The Commanders used to be so good in one-score games, constantly finding ways to win late. Unfortunately for Washington, the team played that way back in 2024.
That’s sure not the case in 2026. The Commanders are 1-3-1 in one-score games.
That’s the difference between Washington being competitive and their current state.
They lead a second-half lead (albeit a small one) slip, couldn’t complete a late comeback and ended up losing to the Commanders 20-13 on Sunday at Northwest Stadium.
Let’s dive a little
deeper into this difficult loss in this Week 9 report card:
Rushing offense
Commanders are normally super committed to running the football, even when the effort’s relatively inefficient. That wasn’t the case on Sunday. The Commanders had 19 carries in 58 offensive plays. Not that we can fault Blough’s logic. Washington averaged just 3.2 yards per carry. Rushing lanes were hard to come by against the vaunted Rams defense.
Rachaad White averaged four yards per carry but got only seven, though he had a 15-yarder got called back. Jayden Daniels also lost a fumble. The Commanders needed to control the game and the clock on the ground. They weren’t able to do that.
Grade: D
Passing offense
Jayden Daniels started hot, with a 136.6 passer rating. It dropped a bit in the second, but still held decent at 101.4. He completed 24-of-35 passes for 274 yards a touchdown and no interceptions. He still hasn’t thrown a pick all year. He suffered four sacks, with three by Myles Garrett, including a difficult third-down takedown in the fourth quarter that forced a punt.
The pass protection struggled against the Rams front, which was somewhat predictable against Garrett and Aaron Donald.
Recent practice-squad activation (and veteran) Van Jefferson led the team with 58 yards and a touchdown on five catches. Stefon Diggs had three catches for 51 yards. The screen game got an explosive and Daniels hit some shots down the field, but the passing game couldn’t develop the necessary rhythm to sustain drives and score points.
Grade: C
Rushing defense
The Rams have relied heavily on the run game during their current three-game winning, including on Sunday against Washington. They ran 29 times and averaged 4.3 yards per carry. Blake Corum did most of the work, with 58 yards on 11 carries, though they kept Kyren Williams in check. The defensive line held up relatively well (based upon watching it live) and Frankie Luvu was everywhere with 15 tackles, including two for a loss. Sonny Styles was right there with him, tallying 13. It’s hard to fault the run D, or the defense in general, for Sunday’s result. There were two big runs and a touchdown allowed, but the Commanders did a relatively solid job in this phase.
Grade: B
Passing defense
The Commanders generated a fumble and recovery following a short pass to Puka Nacua. Nick Cross also intercepted Matthew Stafford in the second half. Letting Nacua go off to the tune of 14 catches for 150 yards and two touchdowns? Not so much. Stafford got better as the game progressed and the four-man pass rush was virtually non-existent.
The coverage, however, was solid. Stafford averaging just 5.3 yards per attempt and had a 72.6. Shoutouts should go to Cross, Trey Amos and Amik Robertson
Grade: Coverage (B); Pass rush (D)
Special teams
I don’t know what Antonio Williams was thinking with a fair catch inside the 10 with less than a minute left. Return it or let it go. Not a great decision there.
Tress Way punted three inside the 20-yard line – he nearly had one downed inside the 5 – and Drew Steven was perfect kicking when he had to be. And the Rams return game didn’t do much.
Grade: B
Coaching
The Commanders are struggling with penalties. They’re struggling to perform under pressure. They’re struggling to play four quarters of football. And, try as he might, head coach Dan Quinn can’t seem to find solutions. New schemes under Blough and defensive coordinator have experienced growing pains.
This season is essentially done. I mean, the Commanders are 2-5-1 and can lose all hope with a loss to the Giants on Thursday.
Being competitive doesn’t get you a gold star. Commanders fans should expect more from their team’s staff
Grade: F
How would you grade the Commanders’ performance from Sunday’s game against the Rams? Let us know in the comments below:
