New York Giants (2-6) who hold the tiebreaker with the Burgundy & Gold.
Comparing the Quartets and Conferences: The AFC North owns the best composite mark at 18-11, with the NFC and AFC Easts (17-14) not too far behind. The NFC South is currently in last place with a 12-18 record, although Carolina is finally in the win column. The AFC owns a 26-17 lead in the inter-conference competition.
In the Booth: Chris Myers and Mark Schlereth returned to FedEx Field (FOX scrambles its pairs when Joe Davis is doing the World Series) as the No. 3 team drew Philly-Washington. Next week’s game with New England feels like the third or fourth best matchup on the FOX menu (Andrew Catalon & crew breathing a sigh of relief). I was somewhat surprised that the NFL had every team playing this weekend, interrupting its rhythm of bye weeks. Especially with no 9:30 a.m. games to pull inventory away from the main windows.
