Once again the Commanders came up short despite playing up to the level of a superior foe. Sunday’s 29-26 loss at Seattle served up the meal we’ve eaten just about every week (with the exception of the Buffalo loss), where Washington has played to the level of its opponent.
And despite beginning the day with the bang of a 51-yard touchdown pass to Brian Robinson Jr. on the first drive and ending with a 35-yard strike to Dyami Brown for a game-tying score with under a minute to play, there wasn’t enough quality play over the four quarters to sustain a victory. While there are still seven chances for this team to prove it belongs in the postseason party, the more one sees of this club, the more one realizes that no matter the record, they belong on the outside looking in.
Howell About That. Sam threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns, giving the second-year pro the NFL lead in passing yards (2,783), although that comes with the provision that he’s played one more game than Jared Goff, Tua Tagovailoa and rookie C.J. Stroud (who all have a higher average-passing-yards-per-game stat). But once again, when faced with the need to lead this team down the field late, he did so with flying colors.
Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood. We’ll always have that 18-carry day at New England, right? Brian ran the ball eight times for 38 yards, while Antonio Gibson added 13 yards on four carries. The duo was much more dangerous in the passing game, with Robinson catching six passes for 119 yards (including a 51-yard touchdown on the team’s opening drive) and Gibson making five catches for 42 yards and a score.
Pass Catch Fever. Terry McLaurin tallied four receptions for 33 yards, while Dyami Brown made two catches for 41 yards and a touchdown. Curtis Samuel came back from injury to make two catches for 6 yards and Jahan Dotson had a pair of targets, but no receptions. The tight end position made eight catches on eight targets for 61 yards.
Third and Encouraging. Washington converted 7-15 attempts with 14 passes and one run (a quarterback keeper by Howell that moved the chains). Howell completed 9-12 passes for six conversions while getting sacked twice. The top option: Antonio Gibson caught three of his four targets for one conversion while Dyami Brown and Logan Thomas each generated a pair of first downs on two targets caught. Yardage breakdown: 5-7 short-yardage, 1-2 when needing 4 to 6 yards, 1-6 long-yardage. For the season: 18-30 (60%), 11-29 (38%), 18-71 (25%). Proof that the best work on third down often happens on first and second.
Case for the Defense. Bending but not breaking? They held Seattle to 4-14 on third down and forced them into settling for five field goals. But when it mattered most in the second half, the Commanders allowed points the last three times they took to the field, giving up 180 yards on 28 plays. Case in point: Seattle went 1-6 on third down in the second half, but the team’s lone conversion was on the final drive of the day that set up the game-winning field goal. Jamin Davis tallied 11 tackles while Kam Curl added 10 stops and Jonathan Allen posted the team’s lone sack. After 10 weeks, the D ranks 21st against the run, 29th against the pass and overall, while allowing the second-most points per game in the NFL.
Special Situations. Tress Way averaged 45.4 yards on five punts. Joey Slye missed an extra point but converted field goals of 47 and 49 yards while all six of his kickoffs went for touchbacks. Jamison Crowder had punt returns of one and eight yards while Antonio Gibson returned the opening kickoff 33 yards (and had returns of 23, 24, 26 and 27 yards) to help set up the first drive. Punt coverage allowed returns of five and nine yards.
Flying Flags. Six penalties for 39 yards this week, with five coming on defense that includes a “rounding up” disqualification call on Emmanuel Forbes in the first quarter. It didn’t look like it merited a DQ, but things look different on TV. And replay from multiple angles indicate that Benjamin St. Juste was the multiple offender with a face mask and pass interference penalty, giving him five flags for the season which ties the defensive back with Charles Leno for the team lead. Leno’s false start Sunday makes that penalty the most common infraction with 11 after 10 games. Most costly penalty? Actually, there was a sequence in the fourth quarter where St. Juste’s pass interference kept a Seahawks drive alive, too many men on the field gave Seattle a first and five at the Washington 28, and St. Juste’s face mask turned a second and six from the eight into a first and goal at the four (they’d score two plays later). When it rains in Seattle, it pours.
Digesting the Division. Philadelphia (8-1) enjoyed its bye atop the division and the NFC. The Eagles face Kansas City in a Super Bowl rematch next Monday night. Dallas (6-3) wishes it could face the New York Giants more often (45-9 the average score of their sweep this year) and is in second place, while holding the second Wild Card and No. 6 seed (losing the conference record tiebreaker with Seattle). Washington (4-6) is in ninth place in the NFC thanks to its win over Atlanta while the New York Giants (2-8) are 14th due to their week three win at Arizona.
Comparing the Quartets & Interconference Contest. The AFC North owns the best composite record at 24-13, with all four teams boasting winning marks over halfway through the season. The NFC South doesn’t have a team with a winning record and those four teams are a combined 14-24. The NFC East? Third best at 20-18. The AFC currently leads the NFC 32-21 with 27 games left between the two conferences this season.
In the Booth. Washington drew the No. 4 team from FOX, no surprise with the 4:25 kickoff and the Cowboys-Giants being the obvious No. 1 game of the week. In a non-doubleheader Week 11, I’ll be intrigued to see where Burkhardt-Olsen go this week: Dallas-Carolina at 1 p.m. or Tampa Bay-San Francisco at 4? Regardless, I see the Amin-Schlereth duo doing Commanders-Giants.
