Seriously, did you expect anything else from this team other than a thrilling ending?
Sunday was made for multiple TVs as the Commanders were chasing down the No. 6 seed in the NFC. For those fortunate enough to have Washington’s game at Dallas side-by-side with Green Bay hosting Chicago, one got to enjoy a roller coaster afternoon.
The action ended with the Bears making a game-winning field goal right before Marcus Mariota’s touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin gave the Commanders the lead for good in a 23-19 victory over the Cowboys.
Should one be concerned that eight of Washington’s 12 wins (including the last four) have been one-possession affairs? Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels sat out the second half of the game. How “sore” is his leg? Can the magic continue? That’s the beauty with the 2024 team, as the dream continues for at least one more week.
First Down: Washington’s opponent was decided a few hours later as the Los Angeles Rams fell to Seattle 30-25. That, coupled with Tampa Bay’s win over New Orleans, gave the Buccaneers the No. 3 seed.
And while the Commanders have won five straight, the Bucs have taken six of seven. They also beat Washington in week one’s game 37-20. But it wasn’t as close as the score looked (for the record, the Buccaneers scored on seven of their first eight possessions and held the Commanders to 2-8 on third down).
But in a league where Thanksgiving feels like a lifetime ago, September is ancient history. Unless the issues that plagued the Burgundy and Gold that day resurface.
Second Down: Washington can still host a playoff game, but only if the Commanders and Green Bay both win twice on the road. And the only way they face Philadelphia in the playoffs if both advance to the NFC Championship Game.
Tying up other loose ends, the NFC North (45-23) posts the best record of the eight divisions, while the AFC South (25-43) is the division of depression and it’s no shock the two were matched up this season (NFC North winning 14 of 16 games). The NFC dominated interconference play, going 47-33.
Third Down: Washington moved the chains on 6 of 13 attempts with the lone designed run (a carry by Jayden Daniels) converting. Daniels in the first half completed 1 of 3 passes for zero conversions while getting sacked twice. He scrambled for a first down as well.
Marcus Mariota completed all four of his third down passes for four conversions while getting sacked once and being held short of the marker on a scramble. The top option? Terry McLaurin caught two of the three passes thrown his way for two conversions.
Yardage breakdown: 3-6 on third and short, 2-3 when needing four to six yards, and 1-4 on third and long. Defensively, they held Dallas to 7-17 on the money down, and they next face a Tampa Bay offense (50.9%) that led the NFL in third down conversion rate.
Flag on the Play: Just five accepted penalties for 55 yards (with a hold on Nick Allegretti being declined). Allegretti was whistled for a false start, one of two penalties against the offense (John Bates’ hold in the first half put them in a 1st and 20 crater they wouldn’t crawl out of).
Two penalties were on the defense, both on Benjamin St-Juste (defensive holding and pass interference) that helped along the first touchdown drive for the Cowboys. The special teams flag was unnecessary roughness on a made field goal by Daron Payne that simply adjusted where Dallas would kick off from.
For the season, the three most-called penalties against Washington were offensive holding (21), false start (19), and defensive pass interference (19).
Sam Cosmi (11) had the most accepted penalties while Benjamin St-Juste finished a close second with nine. And St-Juste’s pass interference was the most costly flag, turning a third and 13 from the Washington 21 into a first and goal from the one.
Fourth Down: After having the No. 3 team of Adam Amin and Mark Sanchez announce their season finale, Washington gets the prime time slot for the second time in three weeks with Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth in the booth. This will be the duo’s second Commanders game this season.
Who announced the most Washington games this fall? Chris Myers and Greg Olsen each called three games, but none were together (Myers worked with Mark Schlereth and Mark Sanchez this fall, while Olsen’s Washington games were with Joe Davis and Jason Bennetti).
Meaning if you were watching Washington on a Sunday afternoon, there was almost a 50% chance you were seeing Myers or Olsen in the booth.
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