When will we ever learn? The Commanders had an opportunity to crawl back toward the playoff pack thanks to a schedule that had a last place team starting an undrafted rookie quarterback come to their stadium. Unfortunately, the team turned in another stinker, although slightly different in stench from the prime-time meltdown to Chicago or the suffering in the swamp at the Giants.
The 31-19 loss to the New York Giants saw the Commanders turn the ball over on their first two possessions, finishing with six giveaways that led to 24 points (including the game-sealing pick six, with under a minute left in the fourth quarter).
Before one gets bent out of shape about how Washington has played down to their woeful opponents this fall, perhaps one should rationalize that the sad-sack Commanders are one of the NFL’s woeful clubs. A loss Thursday eliminates them from the NFC East race and they’re a two-game slide away from securing a seventh straight nonwinning season. Bring on the regime change we thought was necessary in early October, and let’s see which players on rookie deals they want to keep around as building blocks after the season ends.
Howell about that?
Sam Howell threw for 255 yards and a touchdown while running for the team’s other score. He also had a pair of scrambles on third down to keep drives alive. But the second-year player also threw three interceptions, including a pick-six at the end of regulation. He also had another pass almost intercepted and was sacked four times. And while Howell leads the league in quantity (3,038 passing yards is first in the NFL), he’s in the middle of the pack where quality is concerned (his 88.6 passer rating is ranked 19th, right behind Tommy DeVito and right ahead of Andy Dalton).
Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood
Brian Robinson gained 73 yards on 17 carries while catching seven passes for 58 yards, putting the second-year pro on pace for 862 yards rushing plus 42 catches for 485 yards and a combined 13 touchdowns.
Chris Rodriguez filled in for the injured Antonio Gibson and added 43 yards on six tries plus one catch. The 174 yards rushing Sunday represents a season-high, always encouraging as the weather begins to turn.
Pass catch fever
Logan Thomas tallied five catches for 58 yards but lost a fumble. Terry McLaurin made five receptions for 43 yards, giving him 149 yards receiving over three games in November. Jahan Dotson caught three passes for 23 yards, which isn’t awesome but still better than last week’s goose egg in Seattle. Curtis Samuel? One catch for five yards before a late first half scuffle ejected the wide receiver.
Third and not enough
Washington moved the chains on 5-13 attempts with 11 pass plays and two running plays called. Howell completed 5-8 passes with a pair of conversions, scrambling twice to move the chains while getting sacked once. His top option? Jamison Crowder caught both of his targets for one conversion while the other helped generate a shorter field goal attempt.
The two runs saw Brian Robinson come up short while Chris Rodriguez ripped off a 16-yard gain (he’d fumble on the next play though).
Yardage breakdown: 5-7 on short-yardage, 0-1 when needing four to six yards, 0-5 on long-yardage. Season breakdown: 23-37 (62%), 11-30 (37%), 18-76 (24%).
Defensively deficient
Tommy DeVito is an undrafted rookie who still lives with his parents (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Washington sacked him nine times (most in a game this year for a unit that had combined for seven sacks over the previous four weeks). He responded by scorching the secondary for 189 yards in the first half and had third down completions of 21, 24, and 40 yards before intermission.
The guy who shares a name with a Four Seasons member and Goodfellas character threw three touchdown passes against a defense that now ranks 30th against the pass and coughs up the most points per game in the league.
The D coughed up plays of 26 and 36 on the Giants’ only touchdown drive of the second half and it seemed as though the Giants had receivers suddenly appear wide open in the secondary multiple times. For perspective, this Giants offense has averaged 22.5 points against Washington and 12 points in its other nine games. Another bitter pill to swallow.
Special situations
Joey Slye missed one of his two extra points but kicked field goals of 23 and 42 yards while all five of his kickoffs were touchbacks. Tress Way averaged 45 yards on his two punts and punt coverage allowed returns of seven and nine yards. Jamison Crowder’s long punt return of the day was three yards while Bryan Pringle had kickoff returns of 37 and 40 yards (the 37-yarder was fumbled but the Giants went three-and-out).
Flying flags
Just one accepted penalty for five yards, a false start on Charles Leno. The false start was Leno’s team-high sixth flag of the season, with false starts (12) being the most common infraction this fall. Unfortunately, the lone penalty of the day proved somewhat costly after happening with under a minute left in regulation, forcing the Commanders to burn their final timeout of the day with 29 seconds left in regulation. On the very next play, Howell threw the defeat-sealing pick six.
Digesting the division
Philadelphia (9-1) enjoys a two-game cushion after their win on Monday Night Football, owning the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Dallas (7-3) is in second place and has the No. 5 seed as the top Wild Card team. Washington (4-7) currently stands in 12th place of the NFC while the New York Giants (3-8) are one spot back in 13th (thanks to a better conference record than Chicago).
Comparing the quartets
The AFC North even after a weekend playing each other remains the best of the bunch with a 26-15 composite record, although Cincinnati and Cleveland minus their starting quarterbacks for the rest of the season might fade out of playoff contention down the stretch. Philadelphia’s win over Kansas City gives the NFC East (23-19) the second-best mark, while the NFC South (14-26) lost both of its games to stay at the bottom of the barrel. Philly’s win cuts into the AFC’s margin, trimming their interconference lead to 34-23.
In the booth
Kenny Albert and Jonathan Vilma announced their first Commanders game of the season for FOX. Didn’t it used to feel like Kenny was on the mic for at least five games a year back in the day? Thursday’s Thanksgiving game means national TV, and we’ll get to see Jim Nantz & Tony Romo break this one down. Pass the stuffing.
