Washington Commanders, The Real Deal? A die-hard’s opinion.

By Sebastian Perez-Navarro

The Washington Commanders have been one of the NFL’s darlings this season. Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels has topped league jersey sales charts thanks to his stellar performances and calm demeanor as depicted by his wholesome grins on the sidelines. His staff is hungry to prove themselves to the league, especially head coach Dan Quinn, who is on a journey to rid himself of the ghosts haunting him from the Falcons' Super Bowl collapse against the Patriots (2017).

Washington was well on their way to prove themselves as a true contender, but they were scooped up and dropped on their helmets by division rival Philadelphia Eagles, losing 26-18 on Thursday in front of the whole nation.

As a result of the team’s ambition, and lack of pressure, Washington raced to a 7-2 start, they’re best since 1996. Sports pundits were referring to the Commanders as playoff dark horses, or even Super Bowl contenders, and who could blame them? After all, the team this season has put up 40 or more points in two out of their first nine games, a point tally in which Washington hasn’t reached since facing the 2020 Dak less Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving, COVID edition.

Daniels has been a phenomenal rookie, propelling the Commander’s to having the fourth best offense in the NFL, a far cry from sitting at 24th place, the position in which Washington sat in last season. On the coach’s side, Dan Quinn made a strong move by promoting former Cowboy secondary/ defensive passing game coordinator Joe Whitt Jr to defensive coordinator for the Commanders. In his new job, Whitt Jr turned a defense which ranked dead last in the NFL last year to a unit who stands a solid fourteenth place in the league.

The stars were being aligned, for the first time in my lifetime the Commanders looked like a team that deserved to have media attention. Running backs Brain Robinson Jr and Austin Ekeler, who was a free agent acquired in the off season, are grubbing on the gridiron with nearly 800 yards combined. Pair a strong running game with a wide receiver core who takes pressure off the $69 million receiver Terry McLaurin, and you have what seems to be a complete offense.

But only two weeks later and Washington now has its first two game losing streak of the season. That stout offense failed to hold on to a 24-14 third quarter lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers and put up a goose egg in the second half of their primetime bout with the NFC East’s first place team, the Philadelphia Eagles. Washington’s defense hasn’t fared any better, failing to put game’s away and struggling to avoid mistakes.

Against Pittsburgh, the Commanders let Wilson throw the long ball as he pleased and were plagued by rookie defensive tackle Jez’har “Johnny” Newton’s neutral zone infraction on fourth down. This week the story was letting Saquon Barkley run all over Washington with 146 yards and two touchdowns.

So, what in the world happened? In the past two weeks Washington has reverted back into the team that fans expect. The offense has been stagnant, failing to capitalize in the big moments with Jayden Daniels looking less like Captain America and more like Steve Rogers before the serum, and the defense is just fatigued in late game moments.

Commander fans know how the story ends thanks to some brutal lessons of the past, which is why I held a firm refusal to believe in Washington’s hype until the Wonder in Washington — or you may know it as the Hail Mary against Chicago. Most of that newfound belief left right when Quinn decided to go for a fourth and two in the last quarter when a field goal would’ve given the Commanders a lead.

Despite Washington’s struggles, a critical perspective provides that the Commander’s two game slump isn't catastrophic as “Olympus has fallen”. Both Pittsburgh and Philly have strong defensive units that stand inside the league's top 10, with the Eagles claiming the number two spot on ESPN’s ranking.

Philly’s defense was dominant on Thursday, sacking Daniels a total of three times, with 8 tackles for losses against the Commanders all together. The rookie quarterback for the first time all season had nowhere to scramble, and despite going through his progressions, the Eagles’ defensive scheme simply left no one opening, reducing Washington to rely on a run game that couldn’t even put up 100 yards as a team.

What the Commander’s primetime loss shows the NFL is that Washington simply isn’t ready. They’re the eight youngest team in the NFL, and don’t hold the necessary experience to beat teams who have made deep playoff runs like the Baltimore Ravens, or quarterbacks that have played in super bowls such as Jalen Hurts.

Where Washington needs to improve upon is staying within the game. Don’t let the 26-18 score fool you, the Eagles dominated the Commanders in the fourth quarter and never looked back. The Washington defense needs to put the dominance of the offense in the past, because ahead of them is another round with Philadelphia, two games with Dallas, and a showdown with a Falcons team who balances from super bowl contender to a fringe playoff team. The only gimme game’s that the Commanders have are a week 13 showdown with the 2-7 Tennessee Titans, and a week 15 matchup with the 3-7, newly led New Orleans Saints.

All of the Commander’s losses this year have been to teams with a winning record. To end the season, two out of their last three opponents are currently above .500 and lead their division.

Color Commentator for Amazon Prime Video, Kirk Herbstreit said it best on the call Thursday night, “You wanna play with the big boys, you have to finish these games off.” We’ll learn if Washington is fit to be in the contender conversation as they try to punch their ticket to the playoffs, with a slim chance at the NFC East Crown.