The Daily Slop – 23 September 2026
Editor’s note: Each day, Hogs Haven compiles a collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders, the NFC East, the NFL and sports in general, with a sprinkling of other stuff. Enjoy!
Commanders links
Articles
Bullock’s Film Room (subscription)
Commanders Film Room: Jayden Daniels vs Cowboys
[The play described in the excerpt below is the one in the video clip in the embedded tweet from Mark Bullock]
Jayden Daniels looked at his absolute best during the first half against the Cowboys. As a passer, he was processing reads
quickly and moving well within the pocket to avoid rushers while still finding receivers down the field. But he also was more prepared to take off scrambling when there was an opportunity for him to do so. He showed signs of that combination which made him lethal at the end of the 2024 season in the fourth quarter against the Eagles last week, and it continued in the first half against Dallas.
Daniels looked sharp early as a passer, processing through reads quickly to get the ball out efficiently.
On third downs, Daniels stepped it up a gear and delivered some nice passes down the field. One of his best throws of the day came from a third and 18 situation.
On third and 18, the Commanders call a dagger concept to the left and have Terry McLaurin running a deep curl route to the right. At the snap, a defensive tackle stunts inside right guard Sam Cosmi. Cosmi adjusts to shove the defender down the line, but he still penetrates and generates pressure. Like on the previous play, Daniels does a good job climbing the pocket but remaining a passer as he does it. He can see McLaurin spotting up on his curl route, with the underneath coverage defenders nowhere near him and the deep safety getting far too much depth. So as he climbs the pocket, Daniels pulls the trigger and throws a strike over the middle to McLaurin, who picks up a first down and more after the catch.
Daniels continued to pick up third down conversions as the game went on.
Fox Sports
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly From The Commanders Loss To The Dallas Cowboys
The major event is the injury to Jayden Daniels, which will be discussed a length, however the even scarier injury to S Nick Cross. The Commanders hardly have time to reset as the defending super bowl champion Seattle Seahawks come to Landover. Here is what I saw from the game.
Rachaad White- Running Back Rachaad White looked a but off in week one however against the Cowboys we saw the back he was planned to be. White was good running the ball, catching the ball out of the backfield, and in pass protection. Washington needed some dynamic players and White played his part.
Pass Defense- For all the good stuff up front, the back end was bad. Routinely the secondary was confused, not effectively communicating, and getting beat. Add LB Leo Chenal to that equation and the Cowboys receivers had a field day. A serious decision needs to be made about CB Mikey Sainrisil because he is now the target of every offensive passing attack. Even when Sainrisil was in position Cowboys receivers still caught the ball. He needs a hard reset and needs to come off the field. It would help all parties for him to take a step back and really work his technique and understanding of Daronte Jones’ defense.
Drew Stevens- With so many other issues on the team, K Drew Stevens missed another field goal on Sunday. This one would not have mattered but it shook the belief of the team that they could come back. Stevens has a monster leg but the accuracy needs to be better. If this happens a few more times then he maybe looking over his shoulder.
Leo Chenal- A lot of attention has gone to the secondary and their struggles but LB Leo Chenal has looked outright confused out there.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
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Commanders Roundtable
Jayden Daniels injury puts Commanders season at a crossroads
Despite how doom-and-gloom things feel right now, head coach Dan Quinn needs to make adjustments quickly. Otherwise, another losing season could put his future in Washington in serious jeopardy.
The Commanders have been riddled with injuries throughout training camp and the regular season. Washington lost star left tackle Laremy Tunsil to a torn triceps injury that will keep him out for most of the season, cornerback Trey Amos is on IR through Week 4, and now Jayden Daniels could be out for the foreseeable future.
Head coach Dan Quinn needs every phase of the team to step up in Daniels’ absence. When Washington trailed 17-3 in the second quarter, Daniels ran the ball effectively and connected with wide receiver Stefon Diggs for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 17-10. He then led the offense into the red zone to close out the half before disaster struck and he suffered the injury.
Quarterback Marcus Mariota finished with a serviceable performance, completing 11-of-16 passes for 111 yards and one touchdown. He’ll need to build on that performance if the Commanders want to have any chance against upcoming tough defenses like Seattle, Indianapolis, and New York.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Athlon Sports
Terry McLaurin: 14 targets; 4 catches; 64 yards; not good enough
Terry McLaurin was held in check for most of Week 1 with 14 receiving yards. After McLaurin was thrown the ball only four times in Week 1, his nine targets during Week 2 are supposed to seem like an improvement. However, McLaurin was only able to haul in two of the nine balls thrown his way for 50 yards. With a cap hit of $18 million, four receptions over two weeks is an unacceptable stat line for someone that is supposed to be the team’s No. 1 wide receiver.
When Stefon Diggs was brought in late in training camp, he was supposed to be a complement to McLaurin, not take over the entire show. Having McLaurin on the outside and Diggs on the inside, Jayden Daniels was expecting a dynamic duo in the wide receiver room as Antonio Williams develops and learns.
Now thatMarcus Mariota is expected to fill in for an injured Daniels, first-year offensive coordinator David Blough will need to adjust how the offense will operate. Mariota plays a similar dual-threat style to Daniels but lacks some speed and arm strength. Both Mariota and Daniels tried to take shots down the field on deep go routes but mostly came up unsuccessful. If Blough and Mariota want to keep the team alive, they’ll have to adjust the playbook to incorporate more short and intermediate distance passes while hoping their playmakers can create yards after the catch.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Heavy.com
Should Rachaad White displace Bill Croskey-Merritt as Commanders lead back?
The opportunity is right there in front of Washington Commanders running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt — he’s just not making the most of it.
Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay singled out Croskey-Merritt, Washington’s leading rusher in 2025, as the NFL’s player with the “Most to Prove” after 2 games.
“Jacory Croskey-Merritt had a chance to build on his promising rookie campaign and cement his status as the Washington Commanders’ feature back this year, but thus far has squandered a golden opportunity,” Kay wrote on September 22. “Through two games this season, JCM has recorded a pedestrian 106 yards and one touchdown on 28 totes. Most of that production came in the opener against the Philadelphia Eagles, with Croskey-Merritt getting phased out in favor of backup Rachaad White during a Week 2 meeting with the Dallas Cowboys.
“After tallying just 68 yards on nine catches last year, Croskey-Merritt unsurprisingly remains a non-factor in the passing game — reeling in just two catches that have gone for a combined negative two yards. The addition of White, one of the league’s better receiving backs, ensures that Croskey-Merritt won’t see more than a token target or two per week.”
Through 2 games in 2026, Croskey-Merritt’s yards-per-carry average has dipped under 4.0 yards — the unofficial Mendoza Line (which is also unofficial) for NFL running backs.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Riggo’s Rag
Mike Sainristil’s ongoing decline pushes Commanders toward a tipping point
After several influential Washington Commanders figures publicly challenged him following their Week 1 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, cornerback Mike Sainristil laid another dud against the Dallas Cowboys.
And that might suggest the tipping point has been reached with the 2024 second-round pick.
Sainristil has gone from a talented young player to a complete liability. He cannot be trusted, and the frustrations are getting harder to hide.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Sports Illustrated
Should Commanders be thinking about trading for Seahawks QB Jalen Milroe?
As long as Darnold is on the sidelines, Milroe should be safe in Seattle. The team needs him as a backup quarterback behind Drew Lock, but Darnold is expected to return sometime within the next week or so. Once he comes back, there might be reason to trade Milroe.
Milroe came to the Seahawks last year as a third-round pick and had the chance to step in for Darnold if he didn’t deliver as a starting quarterback. Darnold led the Seahawks to a Super Bowl and won it all, so Milroe’s chances of hitting the starting lineup with Seattle are very slim.
He was in competition with Lock to be the team’s backup quarterback this season, but struggled early in the preseason. He was on the roster bubble going into the final preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs, but he played well enough to earn himself a spot on the 53-man roster.
Milroe is under contract until the end of the 2028 season, which could be valuable for a team looking for an understudy quarterback to step in. A trade between the Seahawks and Commanders for Milroe won’t happen this week while the two teams plan to play against each other, but it could make more sense down the line.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
ESPN
Seven things Solak thinks entering NFL Week 3
I might think … the Commanders will have a new starting quarterback in 2027. I’ll know what I actually think when we get real news about Jayden Daniels’ elbow injury. He’s getting imaging and multiple opinions over this week. But Daniels missed 10 games last year. If he misses 15 games this year, I don’t see how the Commanders don’t consider a young, developmental investment in QB2. They won’t give up on Daniels. If he’s healthy, he’ll get the 2027 Week 1 start, and they’ll do everything they can to recapture his 2024 magic (and availability). But the Commanders will have to have a better long-term view at QB2 than Mariota. Anthony Richardson Sr., anyone?
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Podcasts & videos
NFC East links
Big Blue View
Jaxson Dart injury: NY Giants’ QB could miss the remainder of the 2026 season
The MRI on New York Giants’ quarterback Jaxson Dart’s left knee revealed an injury more severe than was believed on Monday night, per NFL insiders Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport. Dart could miss the remainder of the 2026 season.
Giants head coach John Harbaugh would not confirm the reports that Dart would miss the season.
Harbaugh said Tuesday that confirming any timeline for the severity of Dart’s injury was “not the right thing to do” because evaluations and decisions are still being made.
The Giants were looking like a potential playoff contender after Dart completed 23 of 29 for 230 yards and 3 touchdowns while also running 11 times for 54 yards in a season-opening 28-20 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Now, the Giants are looking at having Jameis Winston at quarterback for the remainder of the season.
The Giants have quarterback Jake Haener on their practice. They could bring back Brandon Allen, who was let go when rosters were trimmed to 53 players, as a third quarterback, or look elsewhere.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Blogging the Boys
Washington’s nightmare end to first half changed the Cowboys game
Things really changed for the Cowboys at one point last week
The injury was an awful moment for Daniels, and its impact on the contest was significant. It also should not erase the work Dallas did afterward. The Cowboys still had to recover the fumble, finish the touchdown opportunity and make the kicks.
Washington entered the closing seconds of the first half with a chance to tie the game and a quarterback Dallas was struggling to contain. It left without points and without Daniels. The Cowboys’ response made sure Washington never recovered control.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Bleeding Green Nation
Tyson Bagent injury could leave Bears down to QB3 against Eagles
The Bears are preparing for Case Keenum to play on Monday after their top two QBs got injured
It was originally reported that Caleb Williams is week-to-week with a hamstring injury and is expected to miss Monday’s game, and now we learned that his backup, Tyson Bagent, is in the concussion protocol. If Bagent isn’t cleared in time, the Bears will turn to Case Keenum* to lead their offense.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Upcoming opponent – Seahawks
Commanders next game is at home vs Seattle at 1pm
SB Nation
Where do the Seahawks rank among the 2-0 teams?
No. 2: Seattle Seahawks
It’s a testament to Seattle’s coaching that this team has been without Sam Darnold in both games, and they still fall into the second spot on this list. Drew Lock is doing an incredible job under center in Darnold’s stead, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba continues to prove why he has a case to challenge Ja’Marr Chase as the best receiver in the NFL.
The Seahawks remain a defensive menace that is handling anything put in front of it. There’s been no Super Bowl hangover despite losing some key pieces in the offseason, with the ‘Hawks currently ranked 2nd in the league in points allowed, 1st against the pass, and 2nd against the run. Mike Macdonald is an absolute genius, and Seattle once more looks like an elite team in the league. Their start to the season has been relatively soft, but we’ll know a lot more in Week 5 when they face the 49ers [this week when they travel east to play the Commanders].
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
NFL league links
Articles
Pro Football Talk
Brock Bowers is expected to make his season debut Sunday
Raiders tight end Brock Bowers has not played since Dec. 21, 2025. He has played in a win since Sept. 7, 2025, in the season opener.
The Raiders are 2-0 without one of their biggest stars.
Bowers, though, is expected to make his 2026 debut against the Saints on Sunday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports.
He had a meniscus trim procedure earlier this month after injuring his left knee in training camp. It’s the same knee that sidelined him with a PCL sprain and bone bruise during the 2025 season.
Front Office Sports
Injuries to Jaxson Dart, Jayden Daniels Have Giants and Commanders Reeling
Among teams with injured quarterbacks, the two NFC East teams have gotten the worst news
The Dart development has dulled excitement among New Yorkers about the Giants’ season-opening win over the Cowboys in John Harbaugh’s debut. The second-year quarterback limped off the field at SoFi Stadium after being hit high and low by two Rams defenders while releasing a throw during Monday night’s game.
Initial indications suggested Dart had a sprained MCL in his left knee that would require about six weeks to recover. ESPN reported during its broadcast that Giants general manager Joe Schoen had said Dart would be “okay.”
Not so much, it now appears. Based on the results of further testing Tuesday, Dart’s knee injury could potentially sideline him for the remainder of the season, a source confirmed to Front Office Sports. That source cautioned that the outcome was not yet certain.
Ditto for the Commanders, who are among the NFL’s eight 0–2 teams. They reached the NFC Championship Game in 2024, with Daniels thriving as a rookie. The fan base was rejuvenated after Josh Harris bought the franchise from Daniel Snyder in 2023. Better days surely were ahead, it seemed.
But things came undone last season, as the team went 5–12 and Daniels suffered a dislocated left elbow. His ghastly re-injury of the same elbow on the final play of the first half Sunday against the Cowboys left Tom Brady muttering “oh, shit” on the Fox broadcast and put another Washington season on the verge of unraveling. Daniels is reportedly getting opinions from specialists and trying to determine whether season-ending surgery is needed. He is expected to be sidelined for at least several weeks.
For now, Marcus Mariota is the starter at quarterback and Dan Quinn is on many observers’ early-season lists of NFL coaches with their jobs in jeopardy.
The quarterback situations are not as dire for other NFL teams.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Pro Football Talk
Commanders-Cowboys delivers 27.3 million in late Sunday window
Fox’s broadcast of Commanders-Cowboys in the late-afternoon window of the second Sunday of the 2026 season attracted 27.4 million viewers.
It was the most-watched NFL telecast of the season to date.
[S]ince the Commanders lost their starting quarterback, Jayden Daniels, at the end of the first half…the game ultimately was a blowout, with Dallas winning the game, 37-20.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Discussion topics
Sports Illustrated
Why the Jaxson Dart and Jayden Daniels Injuries Could Completely Upend the NFL
Two teams we didn’t expect may now enter the race for a top-five pick, which could force tough decisions and affect the whole league
The potential fallout from these two injuries could be astounding if the Giants and Commanders proceed to play like teams that had top-10 picks last year and are now attempting to play 15 games without their QB1. It could not only reshape the fortunes of their own individual franchises, but many others as well. Jayden Daniels missed 10 games last season and the Commanders ended up with the No. 7 pick in the draft (Sonny Styles). Patrick Mahomes missed three games and the Chiefs ended up with the No. 9 pick (Mansoor Delane). Joe Burrow played eight games in 2025 and the Bengals finished with the No. 10 pick, which they traded for Dexter Lawrence II. In 2023, Kyler Murray missed eight games and the Cardinals ended up with the No. 4 pick (Marvin Harrison Jr.). Jimmy Garoppolo played just three games in 2018, leading to the No. 2 pick for the 49ers the following season (Nick Bosa). While there are some examples of teams rising above these circumstances (the Jets, for example, somehow won seven games without Rodgers, pushing them outside the top 10 of the 2024 draft; and the Cowboys won six games despite Dak Prescott missing most of the 2020 season, which placed them at No. 10, though after a trade, they still turned that capital into Micah Parsons), I’m trying to illustrate how commonplace it is for a team missing its starter to be in the conversation for a top pick the following year. Most famously, Peyton Manning missed the entire 2011 season with a neck issue, leading to the No. 1 pick—Andrew Luck—the following season.
Let’s couch something important: We’re operating under the assumption that the quarterbacks available at the top of the 2027 draft will a) decide to actually come out and b) be good enough at the end of this regular season to warrant a first-round pick. Drew Allar, LaNorris Sellers, Dante Moore and Garrett Nussmeier were, at this time last year, believed to be legitimate top-10 options. Two went back to school, one went in the third round and one in the seventh. Arch Manning, Sellers, Moore and Trinidad Chambliss may be the 2026 version of this same situation.
That said, the Commanders and the Giants now have a top-10 chance of securing the No. 1 pick, according to ESPN’s draft order projection simulator. The Giants have the third-highest overall projection and both teams have better than a 20% chance of picking in the top five. This, at a time when the Dolphins, Cardinals, Browns and Jets are all believed to be at least tangentially interested in upgrading at the quarterback position and finishing around the top five as well. The Jets have three first-round picks, including one from the winless Colts. The Browns have two, one of which came from the Rams.
Washington and New York both have quarterbacks that, as unfair as this feels to say, can be labeled as “injury risks.” There is a headache-inducing 20/20 hindsight debate, for example, raging about the thinness of Daniels’s frame that has resurfaced from the grave of 2024 draft takes. Dart battled the perception that he was reckless as a runner and appeared consistently in the medical tent in 2025, albeit with only one diagnosed concussion. If he does not play again this season, he’ll have started 14 games over the course of his first two seasons. Daniels would have 26 starts in three seasons if he does not appear in another game this year.
Analytically, both teams would be filleted if they chose to ignore this and pass up on a possibly generational quarterback prospect in the top five. Again, that’s not being controversial for the sake of being controversial. The value of a potentially awesome first-round quarterback on a cost-controlled rookie deal is a scale-breaker when charting a team’s path to success. If Dart or Daniels were to miss time again in 2027 and either team had opted not to select a top-five-caliber quarterback, it would almost assuredly trigger a change at the general manager position.
On the flip side, picking a new quarterback that high would be a way to bury the relationship with a young star player, assuredly setting him on the path to seek a Sam Darnold–like renaissance somewhere else in the NFL.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
