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The Athletic (paywall)
The Commanders defense has improved. Is it the play calling?
He took over play calling in Week 11, following four consecutive blowout losses, and has left open the possibility that he could remain both coach and coordinator in 2026.
“I’m finding
a battle rhythm,” he said Monday. “… I haven’t discussed or gone down that road too far yet but yeah, I would say that’s a possibility.”
So what’s different this time around? He says his support group is bigger, and he’s relied on it more — both during the week and on game days.
Whitt remains on staff and has not officially relinquished his title. But his role has changed. He assists in developing the call sheets each week and has spent more time working with the secondary, his specialty before becoming Washington’s defensive coordinator. During games, he sits in the coaches booth at the stadium to give Quinn another set of eyes on the coverages.
Quinn also relies on assistant head coach/offensive passing game coordinator Brian Johnson throughout the week and during games, as well senior vice president of football initiatives David Gardi, who has regularly been in his ear for game management strategy.
So far, the returns have been promising.
Washington Post (paywall)
Noah Brown nears return, giving Commanders their starting wideout trio
Washington is optimistic the wideout will finally be back on the field Sunday, ending ‘probably the toughest stretch in my career, mentally.’
After missing 10 games with the injury, Brown is on track to return to the field Sunday, Coach Dan Quinn said. His return would allow the Commanders to have their starting wide receiver trio on the field for just the third time this season. Brown and Terry McLaurin, who returned from a quadriceps injury last week, will take most of their snaps at outside receiver, enabling Deebo Samuel Sr. to work primarily from the slot.
Asked about his level of optimism that Brown will play Sunday at the Minnesota Vikings, Quinn said Wednesday: “Very much in the green. High. So I’ve got good optimism.”
Brown’s return would be a welcome sight for the Commanders, given his production last year. He caught 35 passes for 453 yards in 11 games — including the iconic Hail Mary touchdown catch to beat Chicago — before suffering a season-ending kidney injury.
The Commanders saw enough to bring Brown back this offseason on a one-year deal, but he has hardly touched the field. During organized team activities in June, Brown suffered a knee injury that forced him to miss training camp. Then, in Week 2, he went down with the groin strain that has kept him sidelined ever since.
Commanders.com
Terry McLaurin provides Commanders’ offense with much-needed boost
Despite missing a total of seven games this season, McLaurin stayed true to his word by defying a rep count to make a big play in overtime. McLaurin admitted after the game that he was supposed to be limited to 25 plays, however, with the game on the line in overtime, there was no way he was going to watch from the sidelines.
“Coming into this game, there was a rep count, but in my mind, I knew the game was close. I’m gonna spill it for my teammates. I mean, screw the rep count. So just to have the joy of the locker room guys supporting me, being out there is something I don’t take for granted. So, I’m just extremely grateful to be back playing the game that I love with my teammates, and just thank God that I found out that I was healthy, and I want to continue to build more.”
McLaurin was lined up against reigning Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II on the outside for the all-or-nothing, game-deciding fourth-down play in overtime. After the ball was snapped to quarterback Marcus Mariota, McLaurin cut inside and crossed behind wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. The quick move drew Surtain away from McLaurin, allowing him to nab the three-yard touchdown pass to bring the Commanders within one of the Broncos.
“Yeah, that was just a man-combination that we feel comfortable with,” McLaurin said. “I think Deebo did a great job just setting the run for me, and Marcus put it low and away. So just in case, the DB was on my back, then I can make a play. But that’s a concept that we’ve run time and time again. And so, I knew they played man down there, and I was going to get an opportunity. So, shout out to Deebo for just doing his job and getting a great rub, and Marcus putting the ball low.”
The touchdown put the Commanders in position to go for a two-point conversion to win the game. Although Mariota’s pass was batted down by linebacker Nik Bonitto before a play could be made for the win, the quarterback still praised McLaurin for making clutch plays to get the Commanders in position to win.
A to Z Sports
The Commanders had 3 young standouts in loss to Broncos that fans should be excited about for the future
[T]hree young players had a standout game against the Broncos.
WR Treylon Burks
Treylon Burks didn’t have the craziest stat line of the night, but he had a highlight-reel catch that made headlines all around the league, and even got a shoutout from Odell Beckham Jr. himself. The Commanders knew he was capable of making a crazy play with his athletic ability, and his one-handed catch showed his true potential.
The wide receiver room was dealing with a lot of injuries, and the Commanders decided to bring Burks in and see if a change of scenery would help the former first-round pick. McLaurin will obviously be back next season, but the Commanders still need to add playmakers for Jayden Daniels, and Burks turning into a true threat would be a huge win for Adam Peters and the roster.
Washington Post (paywall)
Is Sainristil a better fit on the outside?
Despite being drafted to play nickelback, Sainristil spent the bulk of his rookie season playing on the outside. This year, he was moved back to the slot, where he struggled at times. Injuries to Marshon Lattimore and Trey Amos pushed him back outside and raised fresh questions about where the Michigan product might best fit in 2026 and beyond.
Quinn said last week that he will have “fresh eyes” for Sainristil’s positioning over the final month of the season, noting that his lack of size (5-foot-10 and 182 pounds) does not necessarily preclude him from playing outside cornerback.
Statistically at least, the early returns on Sainristil as an outside cornerback are promising but not conclusive. In the 10 games when he spent most of his time at nickelback, he allowed 8.8 yards per target, according to Pro Football Reference.
When he initially moved to outside cornerback against the Miami Dolphins, he gave up 52 yards on four targets. Last week, however, he had one of his best games of the season, surrendering just 22 yards on four targets. Overall, Sainristil has been targeted less frequently and allowed fewer receiving yards while remaining a sure tackler.
Riggo’s Rag
Commanders could release Nick Allegretti during the offseason after underwhelming stint
There are also tough decisions to make regarding those under contract. Some could be extended in advance. Others look like candidates for early release, which brings Nick Allegretti’s future firmly under the microscope.
The Commanders gave Allegretti a three-year deal in 2024 free agency, which came after his starring role for the Kansas City Chiefs deep into the postseason en route to another Super Bowl. He won the starting left guard job easily, but his indifferent performances were somewhat masked by quarterback Jayden Daniels’ exceptional escapability in his mesmerizing rookie year.
That went largely overlooked by fans, but not in Washington’s front office. Peters traded for Laremy Tunsil and used the No. 29 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on Josh Conerly Jr., providing the Commanders with a bookend tackle tandem. Still, it meant Allegretti’s future was increasingly precarious.
Allegretti got one final chance to prove himself, filling in for the injured Sam Cosmi at right guard. That switch was an unmitigated disaster. The former Illinois star got benched after two games and has been seldom seen since. The writing is firmly on the wall regarding his future beyond the current campaign, and the Commanders will not want a backup lineman costing more than $7 million against their salary cap.
NFL.com
Ranking the 5 best NFL games of the 2025 season (so far)
- Week 13 | Sunday, Nov. 30 | Northwest Stadium (Landover, Md.)
- FINAL SCORE: Broncos 27, Commanders 26, OT (Watch replay)
How did this matchup — between teams at extreme opposite ends of the competitiveness spectrum — make the list over some of the other basically entertaining clashes that might have caught your eye in the meantime, like Chiefs-Broncos in Week 11, Cowboys-Eagles in Week 12 or Week 13’s eventful Thanksgiving/Black Friday slate? Well, I can’t speak for my fellow voters, but Broncos-Commanders kind of had something for everyone. There was Marcus Mariota doing the “failed starter turned momentary folk hero” thing, giving the evening an irresistibly nostalgic hook. There was Treylon Burks, who endured an even more severe fall from grace as a former Titans first-rounder, turning his 58th career reception — and fifth with Washington — into the kind of all-time jaw-dropper that many NFL receivers will only ever dream of making. There was Bo Nix spinning highlights and lowlights. And finally, there was the element that will really make this one worth remembering long after the 2025 season has been put to bed: a deliriously unpredictable overtime, packed with enough head-spinning reversals of fortune that even the theoretically anticlimactic final moment — Mariota’s batted-down two-point try — felt electric.
Commanders.com
Sunday’s game, while still a loss, was closer to what the Commanders expected of themselves
Last Sunday’s game, while still a loss, was closer to what the Commanders expected of themselves. Marcus Mariota led an offense that put up 419 yards — their best performance since Week 1 and just the second time this year that an offense put up that many yards against the Broncos’ defense. Their 26 points were the most the Commanders had put up in a single game since Week 5. They put up 143 rushing yards, moving them to No. 3 in average yards per game. It also marked Terry McLaurin’s return to the lineup, and he looked like himself with 95 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, the Commanders built on the improvements they showed against the Dolphins with a better performance against the Broncos. They forced four punts from Bo Nix and the Broncos’ offense in the fourth quarter and limited explosive plays. While the Broncos still put up 402 yards, it felt as if they had to earn the progress they made down the field more than what other opposing teams experienced in previous weeks.
In an unusual way, Quinn said, it was the Commanders’ best “group game.”
Quinn said the team played the entire game with a “next play mindset.”
“There was zero flinch on the offense, and it wasn’t like, ‘Oh here we go,’ none of that. We got stopped in the fourth quarter offensively; the defense was ready to go get a stop. And so, I thought there was this resilience for the next play. If that one went to six quarters, we were going to be down to fight.”
Although Quinn admitted the last two overtime losses “stung a lot,” the Commanders showed that they don’t have any plans to quit on the season with five games left on the schedule. They intend to win as many of them as they can, because that kind of momentum can carry over into next year. There also remains plenty to learn about the roster between seeing how much the defense can improve to getting the offense up to full strength.
Podcasts & videos
Quick clip
Zach Ertz’s Best Plays from 106-yard Game vs. Broncos | NFL | Washington Commanders
NFC East links
Pride of Detroit
5 Qs Lions vs. Cowboys preview
The thing with the Cowboys defense is you have to separate it into two versions. There was the version before their bye week that was atrocious. The linebackers were not getting it done, they had injuries at safety and corner that had them playing a lot of backups, and the defensive line was struggling to find any kind of rhythm. It was a dumpster fire. So basically everyone was at fault.
Everything changed during the bye week. They traded for Quinnen Williams and that has made such a big difference. He unlocked the defensive line’s potential. They got linebacker DeMarvion Overshown back, and he is a star in the making if he can just avoid knee injuries which have robbed him of so much time so far. They also traded for experienced linebacker Logan Wilson. Add in a secondary that got much healthier, and it’s a different team. Linebacker is probably still their vulnerability, but even that group is much improved.
Upcoming opponent
Daily Norseman
Will the Vikings Win Again This Year?
It’s a legitimate question at this point
It’s worth noting that, in the entire history of the Minnesota Vikings franchise, they’ve never had a losing streak longer than seven games. The number now currently sits at four and. . .well, I’m not going to sugarcoat it, folks. . .I think there’s a better chance of the number hitting nine than there is of the number not hitting nine at this point.
Daily Norseman
Would you hire these guys? Honestly?
Let’s take an honest look at the pilots of our airplane.
Kwesi- Impressive Ivy League pedigree with multiple degrees in Economics. Worked as a commodities trader on Wall Street. Worked as a Manager/Director of Football research(2013-19) in San Francisco. Folks, that is about 34 levels below GM and involves collecting and analyzing fan data(amongst other things) versus cap management. He was then hired as VP of Football Operations in Cleveland by none other than Andrew Berry. Berry was the mastermind behind the Deshawn Watson trade, which might be the second-worst trade in sports history. After a year or so in Cleveland, he was then hired as the GM for our beloved Vikings. What I don’t understand is how our ownership would hire a gentleman who has no GM experience, no football background, and his most recent employment was a disaster in Cleveland? Oh…and then…extend his contract.
A similar argument could be made against [Kevin O’Connell]. No Head coaching background and no play-calling experience. Yet, he’s the all-knowing whisperer who flies our airplane and routinely gets the benefit of the doubt because we want to support a nice guy.
Stepping away from football. If anybody was hiring to fill a spot, the very first thing you look for is tangible experience that the candidate has done the job being required…and can do so without accommodation. It comes as no surprise that we have a team that is old, poorly drafted, poor depth, is predictable, lacks discipline, etc.
As it turns out, experience DOES matter when it comes to being a GM or play caller. Who would have imagined?
SB Nation
Adam Thielen was done dirty by the Vikings before they finally set things right
When Thielen was traded it felt like a natural fit. He would be able to start across from Justin Jefferson to kick off the year while Jordan Addison served a two game suspension, then he would pivot to either the slot receiver role when Addison returned — or potentially still play on the outside while Addison was kicked inside to diversify the passing offense. Moreover, it gave the offense a steady, veteran receiver with a knack for communicating a receiver’s vision of football to a young quarterback, which is what made him so valuable in Carolina with Bryce Young. If Jefferson and Addison would be the sizzle for J.J. McCarthy’s development, then Thielen would be the steak.
To make this happen the Vikings traded a 4th round pick in 2026, a 5th round pick in 2026 — and took the Panthers’ 5th with Thielen in return. We don’t need to litigate the myriad problems the Vikings have had this season, but suffice it to say that Minnesota is not a competitive team. What’s so bizarre about this whole scenario is that at no point did Minnesota even try to make Thielen a part of the offense. The more they struggled, the deeper in the weeds they got, the more they seemingly needed a reliable hand at WR to steady the ship — the more Thielen became an afterthought.
What began as a chance to ride off into the sunset on a playoff team in a homecoming for the ages, instead has thrown the 35-year-old receiver into the open market. His stat sheet in 2025: 18 targets, 8 receptions, 69 yards.
Thielen has not once, but twice been snubbed by the current Vikings’ brain trust — first being released as a cap move in 2023, then brought back and ignored.
[H]e got a tear-filled homecoming, only to realize that when he arrived nobody really wanted him. The question is: Why the hell did the Vikings trade for Thielen at all if they had no intention of using him? In what capacity did head coach Kevin O’Connell look at the struggles of his quarterbacks and think that there was no way Thielen could have helped?
Sure, they granted Thielen his release so he can try and join a contender for a playoff run, and that’s great — but it doesn’t override the fact that the veteran receiver was balled up and tossed aside like an old piece of notebook paper.
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Articles
ESPN
Cowboys-Chiefs Thanksgiving game sets NFL viewership record
The Dallas Cowboys’ 31-28 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Thanksgiving Day averaged 57.23 million viewers on CBS, making it the most-watched regular-season game in NFL history.
The audience peaked at 61.36 million for the game’s conclusion.
The early game between Green Bay and Detroit, won by the Packers 31-24, averaged 47.7 million, making it the second most-watched in league history and the most-watched regular-season game since Fox began carrying the NFL in 1994.
The three games, including the Thanksgiving night matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens, averaged 44.7 million viewers. That surpasses the previous high of 34.5 million set last season and is the fourth consecutive year the league has set a viewership record on the holiday.
“Football’s had a phenomenal season, so it’s not just a one-day exercise where we see these record ratings. We are in our 20th season of ‘Sunday Night Football’ and this is the highest season we’ve ever had. We’re up 10% on last year, and so the NFL has never been stronger,” NBC Sports president Rick Cordella said.
Pro Football Talk
Roger Goodell says NFL is considering a second Black Friday game
Commissioner Roger Goodell recently told Joe Flint of the Wall Street Journal that the NFL is considering adding a second Black Friday game, among other potential schedule changes.
The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 prohibits the NFL from televising games on Saturdays or after 6:00 p.m. ET on Fridays from the second weekend in September through the second weekend in December. That was the quid pro quo for the extremely valuable broadcast antitrust exemption.
Under current federal law, a consecutive Black Friday doubleheader would have to be completed by 6:00 p.m. ET. The first game would have to start by noon ET, at the latest.
An overlapping doubleheader could have one game start at 1:30 p.m. or 2:00 p.m. ET, with the second kicking off at 3:00 p.m. ET.
At some point, the Sunday afternoon packages would become excessively diluted. That problem can be solved with expansion. Which feels increasingly inevitable.
Last week’s opponent
Pro Football Talk
Broncos are second team in NFL history to win four straight games by three points or less
Denver’s last four games were an 18-15 win over Houston, a 10-7 win over Las Vegas, a 22-19 win over Kansas City and a 27-26 win over Washington. That’s four consecutive games won by three or fewer points, and that’s something only one other team in NFL history has accomplished.
The other team to do it was the 1986 New York Giants, who won games by scores of 17-14, 17-14, 22-20 and 19-16 during a four-game stretch.
[T]hose 1986 Giants…finished the regular season 14-2 and ended up winning the Super Bowl. Broncos fans would like to think their team is on a similar trajectory.
The Broncos also beat the Jets 13-11 in Week Six and the Giants 33-32 in Week Seven, so they have a total of six wins this season by three or less. If the Broncos win one more game by three or fewer points, they’ll join the 2003 Panthers and 1998 Cardinals as the only teams in NFL history with seven wins by three points or less.
