BOX SCORE
We’ve been talking and talking and talking about how the Washington Commanders would look in the 2026 regular-season opener (and beyond). All spring and summer. Ever since the NFL draft, if we’re being honest.
Week 1 finally arrived on Sunday afternoon, with the Commanders facing the NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles. It was the first time we’ve seen new offensive coordinator David Blough and defensive coordinator Daronte Jones run their respective shows.
So many free-agent additions were
making Commanders debuts as well, adding anticipation to a contest that’s always must-see. We learned a ton about how Washington will operate, including an aggressive-as-heck and an intriguing offense that has some work to do.
This one remained close into fourth quarter, and was decided late. A valiant comeback effort came up just short, with Washington losing a 24-22 decision to the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Commanders showed great resilience in this game, but ultimately ended up with a loss.
Here are some quick Commanders takeaways after watching the game live:
Commanders offense finds stride late
The Commanders offense spent most of Sunday’s game trying to find a flow. Quarterback Jayden Daniels had a tough time working the ball downfield to his best receivers, and while the run game had some nice moments, it didn’t help sustain drives that too often stopped short.
It wasn’t always pretty, with Philadelphia’s talented secondary limiting options in the passing game. The offensive looked okay watching it live but had some tough times, with Daniels scrambling to find productive space.
The Commanders kept fighting despite all that, and found a way to keep things very close down the stretch. Daniels converted a third-and-14 with a 33-yard connection with Antonio Williams. Then Daniels found Stefon Diggs for a touchdown. With that an the extra point – Diggs’ unsportsmanlike penalty took away the opportunity for a 2-point conversion, the Commanders cut it to 17-16.
Could the offense find a way, as Daniels had so many times before? They’d have an uphill battle, with the Commanders down eight points with roughly six minutes left.
The Commanders pushed deep into Eagles territory, and earned a goal-to-go with a fourth-down conversion to Terry McLaurin. Daniels hit Williams for a touchdown with 1:01 left.
The 2-point conversion was stopped, which sustained the Eagles lead. Blough may have gotten cute there, with a shovel pass to tight end John Bates that got shut down and ultimately prevented a Commanders comeback.
This offense has some work ahead to find consistency, but could prove dangerous if it can. That Eagles defense is tough, but Washington wore them down over time. There were still too many mistakes, however, to overcome quality opposition.
Daronte Jones is aggressive
Daronte Jones spent his last three seasons working under Brian Flores in Minnesota, so it was assumed Washington’s new defensive coordinator would bring pressure from all over the place and create confusion with exotic looks.
That was confirmed on Sunday, when Jones sent pressure on the regular, testing the Eagles on almost every play. We won’t see advanced metric until later – again, this is being written live – but the pressure numbers will be high.
Rookie linebacker Sonny Styles was attacking a ton, with a highlight play you can see right here on his first NFL sack, where he blitzed and also blew Saquon Barkley the heck up:
Washington was often impactful, but the Commanders gave up some costly explosive plays. That included two from Mike Sainristil, and one where he apparently lost track of the ball:
That got Washington in trouble early, but they revved up in the third quarter. Odafe Oweh’s first sack as a Commander on a five-man pressure to force a punt.
The defense gave up a late touchdown to Dallas Goedert, putting the Eagles up eight points.
That play proved costly, with the points tallied that proved to be the difference despite a late Daniels comeback attempt.
It’s clear aggressiveness, and the appearance of it, will rank high among of Washington’s core values under Jones. That should make for a fun defense to watch over the course of the season, one that should be impactful creating takeaways and stops.
Special teams giveth (and taketh away)
Washington’s Tyler Owens – I mean, my goodness. He was incredible on special teams, battling through double teams to make one big hit in coverage after another.
His relentlessness is a marvel, as are his statement hits seemingly designed to both cut returns short and energize his sideline.
Owens was that good, in the first half especially. And this effort might be one of the best I’ve ever seen on special teams.
He unfortunately ended up getting hurt in the second half. The Commanders announced he had an ankle injury. Washington surely hopes he can return soon, considering his impact in the kicking game
While special teams put for some great plays, a blocked extra point (the snap was high) and a Drew Stevens field-goal attempt missed wide right.
What are your immediate takeaways from Washginton’s season opener? Let us know in the article comments below.
