The Washington Commanders entered Week 5 with a 2-2 record, and left Los Angeles with a win and a lot more confidence. They got their franchise QB Jayden Daniels back, and he lead the team from a 10-0
early deficit, to a 27-10 convincing win. Daniels missed the last two games with a knee injury, but look confident, despite wearing a knee brace that he’d rather not have to wear. The Commanders have been alternating wins and losses every week, and will need to put together a string of wins to regain some trust from the power ranking crew.
The Commanders have a wide range this week, but have moved up from being ranked as low as #20 last week. The potential return of Terry McLaurin looms large over an offense that is trying to make it work without their top weapon. Deebo Samuel has been holding down the wide receiver crew, and rookie RB Bill Croskey-Merritt just had his breakout game with 111 yards rushing and two TDs and another 39 yards through the air.
The season started with high expectations after the Commanders made it to the NFC Championship game last season. The team is 3-2, and in 2nd place in the NFC East. They’re still firmly in the playoff hunt in the NFC, and the division title race in the NFC East. They travel return home for their first game in the MNF, SNF, MNF stretch of the schedule. Washington is hosting the Chicago Bears in a rematch from last year’s great win that ended in a Hail Mary pass from Jayden Daniels to Noah Brown.
- Winning the Super Bowl odds: +2700 —- +2200
- Winning the NFC Odds: +1500 —-> +1200
- Winning the NFC East Odds: +430 —-> +260
- To Make the Playoffs: +134 —-> -106
- Washington Commanders Win Total O/U: Over 9.5(+135 —-> -110), Under 9.5(-160 —-> -110)
High: 7
Low: 16
Average: 14 —-> 11.2
#7
Sports Illustrated(Orr)
While the Chargers are a tough opponent to gauge right now, having lost to the hapless Giants the week prior, Jayden Daniels looked phenomenal in his return and had two of the best throws of the weekend—one to Luke McCaffrey and another to Deebo Samuel. Tying in the run game will pay dividends against the tougher opponents. Last week: 12
Pro Football Focus(Valentine)
Welcome back, Jayden Daniels. The Commanders’ franchise quarterback stepped back into the limelight after missing two weeks due to injury, and immediately delivered an 85.9 overall PFF grade against the Chargers in the Week 5 win. It’s been hard to get a real reading of who the Commanders are through five weeks, in part because they’ve missed Daniels. But now at 3-2, they can hopefully start to build upon themselves as the season progresses. Last week: 9
Sharp Football Analysis(McCrystal)
Jayden Daniels‘ return to action got off to a slow start as the Commanders fell behind 10-0 in the first quarter. They’d go on to score 27 unanswered points on the back of Bill Croskey-Merritt’s true breakout performance. The seventh-round pick broke his first 100-yard game on 14 carries, netting 2 touchdowns and a 27-yard dash that set up a lead-extending field goal late in the third. His late fumble was bailed out by a Mike Sainristil interception, but the Bears shouldn’t give him as much trouble next week, considering their 26th-ranked defensive success rate against the run (48.6%). Last week: 12
Walter Football
I thought Jayden Daniels would be rusty in his first game back from his knee injury, but after a slow start, he looked like his usual, amazing self. Terry McLaurin isn’t even playing yet, so the sky is the limit for Washington. Last week: 8
List Wire(Werner)
All the Commanders needed to get the offense in high gear was the return of Jayden Daniels. They throttled the Chargers and the offense ran smoothly with the quarterback returning. Last week: 16
#8
Sportsnaut(Johnson)
Jayden Daniels returned on Sunday, but the real story is the breakout game from running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt. Bill did it all. He delivered his first 100-yard game, scored a pair of touchdowns, and eclipsed 150 scrimmage yards on the day. Washington has found its featured running back, and this team is still waiting to get back Terry McLaurin, giving Daniels that No. 1 receiver he needs. Last week: 15
#9
NFL.com(Edholm)
If you’re a Commanders fan, this was exactly the kind of performance you wanted to see from Jayden Daniels after the face of the franchise missed two games. It was also the kind of defense I wasn’t sure Washington was capable of playing, but by golly, from the Quentin Johnston fumble on, that unit was locked in. Furthermore, this was a breakout game for Jacory Croskey-Merritt, who went from contributor to undisputed RB1. Even after the rookie’s fourth-quarter fumble, the Commanders kept feeding him, which told me they believe in the 24-year-old who goes by Bill. There have been some bumpy parts to the road so far this season, but the Commanders are sitting at 3-2 and suddenly in good shape again after their first road triumph of the season. A tough pack of games is in front of them, but it feels like they’re back on the upswing after a statement win. Last week: 11
For the Numbers(Kelley)
All three Washington wins have been by at least 15 points. When they win, they win. Last week: 13
FanDuel(Nader)
Last week: 10
Team Rankings
Last week: 12
#10
Washington Post(Greenberg)
Last week: 16
#11
The Athletic(Graff/Kendall)
Who have they beaten? Giants, Raiders, Chargers
Sunday was more like what we expected from the Commanders this season. With Jayden Daniels back in the lineup, Washington cruised to an easy win behind a dominant running game led by Jacory Croskey-Merritt (14 carries, 111 yards, two touchdowns). The Commanders’ running game has quietly been the third best in the NFL based on both expected points added per rush and success rate. Last week: 20
USA Today(Davis)
QB Jayden Daniels returned to action and summarily became the first player to with at least 4,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in his first 20 NFL games. Good thing he’s right given Washington will play in prime time three of the next four weeks. Last week: 13
The Score(Wilkins)
Jayden Daniels is back after a two-game absence, and seventh-round rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt is suddenly one of the NFL’s most exciting running backs. A few more defensive performances like the one against the Chargers, and we can silence any talk of Year 2 regression. Last week: 11
#12
CBS Sports(Prisco)
Coming from behind to beat the Chargers is a big-time victory. Jayden Daniels was cooking in the second half in his first game back after injuring his knee. Last week: 15
Yahoo Sports(Schwab)
Rookie Bill Croskey-Merritt’s metrics had looked very good, but the team seemed hesitant to make him Washington’s featured back. After his outburst Sunday, with 150 total yards and two touchdowns, it seems like he’s ready to take on a bulk of the work at running back. That could be great for Washington’s offense. Last week: 16
The Ringer(Lee)
When you’ve spent enough time around football, it’s easy to develop a cynical outlook. Data and lived experience will tell you success is fleeting in this sport, and outliers rarely last. The Commanders have been a popular pick to regress in 2025 for those reasons, yet Washington is winning games the exact same way it did last season, but without having to rely on fourth-quarter comebacks or a historic rate of fourth-down conversions.
This team wins by running defenses off the field, and quarterback Jayden Daniels, now that he’s back in the lineup, looks just as efficient as he did during his breakout rookie season. Last week: 16
Sporting News(Iyer)
The Commanders got revved up by the return of Jayden Daniels and their defense needed that busy swarming performance in L.A. to rebuild confidence under Dan Quinn. Last week: 15
Pro Football Talk(Florio)
Consistency is going to be the key. Last week: 17
For the Win(D’Andrea/Zeglinski)
Jayden Daniels clearly still wasn’t healthy in his Week 5 return. That’s what makes the second-year signal-caller cutting up the Chargers’ defense while limited so impressive. The Commanders are bruised and battered, yet they remain above .500. That speaks volumes about the healthy culture Dan Quinn has instilled in Washington. Last week: 12
AZ Central(Cluff)
What a different Jayden Daniels makes for the Commanders, who bounced back from a loss without the starting quarterback against the Falcons in NFL Week 4 and bounced back from a 10-0 deficit against the Chargers. And how about Jacory Croskey-Merritt, who rushed 14 times for 111 yards and two touchdowns? This team’s offense is very hard to stop, as Los Angeles found out. Last week: 15
Windy City Gridiron(Leming)
Jayden Daniels is back, and all of a sudden, the Commanders’ offense looks like it did last year. At least, that’s how it looked in Week 5 against a good Chargers team that most had favored to win the game. It’s been an up-and-down start to the season in Washington, but if Sunday afternoon was any indication, they might be about to hit their stride, similar to last season. They’ll have a fun test next Monday night against Caleb Williams and the Bears. Expect a lot of rushing yards. Last week: 14
Total Pro Sports(Hoegler)
Jayden Daniels’ return after a two-week hiatus made Washington look like last year’s Commanders. T’was a near-perfect performance in LA, with the visitors winning 27-10 to move back above .500.
Even without Terry McLaurin, Washington moved the ball at will over LA’s elite defense, including 163 rushing yards and two scores on the ground. Now…if the Commanders could just go on a run instead of alternating wins and losses? Last week: 14
DraftKings Network(Tucker)
Last week: 16
Cowboys Wire(Drummond)
Last week: 14
#13
Fox Sports(Vacchiano)
They are a much different team with Jayden Daniels back in the lineup. More importantly, their defense finally showed up against a potent, but slumping, Chargers team. Last week: 16
Clutch Points(Johrendt)
Welcoming back Jayden Daniels, the Commanders marched into SoFi Stadium and sprung the upset on the Chargers, 27-10, climbing up three spots in the Week 6 NFL Power Rankings. While it was a scoreless first quarter, the Commanders leaned on rookie back Jacory Croskey-Merritt to get back into the game, as he ran for 111 yards and two scores.
This was Croskey-Merritt’s first-career 100-yard game of his young career, as he looks to step into the RB1 role for the rest of the season. Deebo Samuel was WAS’s leading receiver, as he caught eight passes for 96 yards and Daniels’ lone passing TD, and the defense held Justin Herbert to only 166 passing yards, sacking him four times in the process. Last week: 15
Bleacher Report
Jayden Daniels’ Week 5 return made the Washington Commanders look like the same team that advanced to the NFC Championship Game in the previous campaign.
Yet their blowout win over the Los Angeles Chargers was still a bit surprising considering they did it without two-time Pro Bowl receiver Terry McLaurin, who’s out with a quad injury.
Without back-to-back wins this season, the Commanders are outside the top 10 in these rankings, but they could gain momentum with the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys coming up on their schedule. Last week: 17
Pressbox Online(Clark)
I play in a league in which Bill Croskey-Merritt is somehow available. I’m prepared to throw like $50 worth of FAAB at him. If that’s not enough, he will most likely be Rookie of the Year and finish with 2,000 yards. If it is, he will be garbage and I’m sorry to our friends to the south. Last week: 15
Bleeding Green Nation(Gowton)
Jayden Daniels’ return won’t change the fact that their defense is old and vulnerable. The Marshon Lattimore trade has been a big bust for Washington. Last week: 11
#14
ESPN
Fantasy surprise: WR Deebo Samuel
Samuel ranks seventh among all receivers in fantasy points (88.6). Some of that stems from receiver Terry McLaurin missing two games because of a quad injury. Samuel has 30 catches for 300 yards and 3 touchdowns, and he also has seven carries for 46 yards. Washington wants to use him a lot, so his productivity shouldn’t diminish too much when McLaurin returns. In the three games they played together, Samuel caught 16 passes. — John Keim Last week: 16
New York Post(Dunleavy)
Last week: 17
#16
AtlantaFalcons.com(McElhaney)
This was the bounce-back win the Commanders needed. It’s what Jayden Daniels needed, too. Heck, just all around what the organization needed. Last week: 16
