BOX SCORE
The Commanders struggled to start the season, yet a weak NFC East kept them in contention. They had a bye week to get right and fix the execution, penalties and game management issues that had produced a 1-4-1 record.
That’s why, as quarterback Jayden Daniels said, Sunday night’s game against the rival NFC East held more weight. A loss would essentially shove playoff chances six feet deep. A win would allow them to make a move, with Dallas losing earlier in the day and the Giants not playing.
There was extra time to create solutions to all their problems and emerge victorious and ready for a run of positivity. Instead, we got another hard-to-watch start full of yellow flags and ineffective play.
Then, just before the first half ended, things picked up. The offense got going and the defense locked in while asserting itself and earning a hard-fought 27-10 victory over the Eagles in a game they simply had to have.
Here are some key takeaways after watching Sunday night’s game:
Jayden Daniels does just enough
Quarterback Jayden Daniels was inefficient to start this game, seeming out of sync with his receivers working through the air. He got better as the game went on, but he didn’t make the massive negative play that allowed the Commanders to keep adding field goals while erasing a two-score deficit and scoring 19 consecutive points.
While Daniels wasn’t awesome, he made a few special plays. That includes this unreal explosive to Treylon Burks:
Stefon Diggs came up huge on this touchdown catch, a turning point in this game:
Daniels completed just 16-of-29 passes for 217 yards and that touchdown – his slow start contributed to that – but found a way to get Washington a win.
Rachaad White punctuated it with a 33-yard run and a 1-yard TD plunge a few plays later.
No Payne? No problem
The Commanders defensive line was decimated by injuries to their two best players, with Daron Payne suffering a season-ending foot fracture on Friday and Javon Kinlaw out for Sunday with a knee problem.
Despite the fact one of the team’s best position groups absorbed some huge hits, the line’s healthy members came up huge in this one.
Charles Omenihu got a huge sack in the second half.
Then he recovered a fumble forced by Dorance Armstrong, following a powerful bull rush, that led to Commanders points.
Shy Tuttle also had a sack and was a force in the middle while absorbing more playing time with Payne out.
The Commanders brought pressure on Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee to great effect, especially in the second half. Blitzes were often getting home and rattling a true pocket quarterback, but it was impressive to see those up front making big plays against the run and pass considering the injuries to key players.
Quinn also brought up third-down performance as an x-factor, and Washington was at its best Sunday night on critical downs. The pass rush produced five sacks and the Commanders gave up just 10 points in its best performance of the year.
Penalties (remain) a huge problem
The Commanders talked a ton about cleaning up penalties during and coming out of the bye week. Washington average 7.6 accepted penalties per game entering Sunday night, with pre-snap penalties a huge issue driving Quinn crazy.
Somehow, it was worse. The Commanders had seven accepted penalties in the first half alone, with four false starts among them. While a few were questionable – K’Lavon Chaisson’s first (of two) roughing the passer infraction raised an eyebrow – but most were avoidable.
The Commanders finished the game with nine accepted penalties for 70 yards, including a pair of back-to-back penalties that stalled offensive drives.
The fact this remains an issue seems crazy how deep we are in this season and that it hasn’t gotten fixed. While execution is always paramount, the types of flags being thrown is on coaching. It’s simply unacceptable at this stage.
What were your biggest takeaways from this game? Let us know in the comments below:
