The Daily Slop – 30 September 2026
Editor’s note: Each day, Hogs Haven compiles a collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders, the NFC East, the NFL and sports in general, with a sprinkling of other stuff. Enjoy!
Commanders links
Articles
ESPN
Guard Sam Cosmi, safety Nick Cross out for London game vs. Colts
Guard Sam Cosmi and safety Nick Cross did not travel with the team to London on Tuesday night for their Week 4 game against the Colts.
Both were considered long shots to make the trip; each was hurt in Week 2 at Dallas. Cosmi suffered a concussion late in the 37-20 loss while Cross played despite an injury the team has described as “internal” but needed to have surgery after the game and stayed overnight at a hospital in Dallas.
With Cosmi once again sidelined, Nick Allegretti is expected to start at right guard with veteran Lucas Patrick at center. Patrick, signed after Week 1, left Sunday’s win with a boot on his left foot. He missed four snaps during the game because of an ankle injury.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
A to Z Sports
Austin Ekeler returns and brings a lot to the table
Ekeler is known throughout the NFL as a strong leader in the locker room. He’s the type of player who contributes when he sees the field, regardless of snap count or role.
A depth move with stretch-run implications
This signing looks like a depth play on the surface, and it is one. But adding a player with Ekeler’s résumé and reputation carries weight beyond the stat sheet. Washington is building a backfield that can hold up over the course of a full season, and a veteran who understands his role and executes it well is exactly the kind of addition that pays off in December & January.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Riggo’s Rag
Charles Snowden signing could give Commanders timely help beyond the edge
Snowden has a lot of good football left at 28. He was an asset for the Las Vegas Raiders last season, recording three sacks, 28 tackles, two pass breakups, and an interception on 32 percent of the team’s defensive snaps.
Those are decent numbers, but an injury ended any hopes of the Virginia product making the Dallas Cowboys’ roster this summer.
Now, the Commanders are giving him a chance.
But there are concerns.
Snowden was suspended for the first three games of the 2026 campaign following a DUI. He is eligible to return this weekend, but that may be too soon for the Commanders. But if he fits in well over the coming days, the Silver Spring native might get elevated for Washington’s crunch divisional clash against the New York Giants in Week 5.
At 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds, Snowden has the size and length to make an impact. He sets a clean edge against the run and flashes explosiveness as a pass-rusher. But looking at the options available, the Commanders wouldn’t need him to be anything more than a complementary piece.
Odafe Oweh, K’Lavon Chaisson, and Dorance Armstrong Jr. lead the charge. Rookie fifth-rounder Joshua Josephs has also shown early promise, but the team may need him more at linebacker moving forward after Leo Chenal suffered a fractured neck that required season-ending surgery.
The Commanders aren’t losing much by finding out for sure what Snowden could offer.
And in all honesty, no team can ever have enough good players on the defensive front seven.
To read more of this Riggo’s Rag article, CLICK HERE
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Sports Illlustrated
10 NFL Rookies Who Turned Heads and Totally Stole the Spotlight in Week 3
Sonny Styles, LB, Washington Commanders
Washington Commanders rookie linebacker Sonny Styles was everywhere in the team’s upset win over the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. On one particularly impressive rep, he matched Jadarian Price stride-for-stride on a wheel route and registered a pass breakup. Styles also intercepted a tipped ball, and forced a fumble in the first quarter that was recovered by a teammate. He looked like a Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Last Man Standig
Sonny Styles has the green dot; should the Commanders take it back?
What’s the plan if Frankie Luvu returns?
I don’t mean whether Luvu returns to the starting lineup. That’s obvious — and quite good timing considering Washington’s linebacker depth has taken another hit with Leo Chenal’s neck injury. I’m talking about the green dot. Luvu handled those responsibilities in Week 1, and throughout the spring and summer. Styles took over the past two weeks after Luvu went down with a groin injury, while displaying the athletic gifts we saw at Ohio State and the NFL Scouting Combine.
To be clear, we’ve probably made too big a deal about the green dot at times. Having it means receiving the defensive call and communicating it to teammates. That’s important. It also frequently falls to a linebacker because of his position in the middle of the defense, not because the coaching staff has identified him as its resident Mensa member. But the circumstances make this particular decision interesting.
We now know Styles can handle it.
For more from Ben Standig, click here
Bullock’s Film Room (subscription)
Commanders Film Review: Sonny Styles vs Seahawks
[A]gainst the Seahawks, Chenal left the game with a devastating neck injury that requires surgery and will see him out for the rest of the season. With Luvu still out, Styles was partnered by second year linebacker Kain Medrano, who hadn’t played a snap on defense in his NFL career prior to this game.
Suddenly Styles was the experienced linebacker in the middle and fully responsible not just for relaying the plays from Daronte Jones, but making the adjustments at the line of scrimmage too. That’s a huge task to put on a rookie linebacker, especially considering the opposition. The Seahawks are the defending Super Bowl champions. Their offense is full of misdirection with multiple tight end sets, the ability to move star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba all over the field, and a heavy dose of play-action passes and bootlegs.
It’s a lot to figure out mentally before the ball is even snapped, but despite all that, Styles put in his most impressive performance of the season so far. He was outstanding in coverage, intercepting a pass and breaking up another. He generated some effective pressure when blitzing and his run defense was solid too. So let’s break down his performance, starting with the highlights in coverage.
The Athletic (paywall)
Commanders first 3 games revealed what’s working, what still needs work
[P]er TruMedia, the Commanders have given up the third-fewest rushing yards per game (82.0). They also boast the lowest rate of first downs on opponent runs (15.6 percent), have the second-highest rate of opponent runs for zero or negative yards (28.1 percent) and are one of only five teams to not give up a rushing touchdown.
Eagles running back Saquon Barkley averaged 136.5 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in his four previous meetings with the Commanders (including the playoffs). But in the season opener, he totaled only 83 yards — 42 of which came on one run. He had four negative-yard rushes.
In Week 3, the Commanders gave up only 44 rushing yards to the Seahawks, only the second time since the start of the 2023 season that they allowed fewer than 50 in a game.
The biggest differences this season? The Commanders have given up only 2.9 yards per run on first and second downs, compared to 4.9 and 4.8 yards in 2025 and ‘24, respectively. They’ve also gotten to opposing rushers quickly, hitting them at or behind the line of scrimmage on 56.3 percent of their runs to yield only 0.61 yards before contact per rush.
Lucas Patrick at center
The 10-year veteran signed with the Commanders on Sept. 16 and was thrust into the starting lineup 11 days later as Mariota’s center.
Guard Sam Cosmi was out with a concussion, so instead of turning to rookie Matt Gulbin or elevating Julian Good-Jones from the practice squad, the Commanders put Patrick at center and shifted Nick Allegretti to right guard.
Patrick fought through an ankle injury to play 65 of the team’s 69 offensive snaps, and allowed two pressures and zero sacks.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Sports Illustrated
With Leo Chenal out for the season, Jonathan Taylor presents the next challenge in London
Rookie Sonny Styles played in all 67 defensive snaps last week,while Kain Medrano played 44 of 67 defense snaps after Chenal’s injury. The team may have to lean heavily on the two again if Luvu can’t play Sunday.
Washington faces an opponent Sunday who has had a lot of success on the ground so far, with the Colts averaging 103.3 yards a game and Jonathan Taylor rushing for 258 yards and four rushing touchdowns on 66 carries through three games. That total includes 98 yards against Baltimore and 92 yards and two touchdowns against Kansas City. Taylor also has nine receptions for 67 yards, bringing his total yards from scrimmage to 325.
While the passing defense has been a problem that opposing offenses have teed off on because of obvious communication issues, that shouldn’t take away from the success they found facing the rush. It’s also only been three games. Sunday will present the defense with another challenge: stopping Jonathan Taylor without one of the players specifically brought in to help establish it.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Photos
Podcasts & videos
K’Lavon Chaisson Mic’d Up For The Home Opener Win vs. Seattle | Washington Commanders
NFC East links
NBC Sports
Roob’s Eagles Stats: Proceed at your own risk
I do this weekly Eagles stats piece and even when they lose I try to load it up with enough positive stats to keep things fun. Nobody wants to read 10 negative stats.
But this game? The Eagles had no interceptions, no sacks, no big performances on offense, nothing notable at all from a stats perspective.
This was a big fat giant steaming pile of blech.
So we’re stuck with a weekly Roob’s Stats that is really just going to emphasize how bad the Eagles played Monday night. Sorry, but it’s all I got. I can make stats say almost anything. But I can’t make them say the Eagles played well. Not this week.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Blogging the Boys/dallascowboys.com
Brian Schottenheimer takes the blame for Week 3 loss
After Sunday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens, head coach Brian Schottenheimer faced criticism for controversial calls in the last 28 seconds of the game.
From a strange third-down throwaway pass in scoring position to a kickoff out of the endzone that left the defense exposed and set up the Ravens’ win, Schottenheimer addressed it all during his Tuesday press conference.
To read more of the dallascowboys.com article, CLICK HERE
Big Blue View
NY Giants’ pass rush must be better, but that is easier said than done
The New York Giants have one quarterback sack in three games, 31st in the NFL. Their 1% sack rate and 25.7% quarterback pressure rate are also 31st. Thank goodness for the Miami Dolphins, the only team below them in all of those categories.
The pass rush, led by edge defenders Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, and Kayvon Thibodeaux, and supplemented by athletic inside linebackers as well as defensive backs capable of blitzing, was supposed to be the strength of the Giants’ defense. Especially with the creativity expected from new defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson, creativity he showed throughout the summer.
Obviously, that has yet to be the case.
Per NFL Pro, the opponents’ time to throw against the Giants is 2.70, fifth-fastest in the league. So, the ball is being thrown quickly. Giants’ rushers, meanwhile, have the worst “get-off” in the league at .93 seconds to cross the line of scrimmage.
Without Burns, who had 16.5 sacks last season and had at 7.5 sacks, in each of his first seven seasons, much of the pass-rush burden will fall to Abdul Carter and Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Carter has the Giants’ only sack and eight pressures, but has yet to showcase the game-wrecking productivity that got him selected No. 3 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft. Carter’s 92 pass rush snaps is fourth-most among edge defenders, but he is tied for 23rd in pressures. There are 27 edge defenders with 50 or more pass rush attempts. Carter’s 8.7% pressure rate is 31st.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Upcoming opponent – Colts
Commanders next game is in London vs Indianapolis on Sunday at 9:30 am
Stampede Blue
For the Colts to win, Daniel Jones must be better
Quarterbacks turn the ball over. Houston’s defense causes turnovers. Because of that, it makes total sense that a quarterback facing the vaunted Texans’ defense would turn the ball over, and that is exactly what Daniel Jones did on Sunday. If he and the Indianapolis Colts hope to create a winning streak, however, he will have to be better.
Jones had three turnovers on the day. Two of them were unacceptable. When the offensive line can’t block Will Anderson or Danielle Hunter, it makes it hard on a quarterback, so the first fumble can be forgiven. It’s the interception to start the third quarter that creates concern. The Colts had a chance to extend their lead to two scores, but on third down, with a defender barreling towards him, Jones chucked the ball into the air. It was intercepted and kept the Texans needing only a touchdown to take the lead.
That wasn’t the worst of it, however. The Colts had control late in the fourth quarter. They were up six and driving on the Texans’ side of the field, looking to put this one on ice. With less than five minutes remaining, Jones changed the play and had Jonathan Taylor open in the flat. Instead of getting it to him in space, of which there was plenty, Jones held the ball and was stripped. The Texans marched down the field and scored the go-ahead touchdown.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
NFL league links
Articles
ESPN
Ravens starting center Jovaughn Gwyn out for 2-3 months
Baltimore Ravens starting center Jovaughn Gwyn is expected to miss two to three months with a fractured fibula that will likely require surgery, a source told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on Wednesday.
Gwyn was carted off the field during the Ravens’ 34-31 win over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL’s first game in Rio de Janeiro.
With backup center Ethan Pocic (knee) also injured, Ravens coach Jesse Minter said Monday that rookie first-round pick Olaivavega Ioane is preparing to make his first start at center for Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans. Ioane, the No. 14 pick in this year’s draft, has started the first three games of the season at right guard.
The Ravens have started to look for offensive line help, working out centers Graham Glasgow and Kingsley Eguakun along with guard Kyle Hergel on Tuesday.
Gwyn’s injury is the latest setback for the Ravens in their attempt to replace Tyler Linderbaum, a three-time Pro Bowler who became the NFL’s highest-paid center when he signed a three-year, $81 million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders in March. Danny Pinter suffered a season-ending knee injury in August after it appeared he was going to win Baltimore’s starting center job.
ESPN
NFL Week 4 latest intel, buzz questions, news, fantasy tips
Which QB currently sits atop the league’s panic meter?
Fowler: Three come to mind here — Drake Maye, Cam Ward and Justin Herbert. All three garner varying degrees of panic, but I’m putting Maye on top for now. The Year 3 regression is startling. He looks shaken right now.
Graziano: What I’m hearing is that it’s not that Maye is a consistently poor decision-maker, it’s that he’s an occasionally disastrous one, and the mistakes are exceedingly harmful. Through three quarters of the season opener in Seattle, you’d have said Maye was playing well, demonstrating poise in difficult circumstances and putting his team in position to win. Then he fell apart completely in the fourth quarter.
There are ups and downs with young players, but Maye’s downs have been way too far down. And without Brown, the Patriots don’t have enough around Maye to overcome the errors.
Are people around the league buying the Raiders’ 3-0 start?
Fowler: Yes … to a point. The evaluators I’ve spoken with see an offense that’s humming. “I have no reason to believe it is a fluke right now,” one AFC executive said.
Which team’s injury issues are most concerning?
Graziano: The easy answer is the 49ers, but they’re 3-0 and deal with this every year, so I don’t think it’s them. Maybe the Giants? They’ve lost their starting quarterback and their top veteran edge rusher to season-ending injuries. It’s hard to bounce back from that, especially when your roster wasn’t exactly all the way filled out to begin with.
Fowler: The NFC East is battered as a whole. The Giants and Commanders are without their starting quarterbacks, though Jayden Daniels will be back. As you pointed out, Dan, the Giants have lost two of their best players in quarterback Jaxson Dart and edge rusher Brian Burns. And injuries are mounting for Dallas, which is without linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, cornerback Cobie Durant, defensive lineman Jonathan Bullard and three safeties (P.J. Locke, Jalen Thompson, Malik Hooker). Dallas has the offensive firepower to contend, but its defense is ranked 30th in the NFL and has several holes that need to be backfilled.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
The Athletic (paywall)
After Case Keenum’s stunning performance, Bears have QB dilemma: Who should start?
Keenum is still the team’s No. 3 quarterback. And with Tyson Bagent clearing concussion protocol over the weekend, the door remains open for him to get his first start since 2023 as Caleb Williams continues rehabilitating from his hamstring strain.
Yet is it really practical for coach Ben Johnson to turn so quickly to Bagent after Keenum’s performance Monday in such a convincing win — 247 passing yards, two touchdown passes, plus a TD run with no sacks and no turnovers? Johnson wouldn’t offer comment Tuesday during his interview on ESPN Radio 1000 other than that they will see how things play out.
That’s the riddle being solved at Halas Hall this week and a brain teaser we’re trying to sound out.
When better players and better options are available, you take that route. But Monday night felt like something more than just a relief-filled home win in Williams’ absence. Keenum brought purpose to the huddle and magic to the air, operating the offense at a high level, getting the ball where it needed to go and managing the game with poise.
Conventional wisdom would be to stick with the guy who excelled in primetime against Vic Fangio’s defense. Or is conventional wisdom that Bagent is ahead of Keenum on the depth chart and he should start with a full week of practice? One thing Johnson is emphatic about, though, is that every week is a new week. Just because Keenum lit the Eagles up doesn’t mean he’ll do the same to the Jets, especially on short rest.
We should step back for a moment — considering the history of bad Bears quarterbacks, what an incredible problem to have. The Bears finally have “the guy” in Williams. He gets hurt. His backup gets concussed, and the No. 3 has one of the greatest fill-in performances in team history. And now the city will debate which backup should start while feeling good about both.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Discussion topics
ESPN
How NFL players cope with CTE risks, fears and internal debates
ESPN asked more than 30 active and retired players how the increased attention on brain trauma has affected their lives and career decisions. All were aware of CTE to at least a small degree, an advantage that thousands of their predecessors did not have. Some acknowledged CTE has become a topic of dark humor, including Pittsburgh Steelers safety DeShon Elliott: “Sometimes you might draw a blank and forget something from last week and you go, ‘Oh my god, it’s that CTE.'”
[S]ome players follow what they consider best practices to minimize their chances of getting CTE. NFL rules changes and attempts to improve equipment — such as Guardian Caps — instill confidence in some players. Others consider brain health out of their hands and ultimately an acceptable tradeoff for the benefits of an NFL career.
“I think [for] any football player, that crosses your mind,” said 26-year-old Arizona Cardinals receiver Michael Wilson, who’s in his fourth season. “But also, that is so far down the line and … the legacy, the financial gain that you can carve out for yourself to me outweighs the risk of CTE, especially as a wideout.
“How cool would it be to leave a legacy that generations of my family, the Wilson legacy will talk about? And if CTE is a consequence of that, then so be it. But I also could sleep good at night knowing that I was the one person in the Wilson family that ended up changing our financial, socioeconomic class, like you can point it back to me and say, ‘Michael’s the one that did it.’ So for my kids’ kids’ kids’ kids, they can always look at me and if CTE is a consequence of that, then I’m willing to bet on myself that hopefully I won’t get it, but if I do, then I made a decision and I chose that.”
Weeks after the interview, Wilson signed a three-year, $75 million extension.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
