Three times since the 2012 season, Washington has made the playoffs after starting a season 3-5 or worse. In 2012, the Redskins won their final 7 games — including a victory over the AFC North Champion Ravens, who finished 10-6 — to finish with 10 wins and the NFC East crown. In 2015, after starting 3-5, the Redskins won 6 of their final 8 games, including going undefeated in the final 4 games of the season, to reach 9-7 and again take the division title.
The mountain that would need to be climbed
this season looks a lot steeper. Three of the remaining 5 non-division opponents currently have records of 5-2 or 6-2. All three division opponents are playing better football in October than they were in September.
All that means is that the Commanders have to play better than they have played so far.
That needs to start with a win against Seattle.
Offensive and defensive rankings
Seattle Defense
The Seahawks have the 10th-ranked defense in the NFL, but are the top rushing defense in the NFL, allowing just 76 rush yards per game at an average of 3.3 yards per carry. Obviously, they give up more in the passing game, where they rank 23rd, at 230 yards per game. When it comes to points per game, the Seahawks rank 7th at 19.4 points per game average.
Seattle Offense
Offensively, the Seahawks rank 11th by yardage per game, but 6th in points per game. They rank 8th in passing yardage, but 21st in rushing.
Opponents
Interestingly, Seattle and Washington have no common opponents thus far in the ‘25 season. The only opponents the two teams will have in common by the end of the season are the Vikings and Falcons — the other 2nd place teams from the NFC in 2024.
Looking at Seattle’s opponents broken down by wins & losses offers a fairly predictable result:
Seattle has beaten every sub-.500 team they have faced, and lost to every team with 5 or more wins in 2025.
Importantly, the Seahawks beat both 4-3 teams that they played — Pittsburgh and Jacksonville.
To win Sunday night’s game in Landover, the Commanders are going to have to play like a 5- or 6-win team, something that they’ve really only done once this season, against the Chargers in Week 5.
NFC East standings
- The Eagles are on a bye this week
- The Giants hosted the 49ers at 1pm, losing 34-24
- The Cowboys will play at home against the Cardinals on Monday Night Football
FanDuel currently has the Seahawks favored by 3 points, with an over/under mark of 47.5 points.
First Quarter
The Commanders got the ball to open the game, starting at their own 26-yard line after the Luke McCaffrey return. Luke hurt his shoulder on the play and was questionable to return.
Opening up in the no-huddle offense, Daniels gained 6 yards on two scrambles to bring up 3rd & 4. JD5 hit TE Zach Ertz for a 9-yard gain and the initial first-down of the game.
After a penalty for a blindside block two plays later, the Commanders faced 2nd & 25 and then 3rd & 21. Washington was unable to convert and punted on 4th & 13.
A fair catch gave the Seahawks possession at their own 10-yard line.
Three quick gains and 2 first downs put the ball at the 40.
A chop block penalty moved the Seahawks backwards by 15 yards to their own 25 yard line. After 2 plays and a false start penalty, facing 3rd & 3 at the 47 yard line, Sam Darnold hit AJ Barner in the middle of the field for 9 yards, which was followed by a 12-yard run around the left edge to the WAS 26-yard line by Kenneth Walker.
Two plays later, on 3rd & 1, Seattle lined up for a tush push, but flags flew for a false start. On 3rd & 6, Kenneth Walker caught a ball in the middle of the field for a 14-yard gain. The drive has lasted 10 plays and covered 77 yards so far.
On the next play, Marshon Lattimore was flagged for pass interference at the 3-yard line.
On 2nd & goal, another flag for DPI flew, but it didn’t matter because Tory Horton caught a 4-yard TD pass in the back of the end zone. 90-yard drive; Seahawks lead 7-0 after the PAT. It never felt as if Seattle’s offense was being challenged by Washington’s defense. It all felt rather easy.
The Commanders started the 2nd offensive drive at the 35-yard line after Jaylin Lane caught the kickoff for a touchback.
Bill Croskey-Merritt got his first touch of the game on 1st down, gaining 2 yards. After a 6-yard scramble by Jayden, on 3rd & 2, Jayden, behind great pass protection, found Ertz on the sideline for a first-down catch that was changed into a 1st-down by penalty when a defensive holding penalty was called against the Seahawks.
Washington stayed with Bill, who brought up 3rd & 1 after two good runs. The opening quarter came to an end with Jeremy McNichols getting stuffed for no gain. It will be 4th & inches at the Washington 42-yard line when play resumes.
Second Quarter
Dan Quinn decided to go for it.
Jayden faked the dive to Bill, kept the ball, rolling to his right, and hit John Bates for a 10-yard gain across midfield for an easy first down. Seattle CB Josh Jobe was injured on the play and went to the blue tent.
Two plays later, on 3rd & 2, Jayden scrambled for an apparent first down, but a 15-yards penalty for a facemask against Chris Paul changed things — now 3rd & 17 from the WASS 45-yard line.
Under heavy pressure, Jayden threw up a prayer that was intercepted by Ty Okada at the SEA 40-yard line.
Washington’s offense moved the ball before the turnover, but appeared to be working a lot harder to do so than the Seattle offense, which has good field position for its 2nd offensive drive of the game.
The easy yards continued with an 18-yard bootleg pass completion on 1st down, but came to an abrupt halt when DT Eddie Goldman stopped Charbonnet for no gain on the next snap. After a short pass completion, on 3rd & 3, Charbonnet went right up the middle for 9 yards. Quan Martin was shaken up on the tackle when his helmet and the RB’s helmet slammed into each other. Martin walked off the field under his own power.
Washington had a rare good defensive play, tackling Charbonnet for a 4-yard loss to force 3rd & 8.
It didn’t matter.
Sam Darnold hit Tory Horton with a moon ball with 5 yards’ separation against Mikey Sainristil for an easy touchdown to create a 14-0 lead for Seattle. It was a 7-play, 60-yard drive.
A running into the kicker penalty moved the spot of the kickoff.
Jaylin Lane, on the kickoff return, fumbled it — Seattle recovered a the Washington 26 yard line. This was a DISASTER!!
The dispirited Washington defense took the field, and gave up the game’s 3rd touchdown in one play – a strike to TE Elijah Arroyo.
21-0 Seahawks, and, with 2 TDs in 11 seconds, it feels as if the rout is on!
Trey Amos went to the locker room.
When Washington’s offense got back on the field, the first play was a pass that skipped off of the hands of John Bates. Luckily, no one was behind him to pick the ball off.
Following a run by Bill, on 3rd & 5, Daniels found Ertz a yard short of the line to gain on the left sideline.
Feeling desperate, Dan Quinn left his offense on the field on 4th & 1 — a play that looked promising was whistled dead for a false start.
Suddenly, the drive is a 3& out. Tress Way came out to punt with the ball at the WAS 29-yard line.
A good roll turned it into a 63-yard punt.
Washington’s defense showed signs of life, forcing 3rd & 5 at the SEA 18-yard line. On the 3rd down play, Darnold, under pressure, moved well in the pocket and hit JSN for a 22-yard catch & run. So much for signs of life.
The defense officially died on the next play. On 1st & 10 at the 40-yard line, Darnold, working the no-huddle, hit Cody White for a 60-yard catch & run touchdown, the first of his career.
The score is 28-0, and Washington — especially on defense — looks like a high school team. It’s just ugly. Somewhere in there, Trey Amos left the field (again) in apparent pain.
I can hear the ghost of Don Meredith singing Turn Out the Lights, the Party’s Over.
Deebo Samuel handled this kickoff, returning it to the 31-yard line.
What little offense Washington has produced has been mostly on Jayden Daniels scrambles. He does it again for 8 yards.
Chris Rodriguez comes on for the Commanders and carries the ball for 4 yards and a rare first-down. He then bursts forward for 12 mores yards on the next snap.
With a 9-yard completion to Deebo, the Washington offense suddenly appears to have life.
Rodriguez converts the 1st down with a 3-yard run to the Seattle 36 yard line as the officials give the 2-minute warning.
After the time out, Jayden resumed the onslaught with a 15-yard completion to Jaylin Lane, which was followed by a solid 5-yard run by CRod. Timeout called by SEA because Ernest Jones was shaken up with 69 seconds left in the half.
Following an incomplete pass, on 3rd & 5 (feels like a 4-down situation), Jayden scrambled on what Mike Trico called a “nifty run” for 12 yards to the 1-yard line, 1st & goal.
Kliff Kingsbury kept it simple; Daniels took the ball off of left tackle on a called QB run — TOUCHDOWN.
After the PAT, the score was 28-7. The 10-play drive covered 61 yards and looked easy for the Washington offense. There are 53 seconds left in the half; hopefully, the defense gets a Kansas City-style end-of-half stop.
Things started well on special teams with Tyler Owens making the tackle at the 24-yard line.
The defense responds by giving up a 20-yard pass to JSN, followed by a 7-yard pass to Barner.
AND THEN, a 26-yard completion to JSN. OUCH.
Per ESPN, Darnold is currently 16-16 for 256 yards and 4 touchdowns. Washington can’t even slow him down.
When the clock hit 3 seconds. Seattle attemptd a 41-yard field goal, which he made easily, to end the half with the score standing at 31-7.
The Seahawks will get the ball again to open the second half.
Halftime Stats
Statistics via ESPN
Third Quarter
Answering questions on TV, Dan Quinn was clearly frustrated and pissed off.
The Seattle returner muffed the kickoff, but picked it up and returned the ball to the 19-yard line.
After two plays, on 3rd & 1, Sam Darnold threw his first incomplete pass of the day — a ball that hit Marshon Lattimore in the back and fell harmlessly to the grass. This is exactly the start Washington needed!
Seahawks LB Ernest Jones is ruled out of the game.
After the punt, Washington started its initial offensive drive of the half at its own 21-yard line.
After a Croskey-Merritt run, Daniels floated a 25-yard pass to Zach Ertz on 2nd & 5.
Two plays later, Daniels couldn’t quite figure out how to step out of pressure and took a 7-yard sack to force 3rd & 13. An incomplete pass ended the drive at the 48-yard line, and Tress Way returned to the field. His punt was fair-caught at the 12-yard line. The comeback isn’t gonna happen this way.
The Seattle drive begins with a DPI flag against CB Jonathan Jones, moving the ball out to the SEA 45-yard line.
Trey Amos is back on the field, and makes a great tackle on 2nd down to force 3rd & 4 at the SEA 46-yard line. Lattimore has been ruled out of the game at this point.
On the 3rd down play, Darnold, under pressure, moves in the pocket, then, aiming a pass at Cody White — GETS INTECEPTED BY MIKEY SAINRISTIL!!
After a Deebo run and a Jayden scramble, on 3rd & 1, Chris Rodriguez lowered his head and bulled forward for the first down at the SEA 41-yard line.
After Ertz was flagged for his 2nd false start of the night, Jayden was sacked for a 1-yard loss to force 3rd & 15. On the 3rd down play, Washington was flagged for a chop block that was declined because Jayden’s pass was incomplete.
On 4th & 15, Dan Quinn said, “why not?” and left the offense on the field.
Jayden spun out of pressure and scrambled. For a moment it looked like he might break free, but Leonard Williams tackled him for a 6-yard gain, ending the drive and giving the ball back to the Seahawks at their own 40-yard line.
With under 6 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter, Washington can’t afford to have unproductive offensive drives.
What looked like a very good defensive play on 2nd & 4 ended up going Seattle’s way.
A penalty for holding on Sainristil was declined. 1st & 10 at the WAS 33 yard line.
On 3rd & 5, Darnold hit Smith-Njigba for 10 yards in the middle of the field with Trey Amos in coverage.
On the next snap, Kenneth Walker knifed through the defense on a 12-yard run, and a facemask penalty was added on to make it 1st & goal inside the 4-yard line. Things are looking very grim for the good guys.
With 2:35 on the clock for the 3rd quarter, the Seahawks spread the field on 1st down, but Frankie Luvu breaks up a pass at the goal line.
Kenneth Walker was stopped at the 1-yard line on 2nd down; at least the Commanders are making it tough on them.
On third down, TE AJ Barner took the snap and ran the tush push into the end zone — chants of “AJ Barner…AJ Barner…AJ Barner” could clearly be heard on the TV broadcast as Seattle fans at the game celebrated.
The drive covered 60 yards in 9 plays. With under 2 minutes left in the quarter, the score is Seattle 38, Washington 7.
I think we can officially declare the patient dead.
Following the touchback, Washington’s offense took the field again at the 35-yard line.
Deebo did his part with a 19-yard catch & run across midfield.
Soon after, Jayden is sacked for a loss of 10 yards on the 3rd & 4 play as the quarter comes to an end.
Fourth Quarter
Facing 4th & 14 at the 50-yard line, and trailing by 31 points, will Dan Quinn keep his offense on the field?
No. Tress Way opens the final quarter with a punt.
It seems reasonable to wonder if we’ll see Marcus Mariota when the Commanders offense next takes the field.
The Seahawks offense takes over at the 14-yard line. Seattle has out-classed the Commanders in every way all night long. Now, it’s likely that the offense will focus on just running out the clock and getting back to the west coast without adding to the injury report. Speaking of injuries, Quan Martin is questionable to return.
The Seahawks open in a heavy formation facing a stacked box by the Washington defense; Charbonnet makes positive yards anyway. On 3rd & 4, Walker breaks Luvu’s tackle, but is ultimately stopped short of the line to gain. Three & out for Washington’s defense, but with under 13 minutes to play, it’s too little, too late.
Washington’s offense takes the field at the WAS 35-yard line to play out the string with No. 5 still behind center.
Break out those college player profiles and start fine-tuning your mock drafts. The 2025 season has come to the point where the game is over mid-3rd quarter.
As the Commanders offense does its thing on the field, most of the network coverage is showing Seattle players on the sidelines while telling stories about their favorite hobbies.
The Washington drive is helped out by a taunting penalty against Woolen after a big tackle on Croskey-Merrit.
Trey Burks made his first reception as a Commander for 14 yards.
Jaylin Lane converted a 3rd & 6 with a 7-yard reception that brought up 1st & goal inside the 7-yard line.
Chris Rodriguez ran for 4 yards, and then Jayden was sacked on a scramble and was immediately in clear pain. The replay showed his left arm getting bent the wrong way under his body as he went to the ground. I’m no doctor, but this looked like a season-ending injury to me.
WARNING: DON’T LOOK AT THE TWEET BELOW IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH.
It’s hard to understand why he was even in the game at this point. Dan Quinn will be facing a LOT of questions after the game.
With just over 7 minutes on the clock, Marcus Mariota hands the ball to Chris Rodriguez, who scores Washington’s 2nd touchdown of the game. The score is now 38-14, but the shadow of the Daniels injury — his third of the season — darkens everything.
There is still a game to be played and 7:14 remaining on the game clock, so Washington kicks off to Seattle. The Seahawks start their next offensive drive at the 28-yard line as the network shows Jayden being escorted to the locker room.
Seattle head coach Mike McDonald decided to sit his starting quarterback. Darnold went to the bench as Drew Lock took the field. I don’t expect anyone to call any time outs before the final whistle blows on this game.
Seattle, after running 3 plays, punts.
Mariota comes on the field, starting at his own 17-yard line with about 4 1/2 minutes left in the game.
He is basically just handing the ball to Bill Croskey-Merritt, who runs for 6 yards, 3 yards, 11 yards to open the drive.
Rodriguez carries the ball on the next snap — the last play before the 2-minute warning.
A few more handoffs get us to the final whistle, and the Commanders head to the locker room to lick their wounds as happy Seattle fans celebrate a big win.
Washington’s 2025 season seems to have hit an iceberg and is on its way to the bottom of the North Atlantic.
Full Game Stats
Statistics via ESPN
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