What is the story about?
The
Commanders’ offense struggled on the ground Saturday as Washington fell to the Detroit Lions 17-13 at Ford Field in Detroit.
Here are some of the quick facts from the Commanders’ preseason Week 2 loss:
- Jayden Daniels only played three offensive snaps. Two were ugly pass plays where protection broke down, resulting in Daniels dumping the first pass and being sacked the second. Daniels handed off on 3rd-and-20.
- The Commanders defense forced two turnovers on the Lions’ first two possessions. Amik Robertson’s sack/fumble on Joshua Dobbs resulted in a Joshua Josephs touchdown recovery in the end zone. Then Quan Martin intercepted a very late, forced Dobbs pass on the second possession.
- Rookie WR Jaden Bradley had an acrobatic 30-yard over-the-shoulder one-handed catch. He finished with two receptions for 42 yards.
- Rookie Antonio Williams and Jacoby Jones both collected three receptions on three targets for 41 and 37 yards, respectively.
- Rookie quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis took a second step toward winning the third quarterback spot. He completed 11 of 14 for 162 passing yards and was not sacked. Hartman or Kaliakmanis will most likely be placed on the practice squad.
- The Commanders’ running game looked great last week vs the Dolphins and weak Saturday against the Lions. The Lions shut down the Commanders to a mere 35 rushing yards on 17 carries. Kaytron Allen carried the load, gaining 30 yards on his 10 carries. The Commanders had only one rushing first down.
- Rookie Robert Henry had a very disappointing game. His four carries produced -3 yards. Even more, Henry fumbled a kickoff return in the final quarter.
- WR Van Jefferson left the game injured. The Commanders have yet to declare the nature of Jefferson’s injury.
- The Commanders listed 15 players out for the Lions’ game due to injury.
The list of players not playing today (of this list the lone unexpected one is Croskey-Merritt. Came up a little gimpy after a play Thursday. Was in good spirits after practice and seemed to be walking fine): pic.twitter.com/M09JZkQDoX
— John Keim (@john_keim) August 22, 2026
- The Commanders' defense surrendered 169 rushing yards on 35 Lions’ carries, who averaged 4.8 yards per carry.
- The Commanders defense did produce five quarterback sacks (Maurice Hurst 2, Javontae Jean-Baptiste, Amik Robertson, T.J. Maguranyanga).
- The Commanders’ defense struggled to get off the field as the Lions produced 65 offensive snaps, while Washington had only 45.
- New kicker, undrafted rookie Drew Stevens, made both of his field goal attempts (27 and 32 yards).
- Another issue is that the Commanders had 11 penalties for 84 yards.
- The Commanders have a controlled scrimmage Wednesday, then their final preseason game (both against the Ravens) on August 28 in Baltimore at 6 PM.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Quick facts and numbers from Commanders' preseason loss to Lions
