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Washington Post (paywall)
The Commanders’ offense is struggling, and they can’t run from it
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It’s not as obvious as a Patrick Mahomes touchdown pass to Travis Kelce, not as baffling as a ricocheted interception off Deebo Samuel Sr.’s face mask, not as worrisome
as another empty-handed trip to the red zone. But it is there, in the box score of the Washington Commanders’ 28-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, and is an aggravating factor all the same:
Twenty carries for 60 rushing yards.
For a Commanders offense that led the NFL at 5.9 yards per carry over the first five weeks of the season, that sort of paltry production might seem uncharacteristic. Yet during their three-game losing streak, it has been a trend. Washington’s rushing attack has gone flat. Monday night’s loss is simply the most recent — and glaring — example.
While the Commanders can still claim a top-three rushing attack in the NFL — their 137.5 yards per game are tied for third entering Week 9 — the underlying statistics show signs of regression. Over the past three weeks, they rank 18th in rushing yards per game. And in terms of production by running backs, they are among the league’s worst (28th) during that span.
Commanders.com
5 takeaways from Commanders vs. Chiefs
Missed opportunities on the first three drives.
Head coach Dan Quinn wanted the team to be bold against the Chiefs, which meant keeping the offense on the field for as many fourth-down attempts as possible. It was a logical move to execute against the Chiefs’ high-powered offense, although it meant that every drive needed to end in the end zone.
While it might have been the right approach, the Commanders had trouble executing the plan. Their first three drives ended with some form of a turnover after moving into Chiefs territory, the first of which occurred when a pass from Mariota to Deebo Samuel at the Kansas City 18-yard line deflected off the receiver’s helmet and into the hands of a Chiefs defender.
Washington’s next two drives didn’t get as far but still ended in frustration. The offense moved from its own 7-yard line to the Chiefs’ 40 before being forced to attempt a fourth-and-6. Mariota’s pass to Zach Ertz was ruled short on a virtual measurement. Their next attempt at a fourth-down conversion ended on an equally sour note, as Mariota’s pass to Terry McLaurin was off target.
Mariota said after the game that the offense didn’t do its job, and there is some truth to that. As good as the Commanders did to stay competitive in the first half, it could have been much better.
The Athletic (paywall)
Commanders at the NFL trade deadline: Should they buy, sell or stand pat?
These are not the Commanders who were 7-2 and sitting atop the NFC East at the NFL’s trade deadline last year. Washington is 3-5 with a game to go before Tuesday’s deadline (4 p.m. ET). The good news is they still have the most important position settled, even if Jayden Daniels isn’t healthy at the moment.
The bad news is the Commanders need help virtually everywhere else on the roster. They are not one or two pieces away from contending, but in desperate need of better health, an infusion of talent and more foundational players they can build around.
Unlike last year, when Washington approached the deadline with a surplus of nine picks in the subsequent draft, it has only six picks this time around: a first, a third, a fifth, two sixths and a seventh.
General manager Adam Peters has made nine trades — he’s sent off four players, acquired four new ones and swapped picks in the 2024 draft — since arriving in Washington 21 months ago. He’s made it clear that “whatever your record is, if you can add a really good player and you think it’s the right move for your team, then you do it.”
Or, at least, that’s what he said after he traded for cornerback Marshon Lattimore just before the deadline last year.
Let’s weigh Washington’s options.
Commanders.com
Final thoughts | Some news for Jayden Daniels
— Quinn didn’t have any updates on the Commanders’ injured players, as he had not met with the medical team prior to his press conference, but he did provide some positive updates on Jayden Daniels, who missed Monday’s game with a hamstring injury. Daniels had a good rehab period last week and is expected to be at practice in some capacity on Wednesday. The Commanders have been careful with Daniels’ health, however, so it’s possible he will only practice in a limited capacity.
— Part of the Commanders’ defensive adjustments was giving second-year players Jordan Magee and Tyler Owens more defensive snaps. Magee was involved in 84% of the defensive plays, while Owens played 36% of the snaps — career highs for both players. Quinn liked the speed from both players and feels they have earned the right to more snaps going forward.
— Jacob Martin was one of the Commanders’ best playmakers against the Chiefs, collecting two sacks on Patrick Mahomes to go with two tackles. Quinn likes what he has seen from the veteran over the last two weeks, saying that while he isn’t the biggest defensive end, there is some explosiveness to his skill set. “He’s got a relentless nature about him, and he’s earned these chances and more [opportunities] to go get it. He’s always been a very consistent player. … Players like that are really important on your team. They’re ‘glue’ players.”
A to Z Sports
A tale of two halves for both sides of the ball
Commanders looked like a contender in the first half
The offense was clicking to start the game, and they drove right down the field, but unfortunately, Deebo Samuel deflected a catch right to a defender and ended a great opening drive with a turnover. The defense did the unthinkable and had two turnovers off of Patrick Mahomes in the first half, and finally found the endzone on a Terry McLaurin toe-tapping catch.
The defense had its best showing in the first half, while the offense didn’t take advantage and add more points to reward their efforts. Going into halftime 7-7 against the Chiefs on the road is the best start you could possibly ask for, and it should’ve been a bigger lead for the Commanders. It did nothing for the second half, though, as we saw the ugly side of the team we’ve grown used to seeing over the last few weeks.
The second half showed that the Commanders need a lot of work
The Chiefs adjusted at halftime, and the Commanders didn’t. They shot themselves in the foot as well, and that’s not something you can do against Mahomes. Rookie Jaylin Lane missed a kickoff on the first drive of the second half that ended up going down at the two-yard line after the Chiefs scored to go up 14-7. The Commanders ended up punting five plays later and gave the ball right back to the Chiefs after having it for only two minutes.
The truth about the Commanders is that they do have good players who are capable of making big plays, but they can’t play four full quarters to beat a team like the Chiefs right now. I don’t know how much Jayden Daniels would’ve helped tonight if he were playing, but seeing the defense go back to its old habits in the second half raises questions after seeing how they played in the first half. Seven points obviously will never be enough to win a game like that either. Both sides of the ball are at fault.
The season is slipping away from the Commanders, who have the Seattle Seahawks at home next Sunday night, and a lot more injuries are starting to pile up. There’s only a small thread of hope left before we can call it a bad season, and look forward to the offseason.
Heavy.com
Marshon Lattimore : Makes impact via INT in Week 8 loss
Lattimore logged one pass defensed, an interception, during Washington’s loss to the Chiefs on Monday. Lattimore didn’t record a single tackle during Monday’s loss despite playing 100 percent of defensive snaps. That marks the first time across eight regular-season appearances this year that Lattimore has been held without a stop, though his playmaking ability remained on display when making a first-quarter interception of Patrick Mahomes, on a pass intended for Hollywood Brown. The veteran cornerback remains locked into an every-down role heading into a Week 9 matchup against Seattle.
Pro Football Focus (premium content)
NFL Lockdown Report: Best defenders at preventing separation in coverage
What is Lockdown Percentage?
This metric focuses on coverage, measuring how well a defender prevents a receiver from getting open. It excludes plays where the defender intentionally gives up space to protect the first-down marker or limit yards after the catch.
Heavy.com
Dan Quinn Names 2 Commanders Set for ‘More Opportunities’
Quinn highlighted second-year linebacker Jordan Magee and big-bodied safety Tyler Owens after the game on Monday Night Football. As Quinn put it, “I liked the speed I felt from them. … They earned the right to have more opportunities in there, too,” per ESPN’s John Keim.
The increased workloads for both Magee and Owens were just a small part of a number of alterations the Commanders made to their schemes. Those changeups also included a new role for dynamic, roving linebacker Frankie Luvu.
While the defense was still burned by three Patrick Mahomes touchdown passes, the Commanders’ unit did create pressure and force turnovers. Those are necessary steps toward genuine and long overdue improvement on this side of the ball.
Riggo’s Rag
Stephen A. Smith wonders if Commanders will shut Jayden Daniels down if losing continues
Their chances of making the playoffs are remote. If the team suffers a few more losses to put any hopes of salvaging the campaign out of sight, Smith thought that would be a good chance for head coach Dan Quinn to protect his face of the franchise.
“What do you do with Jayden Daniels since you know that the prospects of you getting into the postseason are slim to none? You preserve your future. You protect the franchise. You might have to start thinking like that soon. I’m not talking about right now, we’re only eight games in. You might have to think about that at some point, because he’s slight of frame. You don’t have the personnel to protect him. He is the face of the franchise. He’s the future of the franchise. You want to protect him at all costs. You might have to think about that if you continue to nosedive. That’s all I’m saying.”Stephen A. Smith
This is an asinine notion. For one, Daniels is far too competitive to accept being sat out because the Commanders aren’t going to achieve anything. He wants to be out on the field to help his teammates. If he is healthy, he’ll demand to be on the field, regardless of whether things are going well.
Pro Football Focus (premium content)
NFL offensive line rankings ahead of Week 9
13. Washington Commanders (Down 4)
Projected Week 9 starters:
- LT Brandon Coleman
- LG Chris Paul
- C Tyler Biadasz
- RG Sam Cosmi
- RT Josh Conerly Jr.
The Commanders’ offensive line couldn’t contain the Chiefs’ pass rush. Washington’s unit gave up 14 pressures — including two sacks — on 35 pass plays. The front-five finished with a 77.1 PFF pass-blocking efficiency rating, which was the fifth-worst mark in the league this week.
Left tackle Laremy Tunsil exited Week 8’s game with a hamstring injury after just 13 snaps and was replaced by Brandon Coleman at left tackle. The second-year player finished the game with a 75.1 PFF overall grade, which paced Washington’s offensive linemen.
Best player: Sam Cosmi
In Tunsil’s absence, Cosmi can be considered Washington’s best offensive lineman, even though he is still working his way back from injury.
Podcasts & videos
NFL Week 8 Recap: Commanders fall to Chiefs 28-7 | Booth Review | Washington Commanders | NFL
Washington Commanders vs Kansas City Chiefs Game Highlights | 2025 NFL Season Week 8
Photos
Commanders.com
PHOTOS | Commanders vs. Chiefs, Week 8
Check out the top photos of the Washington Commanders as they take on the Kansas City Chiefs.
NFC East links
dallascowboys.com
Cowboys’ free agency options, injury updates at ailing safety position
When it comes to the safety position in Dallas, the Cowboys got no food, no jobs and their pets’ heads are falling off. Let that classic line from Lloyd of Dumb and Dumber sink in for a moment, because it’s terrifyingly accurate in its description of the back end of the Cowboys’ defense heading into Week 9 of the 2025 season.
The unit started the season as one of the deepest on the roster but, eight games into the season, it’s not only the thinnest, it’s damn one injury away from being almost literally nonexistent — following news of Alijah Clark, the rookie safety suffering an injury to his ribs in the loss to the Denver Broncos that will sideline him “a couple of weeks”.
If you’re reading this, and you’re able-bodied, the Cowboys are hiring safeties.
As it stands, Markquese Bell is literally the only safety on the active 53-man roster, and they have only one on the practice squad, and that’s Julius Wood, a former undrafted free agent (2024) that spent time with the Tennessee Titans before re-signing with the Cowboys not long ago.
To date, Wood has nine NFL games under his belt but no starts and only two combined tackles on his career stat line, zeroed out across the board in every other category. This isn’t to say Wood doesn’t have potential — one of the biggest standouts in his rookie training camp with the Cowboys in 2024, leading to him being claimed on waivers in the first place — but anyone looking at the young, inexperienced safety as the solution for what ails the safety group is attached to an IV with blind hope in the drip.
Pro Football Talk
Cam Skattebo suffered a fractured fibula, ruptured ligament in addition to dislocated ankle
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Skattebo also fractured his fibula and ruptured the deltoid ligament in his ankle. The team said all went well with the surgery to replace his injuries and Rapoport reports that he’s expected to be ready for the team’s offseason work.
The Giants placed Skattebo on injured reserve on Tuesday. The fourth-round pick had 110 carries for 410 yards and five touchdowns before his injury.
Big Blue View
Survey: Should the Giants trade for a receiver after losing Cam Skattebo?
There has been speculation that the New York Giants could be active on the trade market as they try to reinforce their roster around Jaxson Dart. However, we got reports late last week from both The Atlantic and ESPN indicating that the Giants were more likely to stand pat and not engage with the trade market.
But did things change when the team lost Cam Skattebo for the season?
The loss of Malik Nabers and Skattebo for the season has laid the Giants offensive depth (or lack thereof) bare. While Dart has been impressive since taking over the starting job — remarkably so for a rookie — he hasn’t gotten much help. Wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson and tight end Daniel Bellinger have been Dart’s only consistently dependable options, and Bellinger left Sunday’s game with a neck injury.
The Giants may not want to sink future capital in a team that isn’t going anywhere this year, but they also have to do what they can to maintain an environment in which Dart can continue to grow and improve. There’s a risk that Dart’s growth could be stunted if his receivers consistently run poor routes or can’t hang onto the ball. Perhaps worse, Dart wants to make a play and will hold the ball if receivers can’t get open. And that will lead to the young man taking unnecessary hits thanks to his never-say-die attitude.
The Athletic (paywall)
What does A.J. Brown want? Eagles’ star WR chases greatness — on his terms
[I]t…often feels like Brown is talking about two things at once, why Brown sometimes avoids reporters after games; they must ask about the system, the plays, the wins, the losses; he must first confront the emotions, the confines, the contingencies beyond his control. It is also why Brown’s vented frustrations often lack a clear target, why his self-absorbed social media posts should be consumed with caution.
On Sept. 28, after the Eagles survived a near-comeback by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers despite clunky offensive play, Brown, who was targeted nine times but had just two catches for 7 yards, steered clear of reporters to sort out his feelings. He opened his phone and found a screenshot of a post featuring a verse from the Gospels — “If you’re not welcomed, not listened to, quietly withdraw. Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way” — along with a caption calling God, “the only one we should ever concern ourselves with.”
Brown uploaded the post to social media and fired away. “It’s not directed at anyone,” he told reporters days later.
After Brown’s two touchdown catches helped beat the Minnesota Vikings on Oct. 19, he fired another social media salvo. “Using me but not using me,” he posted, along with an attached video of a local bodybuilder he trained with shouting, “I’m built different. I train different. I work different. I am different. … The work ain’t done till it’s done, motherf—er.”
Brown hasn’t spoken with reporters since. He missed all three of last week’s practices with a hamstring injury and was sidelined in Sunday’s win over the New York Giants. His teammates decline to interpret his posts.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts: “I just keep my focus singularly on the collective.”
Wide receiver DeVonta Smith: “It’s none of my business.”
Few stars are as open about their feelings as Brown. Fewer are as willing to speak about how their sense of self gets snarled with the desire to be truly seen. Public opinion only serves as a multiplier of things he already feels. “Athletes deal with it all the time,” he said.
It is why a crowd’s roar boosts him when the ball’s in his hands, why some boos miss and others sting. It is also why Brown tries to remember there is no other measurement of greatness than his own.
Upcoming opponent
Field Gulls
What will Jaxon Smith-Njigba do to the Commanders?
I bet you that most non-Seahawks fans would’ve assumed at this point that Washington would be the one comfortably above .500 wile the Seahawks would be 3-5 and a sinking ship. The Commanders’ season is on the brink, which means their backs are against the wall, while Seattle is narrowly leading the NFC West and are second in FTN’s overall DVOA (thanks to the Indianapolis Colts). Who will win this weekend? You know the drill by now: pick the team and the score margin.
Our main question this week is all about Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who leads the NFL in receiving yards by a comfortable distance. The Commanders defense is mediocre at best, but it’s needn’t mattered for JSN given how he torched an elite Houston Texans team last game. What will he do against the Commanders? Will he get at least 100 receiving yards again? Will he score at least a touchdown? What about over 100 but no TD?
NFL league links
Articles
Pro Football Talk
Broncos on historic start: Defense has NFL-best 36 sacks, offense allowed NFL-best 8 sacks
Denver’s defense is leading the NFL with 36 sacks. The Broncos’ offense is also the best in the NFL at avoiding sacks, with only eight sacks allowed.
That’s not just the best in the NFL this year, it’s unprecedented in NFL history midway through a season: The 2025 Broncos are the first team in NFL history with at least 35 sacks on defense and 10 or fewer sacks allowed on offense in the first eight games of a season.
Broncos quarterback Bo Nix has only been sacked on 2.7 percent of his pass attempts, the best mark in the NFL. The Broncos’ defense has recorded a sack on 12.2 percent of their opponents’ pass attempts, which is also the best mark in the NFL. The league average is a sack on 6.8 percent of pass attempts.
The Broncos are on a five-game winning streak, and they’re going to win a whole lot more games if they keep doing two of the most important things in football: Getting to the other team’s quarterback, and keeping their own quarterback upright.
Discussion topics
Washington Post (paywall)
Jalen Hurts’s non-fumble could be a tipping point in the tush push debate
A new officiating issue came up Sunday on the Philadelphia Eagles’ signature short-yardage play: When does forward progress end?
It remains to be seen whether those discussions will lead to another formal proposal to ban the controversial signature short-yardage play of the Philadelphia Eagles and another vote of the team owners on that issue.
But this time, it appears increasingly likely that the difficulties associated with officiating the play will be a key part of the deliberations. It may have become a near certainty when the on-field officials seemed to halt the play too soon during the Eagles’ victory Sunday over the New York Giants, nullifying what should have been a fumble lost by quarterback Jalen Hurts and recovered by the Giants.
[T]he play may have been a tipping point in the tush push debate.
“There’s always something else with that play,” a high-ranking official with one team said later Sunday. “It’s just not going away. I don’t think there’s any question we’ll have to deal with it again this offseason just because there’s so much focus on it.”
Earlier this season, the main officiating issue with the tush push was the propensity of the Eagles’ offensive linemen, particularly their guards, to move just before the snap without being penalized for false starts. In September, the NFL said in its weekly training tape for game officials that the Eagles should have been called for a false start that went unpenalized on at least one of their tush pushes during a triumph over the Kansas City Chiefs; the tape instructed the officials to call “these plays tight and make sure that every aspect of the offensive team is legal.”
That issue has persisted.
