Washington Commanders

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Division: NFC East (2nd)

Record: 12-5 (4-2 in division)

Playoffs: NFC Wild Card - 6th seed

• Wild Card round: @ Tampa - W 23-20
• Divisional round: @ Detroit - W 45-31
• NFC Championship Game: @ Philadelphia - L 23-55

Season Awards/Honors

• Jayden Daniels, QB: NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, Pro Bowl
• Terry McLaurin, WR: Pro Bowl, All-Pro (2nd team)
• Bobby Wagner, LB: All-Pro (2nd team)
• Frankie Luvu, LB: All-Pro (2nd team)
• Austin Ekeler, RB: All-Pro (2nd team) as kick returner

Season Overview - "There's a kid in Washington..."

This was, by every conceivable measure, the best season of football in Washington since the last Super Bowl run in 1991. And if you ask most fans, it was also the most exciting, eclipsing even the late fall run to the playoffs in 2012 with RGIII. The most shocking part: It was completely unexpected. We all knew there would be improvement with the addition of a sparkly new QB and near-complete turnover of the front office, coaching staff, and even roster.

But we all thought this team would develop its young QB, build the foundation for later years, and show good progress to maybe get above .500. We were wrong.

This team was electric, exciting, and downright nasty on offense. They moved the ball at will and seemed to never give it up. Tress Way punted with 11:15 left in the first game on Sept. 8 and wouldn't punt again until Sept. 29! This was a Top 5 offense being run by a rookie with a supporting cast of Terry McLaurin, a few "washed" vets, and a long list of "who's that?" dudes. How did this happen? How was there such a huge improvement from a 4-13 barf-fest of a 2023 season to an appearance in the NFC Championship Game?

Short answer: Jayden Daniels. Picking up 3rd/4th downs with his legs, throwing open receivers, reading blitzes and immediately making the right decision, deep balls, short screens, laser slants across the middle, fades, curls, hitches...he did it all.

The longer answer is that our new GM with his new staff and our new HC with his new staff brought in a ton of veterans who were supposed to incrementally increase the overall talent level of a roster that had suffered through years of draft misses and free agent mistakes. Then, they hit on QB and a few other players in the draft, the entire roster bought in to a new cultural philosophy, and the on-field result wasn't just incremental improvement:

Team Stats

Massive improvements across the board on offense. The funniest stat here is actually the small improvement in pass yards per game. Why is that funny? Because in 2023, Sam Howell attempted 612 passes; Jayden Daniels had 480 attempts in 2024!

The newness of the 2024 Commanders cannot be overstated. They basically created a new team almost entirely from scratch.

A New Franchise

From ownership all the way down to the practice squad, the vast majority of Commanders were entirely new. Let's start at the top, which happens to be a good place to start the 2024 timeline:

Ownership

The sale of the Washington Commanders was finalized on July 20, 2023, just in time to pin the abysmal 4-13 2023 campaign on new ownership without giving them any time to do anything before camp started. Thanks, Dan!

The ownership group was led by Josh Harris, private equity billionaire and noted NBA/NHL ownership terrorist, and included Mitchell Rales (private equity), Magic Johnson (of Magic Johnson fame), Mark Ein (venture capital), and a lot of other people. They all said the right things at the time and vowed to focus on recreating a football powerhouse.

And it wasn't just talk. In addition to committing money to upgrade the practice facility and literal poop-water stadium, they started making substantive roster moves in 2023 to prepare for 2024. There were several smaller moves, but the two biggest came in mid-season. On Oct. 31, 2023, they traded DE Montez Sweat to the Bears for a 2024 second-round pick. The next day, they traded DE Chase Young to the 49ers for a 2024 third-round pick. It was the beginning of the end for the all-first round defensive line that was a source of mild pride in Washington. But it was also the beginning of an obvious strategy to hoard draft picks and really transform the team.

The season ended and the 4-13 Commanders were awarded the second overall pick in 2024.

On Jan. 8, 2024, Ron Rivera was fired after four seasons. Almost everyone on his staff and in the front office was also let go. The same day as the firings, Josh Harris announced a "rapid but thorough" search for a new GM. After years of HC/GMs or GMs that didn't really do football, he was committing to a traditional NFL organizational structure that would begin with, in his words, the most important move he could make as owner.

General Manager

The GM search, as promised, was thorough and certainly rapid. Harris and ownership partners Rales and Magic led the search, assisted by former Golden State Warriors president and GM Bob Myers and former Minnesota Vikings GM Rick Speilman as advisors. They interviewed about a half-dozen active assistant GMs and narrowed it down to two: Ian Cunningham of the Bears and Adam Peters of the 49ers.

On Jan. 12, 2024, Adam Peters was hired as the new Commanders GM. While young for a GM (44), Peters is highly respected in the league as assistant GM in San Francisco with substantial experience in Denver and New England, both places his teams won Super Bowls.

Peters' hire was universally applauded by fans, the media, and the league at large, all of whom saw him as a rising star in front office circles. The only shocking aspect of the hire was that Washington had made the obvious right move. That seemed out of character. But as Harris had promised, things were going to be different.

Peters knew that his roster work would be Herculean, potentially Sisyphean given the franchise's history, but he waited to fill out his personnel staff. When he was hired, he said that his initial focus would be on creating a winning culture, and for that, he knew he and Harris had to hit on Head Coach.

Head Coach and Culture

With new ownership and a respectable GM, the franchise now seemed attractive to head coaching candidates, especially with the #2 overall pick in hand. Harris, Peters, and crew interviewed everyone it seemed: Anthony Weaver, Mike Macdonald, Aaron Glenn, Bobby Slowik, Raheem Morris, Eric Bieniemy (lol), Dan Quinn, and Ben Johnson.

A clear favorite emerged: Ben Johnson, the belle of the ball.

On Jan. 30, 2024, Johnson informed the team that he would be staying in Detroit as OC. Official reporting said that Johnson backed out of an in-person interview while the Commanders were on a flight to Detroit. The team found out through social media first. Johnson changed his mind because he wanted another crack at a Super Bowl in Detroit.

Things got a little ugly. Reporting indicated that Johnson was turned off by the "basketball guys" in Washington (Magic, Myers, and Harris, one assumes). The Commanders countered that Johnson was a horrible interview anyway. Regardless, it wasn't the right fit, there was bad blood, and it was the first real setback for the new Washington Commanders franchise. Worse yet, many teams had chosen their coaches (the Commanders had to wait on Johnson because the Lions were in the NFCCG) and it looked like Washington would have to settle again.

On Feb. 1, 2024, the Commanders hired Dan Quinn as Head Coach. He was most recently the DC in Dallas, where his teams went 12-5 in each of his three seasons. He had a head coaching record above .500 in Atlanta and coached the Falcons to a Super Bowl appearance. And he was the DC during Seattle's Legion of Boom era with two consecutive Super Bowl appearances and one win.

None of that mattered to fans, of course. All we saw was Ron Rivera 2.0, and 28-3, of course. "Same old 'Skins," we lamented.

Then Quinn started talking. Sure, he said all the "right things" in his initial appearances. But he also began to articulate the foundation for a new organizational philosophy and culture. He started talking about his and Peters' personnel philosophy. The main traits they were looking for in players are aggression, work ethic, and character. Talent was no longer the sole determinant.

Talent is massively important in the NFL, of course. But you have to understand how this organization weaponized talent for decades. Dan Snyder had set up a truly toxic locker room environment where the most talented players got insane privileges, as long as Snyder could call them "friends." The most famous examples were Clinton Portis and RGIII. The overriding need to pursue talent at all other costs was coming to a close in Washington.

Quinn wanted players who wanted to work every day and give 110% on every play. Now he just needed to find his staff and Peters needed to find his.

Coaching and Front Office Staff

Dan Quinn's coaching superpower is getting players to buy in to a system and philosophy. But this was already known. Less known is the deep respect he enjoys around the league among players and coaches. Over the course of two weeks, Quinn leveraged that respect and put together a great staff filled with experience. The team retained only four coaches from the previous regime: Bobby Engram (WRs), Tavita Pritchard (QBs), Ryan Kerrigan (DEs), Shane Toub (offensive quality control). Everyone else is new. Notable hires:

Kliff Kingsbury, Offensive Coordinator - A former head coach with Arizona (and Texas Tech), the record-setting college QB is a known offensive guru. This is his first OC job in the NFL.

Joe Whitt, Jr., Defensive Coordinator - Whitt had been with Quinn since 2020 in Atlanta and Dallas as defensive pass game coordinator/secondary coach and was well-respected for his work with DBs.

Larry Izzo, Special Teams Coordinator - Izzo held this position previously with Seattle and Houston and was respected in the league.

Brian Johnson, Pass Game Coordinator/Asst. Head Coach - Most recently the OC in Philly, he was run out of town as a scapegoat for the Eagles' late-season collapse in 2023.

Anthony Lynn, Run Game Coordinator/RBs - Another coach with HC experience (Chargers, 2017-20), Lynn was also OC in Detroit and came over from San Fran where he coached RBs.

Bobby Johnson, Offensive Line - A longtime OL coach in the league, Johnson was the most hated man in New York. But as noted earlier, things worked OK on that front for us in 2024.

Ken Norton, Jr., LBs - Norton previously held DC positions in Seattle and Oakland and is a widely-respected LB and defensive coach in the league. The former all-pro LB was considered a big get for the Commanders' staff.

John Pagano, Senior Defensive Asst. - The brother of Chuck Pagano, John previously held the DC position with the Chargers and Raiders.

Lance Newmark, Asst. General Manager - Newmark is a highly-respected front office guy who had been with Detroit since 1999 in various personnel roles.

Brandon Sosna, SVP of Football Operations - A very young rising star in front office circles, Sosna was also previously with Detroit and held the title of Associate Athletic Director with the USC Trojans.

Dave Gardi, SVP of Football Initiatives - Previously a successful head coach at Hofstra (1990-2005, 119-62-2) and the DC with the Jets (1981-85), Gardi transitioned to front office work after his Hofstra stint.

Scott Fitterer, Personnel exec. - The former GM in Carolina had also spent 20 years in Seattle's front office.

Great! Now we need players.

Free Agency

This could take forever. Just know this: 61% of the players on the 2024 Commanders' roster were not on the team in 2023, the highest percentage in the league by far. They signed SO MANY PLAYERS. So we'll cover the notable signings:

Austin Ekeler, RB - 2 yr/$11.4 million - Former superstar with washed allegations

Bobby Wagner, LB - 1 yr/$8.5 million - HOF LB with washed allegations

Zach Ertz, TE - 1 yr/$5 million - Former superstar with washed allegations

Frankie Luvu, LB - 3 yr/$36 million - A young, highly-regarded LB, he actively wanted to play for Quinn

Tyler Biadasz, C- 3 yr/$30 million - A solid veteran center who is on the right side of 30

Dorance Armstrong, DE - 3 yr/$45 million (with incentives) - Played for Quinn in Dallas

Jeremy Chinn, S - 1 yr/$5.2 million - Another respected defensive player who admired Quinn

Dante Fowler, Jr., DE - 1 year - Quinn robbed the Cowboys of another defensive starter/rotational piece

Nick Allegretti, G - 3 yr/$16 million - A wily vet under 30 who can start or be a swing OL

Noah Igbinoghene, CB - 1 year - A former first-round pick, he is still super-young and will provide depth

Olamide Zaccheaus, WR - 1 year - Small, shifty, and still young, OZ provided veteran depth at WR

Brandon McManus, K - 1 yr/$3.6 million - After some kicking woes in 2023, the FO wanted to lock down the position

Again, we could be here all day discussing FA signings in 2024. But the group above, combined with a few notable holdovers (Terry McLaurin, RB Brian Robinson, G Sam Cosmi, S Quan Martin, LT Andrew Wylie, DTs Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne, and ST/S Jeremy Reaves) and a few rookies were the core of the 2024 Commanders' Roster. Well, except for one. More on that later.

2024 Draft

Adam Peters' time to shine! With a bunch of premium picks, including #2 overall and six picks in the Top 100, a lot was being put into this draft.

The debate about what to do at QB dragged on forever. The Jayden Daniels vs. Drake Maye was exhausting, and there was even a faction that wanted to roll with Sam Howell and trade #2 overall for a windfall of picks, maybe a premium player.

After some trades, here's how our draft shook out:

Overall, this was a very good draft. Jayden was obviously the big hit, but Sainristil and Coleman basically started all year and Newton was in heavy rotation at DT once he healed from a known 2023 injury. Sinnott and McCaffrey (Christian's brother) were very capable, but simply couldn't find meaningful snaps behind established vets. Magee and Hampton were injured most of the season and Jean-Baptiste actually looked very promising, especially for a 7th, early before an ankle injury derailed him.

We expect more out of this group in 2025 and they all showed that's not a pipe dream.

Offseason Drama and Late Moves

On June 2, the Commanders released K Brandon McManus after sexual assault allegations went public. After all the horrendous allegations made against the previous owner, the current ownership group and front office had zero tolerance for similar headaches, especially when it involved a kicker. McManus was eventually cleared of wrongdoing and had an amazing 2024 season in Green Bay. But again, we just weren't the club to hold his hand while that drama unfolded.

On Aug. 22, the Commanders traded for K Cade York for a conditional 7th round pick to the Browns. That same day, the Commanders traded WR Jahan Dotson (16th overall pick, 2022) and a 2025 5th round pick to Philadelphia for a 3rd round pick and two 7th round picks. Another recent first round pick goes bye-bye.

On Aug. 29, the Commanders signed WR Noah Brown for 1 yr/$1.2 million.

The preseason is done and the roster is set. Let's play some football.

Season Timeline and Game Summaries

Sept. 8 @ Tampa Bay - L, 20-37: Yeah, we got Baker’d

Jayden Daniels’ first play in a real game went horribly. Attempting to hit RB Brian Robinson out of the backfield, he threw a terrible backward pass behind Robinson that was tipped and went out of bounds for a 13-yard loss. Things improved a little as he settled down, but this game was never in doubt. Down early 13-0 and trailing 16-7 at halftime, the Commanders had no answer for Baker Mayfield, who went 24/30 for 289 YDs and 4 TDs, and Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Cade York missed two field goals, leading to an immediate cut the next day. Jayden finished the game 17/24, 184 YDs and rushed for 88 YDs and his first 2 TDs.

MOVE: Sept. 9 – Released K Cade York, signed K Austin Siebert

Sept. 15 - NY Giants - W, 21-18: Punter: “I don’t wanna play today.” New kicker: “I got you.”

This was a kicker game! On the opening kickoff, Giants kicker Graham Gano got hurt, leaving them with no kicker. Austin Siebert, who was signed to the Commanders days earlier, decided to do all the kicking for both teams and hit seven field goals. The Commanders did not punt in this game. The offense simply stayed on the field and converted 3rd and 4th downs. This was the first glimpse of the Kliff Kingsbury offense as imagined. Jayden took a big shot to the ribs in the 2nd quarter and had to come out for a play, but he came back. First win of the season, first home win, and first division win. Jayden: 23/29, 226 YDs, 44 YDs rushing; Robinson: 133 YDs rushing.

Sept. 23 (MNF) @ Cincinnati - W, 38-33: Coming out party under the bright lights

Jayden Daniels picked a Monday night game to suddenly remember that his WR1 was Terry McLaurin. Scary Terry had just 39 YDs on 8 catches in the first two games. But he hit 100 in this one as Daniels learned to trust him. Although the final score was close, the Commanders controlled this game, leading by two scores for much of the second half. And for the second straight week, no punts. Jayden delivered a mind-bogglingly efficient game in primetime (21/23, 254 YDs, 2 TDs and one rushing TD) while Joe Burrow (324/3) and Ja’Marr Chase (118/2) did everything they could to keep up. In a season with a lot of “Holy shit!” plays, the first came in this game.

Injuries: Austin Ekeler left the game in the second half with a concussion.

Sept. 29 @ Arizona - W, 42-17: Kliff Kingsbury revenge game butt-whippin’

The Cardinals marched down the field on the opening possession to go up 7-0. After that, it was a total massacre. Another elitely efficient game by Jayden (26/30, 233 YDs, 1 TD passing and 1 running, and his first pick) and another good game from Robinson (101 YDs, 1 TD). Jeremy McNichols got some action, and 2 TDs, in Ekeler’s absence. Tress Way begrudgingly came out for his first punt in nearly a month (just one, a 51-yarder!).

This game also factored heavily into the early season vibes around this team. They decided to fly to Arizona directly from Cincinnati after MNF to blunt the effects of a short week and cross-country flight. This player-forward thinking never would have been considered under the previous regime.

Oct. 6 - Browns - W, 34-13: Dominating a known sex pest

The Commanders never trailed in this game, and honestly, it was more brutal than the final score indicates. Deshaun Watson was sacked 7 times, including a strip-sack by Frankie Luvu. Jayden shook off an early goal-line INT to go 14/25, 238, 1 TD and 82 YDs rushing. Ekeler gained nearly 100 all-purpose YDs in his return from concussion and Terry went for 112.

The fanbase was ravenous after this game. The Commanders are sitting at 4-1 on a four-game ass-kicking streak. Jayden looks legit, neither Ertz nor Ekeler are anywhere near washed, Terry is Terry and the free agents on defense, led by psychopath Frankie Luvu and dean of NFL LBs Bobby Wagner, are doing enough to keep us in games. There were rumblings about quality of opponents, sure, but that would all be sorted out in time. In fact, next week…

Oct. 13 @ Baltimore - L, 23-30: Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry sure are good at football

This was supposed to be the game that “exposed” the Commanders. But Washington hung around. The game started slowly as a punt and FG fest, but a flurry of TDs late in the second (and a Commanders missed field goal) led to a halftime score of 17-10 Ravens. The second half started promisingly for Washington, but Derrick Henry took over en route to 132 YDs and 2 TDs. Lamar was electric, going 20/26 for 323 YDs, 1 TD and 1 INT (the first pick of rookie CB Mikey Sainristil’s career!). Jayden played very well again, logging a line of 24/35, 269 YDs and 2 TDs. Terry McLaurin had 2 TDs. But this game was a low point in the early season not just because of the loss, but because…

Injuries: Jonathan Allen left the game with a torn pec (trying to tackle Henry, of course)

Oct. 20 - Panthers - W, 40-7: Ignore the score, the franchise is dead!

This game was not competitive. The Commanders were up 37-0 before the Panthers scored. The first score of the game was a 67-yard pick-six by DE Dante Fowler. But that, of course, was not the story of this game. Jayden Daniels got tackled awkwardly on a 46-yard run on Washington’s first offensive play and was obviously hurt in the ribs. He stayed in the game and finished the drive (a FG), but he wouldn’t return. Everyone in the DMV died. First Jon Allen is out for the season (we were told) and now Jayden?!? Cursed-ass franchise. Marcus Mariota played like a beast, though (18/23, 205 YDs) with two TDs to TEs (Zach Ertz and rookie Ben Sinnott).

The highs after the Browns game just two weeks prior had given way to familiar darkness. A loss to our regional rival and injuries to two key players had us thinking the worst. During the week, the front office and coaching staff tried to assure us that Jayden was fine. Hurt, but fine. But we all had a sinking feeling that Jayden’s frame had caught up to him. And then the team did something interesting between games…

MOVE: Oct. 22 – Released LB Jamin Davis (19th overall pick, 2021). This was a long time coming for many fans. Davis was not hated in Washington, but he never really fit anywhere. He is undersized for a LB with blazing speed, but without the skills to covert to safety. At least it was a distraction from the injuries.

Oct. 27 - Bears - W, 18-15: Except for the very end, this was an ass game

It really was an ass game, mostly. Jayden played well, but he was obviously in pain. Interestingly, this was his top passing performance of the season, yardage-wise (326), but many of those came on…you know. Washington hit four-straight field goals to go up 12-0 late in the 3rd. And then D’Andre Swift broke a big TD run out of nowhere, we missed a field goal, and it was suddenly 12-7 with the ball in Caleb Williams’ hands with 4:21 left. Caleb then put together a drive that ended in a TD and two-point conversion to go up 15-12 with 0:25 left. The darkness was really taking hold now. We got the kickoff and Jayden hit Ertz with a pass over the middle that required us to take our final timeout. 0:06 left, ball on the 35. Jayden decided to go for a quick sideline pass to Terry and it worked for 13 yards. Now we’re at the 49 with one play left. We all know what’s coming, even Tyrique Stevenson. Noah Brown’s sole TD of the year.

The play changed everything. It seemed to exorcise an ancient curse. Our team was now on the receiving end of miracles. Not only that, the team was 6-2 with real postseason prospects. Commanders gear started popping up in the wild. People started saying the word “Commanders,” out loud. And most importantly, kids started caring about the local football team again after years of indifference.

Nov. 3 @ NY Giants - W, 27-22: A good team beating a bad rival

The first half of the first quarter was ho-hum with neither team really doing much, other than the Giants effectively running the ball. But then Washington got a turnover on a bizarre play where there was a clear fumble on replay, but the officials had called the play dead on the field. Bobby Wagner recovered it anyway and ran it in for a TD, so they awarded us the ball at the spot he recovered it? Handle your business, league. Anyway, after that it was all Commanders, leading 21-7 at half and never really threatened until the very end on a late Giants score that wasn’t enough. Jayden’s day was pedestrian but efficient (15/22, 209 YDs and 2 TDs to Terry McLaurin) and our RB4, Chris Rodriguez, activated due to a Brian Robinson injury, had 52 YDs and featured prominently in the game-ending drive to run out the clock.

We’re sitting at 7-2 with a season sweep of a division rival. But the schedule is getting harder, so the front office makes its first big in-season move…

MOVE: Nov. 5 - Traded for Saints CB Marshon Lattimore and Saints’ 2025 5th round pick for Commanders’ 2025 3rd, 4th, and 6th round picks. Lattimore is a top CB in the league with tons of accolades and was still under contract for 2025 and 2026. The Saints also agreed to eat his salary for 2024. But there was a catch: He was injured (hamstring). Peters kept trying to set the expectation that this was a move for the future, a premium player under control for two more years. But we needed dudes now to help with a playoff run. Maybe the hammy wasn’t so bad. We’ll see.

Nov. 10 - Steelers - L, 27-28: A frustrating “test”

Another test game for the Commanders’ against good competition. Maybe Lattimore would be the difference. Nope, inactive. Washington played this one well early, leading 17-14 at half (after an epic, 15-play 94-yard drive to close the first half) and went up two scores early in the 3rd. But then the frustrations started, mostly around Russell Wilson still being good at his job. We couldn’t capitalize on two second-half turnovers and the Steelers kept moving. We barely missed a 4th down conversion very late in the game down 28-27 and then Russ got rookie DT Johnny Newton to jump on a hard count on 4th & 1 at midfield with a minute left. Ballgame.

Nov. 14 (TNF) @ Philadelphia - L, 18-26: A great team beating a good rival

A short-week primetime game on Prime. Fun! Will we see Lattimore matching up against AJ Brown? Nah, not yet. The Commanders again started well at led at halftime 7-3 (although Philly did miss two FGs in the half). Frankie Luvu had a great sack on an attempted trick play that resulted in Jalen Hurts being evaluated for a concussion. He was fine, but that would not be the only Luvu-Hurts head interaction this season! We stretched it to 10-3 early in the 3rd. But then Saquon Barkley took over, as he does, with a 146/2 game. Jayden threw a pick late, but had a decent game (22/32, 191 YDs, 1 TD), Ekeler led all Washington receivers with 89 YDs and Ertz caught a TD in front of his old home crowd.

Nov. 24 - Cowboys - L, 26-34: Euphoria, then despair

No Lattimore, but we felt good about getting right against the Cowboys. But boy did this game stink in the first half. Blocked FG, missed FGs by both teams, turnovers galore. It resulted in a 3-3 game at half. Both teams scored TDs on their opening drives in the second half (we missed a PAT). There was a little lull and then things got real crazy real fast. Blocking TE John Bates had a bad fumble on the opening play of a drive with 8:11 left in the game. That opened a frenzy of scoring by both teams that settled at 27-20 Cowboys with 1:44 left. We attempted an onside kick that failed, but we held them to a three-and-out and got the ball back on our 14 with 0:33 left in the game and no timeouts. We can’t even attempt a Hail Mary from there. What happened next is probably the most exciting play in Terry McLaurin’s exciting career. I think Jayden was trying to hit Terry on a long, semi-desperation (although absolutely perfect) pass that he would simply corral and step out of bounds. But Terry decided to cut it inside, turned on the jets, and went 86 YDs for the game-tying TD. I mean, game-tying after the PAT of course. WE MISSED THE FUCKING PAT?!? Are you kidding? So we attempt another onside kick down 26-27 and they scoop it up for a TD, giving us the margin of victory.

Injuries: Austin Ekeler taken to hospital with a concussion (!) sustained on the final kickoff from Dallas with basically no time left on the clock.

This was the lowpoint of the season, vibes-wise. Not only had another miracle play been given to us and then ripped away, we were on a three-game losing streak and now sitting at 7-5. Plus, the Lattimore thing was getting old. Play already dude. Had the league figured us out? Was this the Kliff cliff everyone talked about? Also, Ekeler being in the hospital with his second bad concussion of the season had everyone concerned. Time for the front office to make a move and distract us.

MOVE: Nov. 30 - Waived CB Emmanuel Forbes (16th overall pick, 2023). The Emmanuel Forbes disaster began about two minutes after he was announced as our pick when New England sprinted to the podium to draft Christian Gonzalez, who we passed on to draft a 6’1’’ CB that weighed in at 166. Although undeniably fast (4.35) and highly productive at Miss St. (14 INTs in three seasons, including SIX pick-sixes), he’s just doesn’t have an NFL body. I know that’s rich coming from a Jayden glazer, but Daniels at least passes the eye test on thickness. Forbes does not.

Dec. 1 - Titans - W, 42-19: Cathartic annihilation

The team did not get the message about the darkness. The Titans rolled into town and were down 28-0 very early in the 2nd quarter. It was ugly. At one point in the first quarter, Tennessee fumbled, we quickly scored and kicked off, and they fumbled the kickoff. We held the ball for more than 40 minutes and everyone ate: Jayden (25/30, 206 YDs, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 1 rushing TD), Terry (73/2), BRob (103/1), Ertz also scored. An awesome, good-vibes home win on a nice late-fall day.

BYE WEEK – Finally! Our boys needed this. They hadn’t had a break. In addition to Ekeler and Lattimore, who needed time for injuries, everyone was banged up at this point in the season, as all NFL players are. Plus, with the extra week rest, we’re sure to see Lattimore next game, RIGHT?!?

MOVE: Dec. 12 – Claimed WR KJ Osborn off waivers from New England. He played only 19 snaps for us in 2024, but I am noting it here because as of this writing, the Commanders have re-signed him for 2025.

Dec. 15 @ New Orleans - W, 20-19: The beginning of the Cardiac Commanders run

Lattimore is starting! Lattimore is starting against his former team! Aaaand, they avoided him all game. Literally no balls thrown his way at all. Cool, I guess. Jake Haener started this game for the Saints and he was ASS. Washington led 14-0 at half and stretched it to 17-0 out of the break as the Saints turned to Spencer Rattler. They chipped away at the lead all half and the Commanders could muster only one additional FG (missing another). Then, with 1:55 left in the game, down 20-13, Rattler put together an 11-play, 54-yard drive and scored with no time remaining. Kick the PAT and go into OT, or go for the win on an untimed down? They went for the win and this happened. A defensive stop to close out a game!

Cardiac Commanders

Most people think this nickname started with the Hail Mary game. That’s part of it, along with the first Dallas game, but the Cardiac Commanders really refers to the stretch run beginning in New Orleans that saw an abnormally high number of last-second wins. This stretch, along with the Detroit win, will be talked about for a long time in the DMV. I will summarize these games briefly so we can get to the playoffs. Plus, I don’t want to re-live every detail because I survived the first time and I’m not sure that’s promised a second time.

Dec. 22 - Eagles - W, 36-33: Hurts don’t play defense, though

Luvu knocked out Jalen Hurts early in the first quarter. Barkley torched us again (150/2), we turned the ball over 5 times, but Jayden had 5 TD passes. We got the ball back with 1:52 left down by five and Jayden drove us down the field culminating in a sweet TD throw to Jamison Crowder with 0:06 left on the clock.

Dec. 29 - Falcons - W, 30-24 (OT): Your Penix is nice, but we ain’t got time for that right now

Michael Penix started his second-ever game and looked good. The Falcons led this one early, we fought back and then a DPI, which should have been a hold, was called on us giving them a 56-yard FG attempt to win with 0:02 left. It fell short, we went into overtime, Commanders get the ball, assassin Jayden drives us all the way down and uncorks this beauty to Zach Ertz, who made a fantastic TD catch to end it. This clinched a playoff appearance for the Commanders.

Jan. 5 @ Dallas - W, 23-19: Yep, Mariota has still got it

Jayden started this game, but didn’t seem himself and complained of leg soreness. With a playoff berth clinched, Marcus Mariota played the second half superbly (15/18, 161 YDs, 2 TDs, 56 rushing yards, 1 TD). Trey Lance played the whole game for Dallas. Down 16-19 with 3:18 left in the game at his own 9 yard line, Mariota drove the team 91 yards and hit Terry McLaurin for a TD with 0:03 left on the clock. Side note: Terry McLaurin is elite in about 500 different ways.

Playoffs

Wild Card Round

Jan.12 @ Tampa Bay - W, 23-20: We’re still doing the cardiac thing, I guess

This game was spicy going in. A rematch from the first game of the season and a rekindling of the blood feud between Marshon Lattimore and Mike Evans. But it was really a standard-issue playoff game for most of it. No clear separation, lots of field goals, tied 10-10 at half, and relatively clean. Down 13-17 early in the 4th, the Commanders failed to covert on a 4th down inside Tampa Bay’s five-yard line. But on the ensuing possession, Baker Mayfield mistimed a handoff and Bobby Wagner pounced on the ball like, well like a HOF LB. We quickly scored to go up 20-17, they put together a nice drive with a FG to tie it, and Jayden now has the ball at his 30 with 4:41 left in the game. Just another prolonged drive to win a game, ho-hum. Ekeler was huge in this drive and Jayden gave us this little splash of nasty to set up the game winning FG as time expired, with a little doink just to make our hearts skip a beat. Of note: This was Washington’s first playoff win since 2005.

Divisional Round

Jan. 18 @ Detroit - W, 45-31: The biggest win in a generation

Flying home from Florida and preparing to play the NFC’s offensive juggernaut at their place on a short week seemed like a recipe for failure. Sure, it was a great season, but it would all end Saturday night in Detroit. Once the game started, it certainly didn’t feel that way. All the pressure was on the Lions, and even though they scored first, they seemed stiff. We hit a FG and then Jared Goff was strip-sacked by Dorrance Armstrong, which we quickly converted into a TD to go up 10-7. During the TD play, our best offensive lineman, G Sam Cosmi, tore his ACL :( The teams swapped touchdowns, including this ludicrous play by Terry McLaurin, and then S Quan Martin made the play of his life: A 40-yard pick-six to put us up 24-14, during which Goff got absolutely blown up and had to sit for a while. Jameson Williams picked up the slack with a silly 61-yard end around, we had a nice drive for a TD, and Mikey Sainristil got a pick in the end zone to end a bananas first half at 31-21, Commanders.

Detroit scored first in the second half after a long drive to cut the lead to three. But the Commanders put together their own epic 15-play, 70-yard, 8:28 drive to go up 38-28 early in the 4th. Detroit saw the writing on the wall and Ben Johnson got a little cutesy in his desperation to score with a trick play that went poorly, as Jameson Williams threw into Sainristil’s second pick of the game and fourth overall in a fantastic rookie season. Another clock-bleeding drive later, Washington is up three scores (45-28) with 7:31 left in the game. It started to dawn on us at this point: We’re going to the NFC Championship Game. Detroit added a FG, we missed one, and Jeremy Chinn ended the game with a pick, Goff’s third of the game and the Lions’ fifth turnover. Final Commanders stat lines:

• Jayden Daniels: 22/31, 299 YDs, 2 TDs, 51 YDs rushing
• Brian Robinson: 77 YDs rushing, 2 TDs
• Terry McLaurin: 87 YDs, 1 TD
• Dyami Brown: 98 YDs
• Zach Ertz: 21 YDs, 1 TD
• Austin Ekeler: 88 total YDs

This was the biggest win for the franchise since 1991, a whole generation. Embarrassing “longest since” streaks were broken with these two playoff wins. Longest playoff win drought and longest stretch since a title game appearance. More curses being lifted. But we still had at least one more game left.

NFC Championship Game

Jan. 26 @ Philadelphia - L, 23-55: We’re just happy to be here

Look, Saquon Barkley is mega-elite, AJ Brown is elite, Jalen Hurts is elite (at what he does), and the 2021/22 Georgia Bulldogs defense was elite. Combine them all, and you’ve got a tough out. The final score is embarrassing but doesn’t tell the true story of the game. We scored first after an epic 18-play opening drive. But it was just a FG. Hurts then handed the ball to Saquon on the next play, he went 60 yards for a TD, and that was basically ballgame. The Commanders would fumble on the next drive and then fumbled a kickoff later in the half. We made our plays and hung around for a 15-27 halftime score. I should note that we were within 11 (23-34) late in the 3rd on a good drive until Austin Ekeler fumbled. After that, it really was all Philly.

It was a painful loss to a team with the most unlikeable fanbase in the league, one with which we are terribly familiar. But it crystalized just how much roster work is needed to make NFCCGs a habit.

Why Join the Commanders Bandwagon?

Frankly, our needle is pointing straight up. After decades of being painfully average or downright sucking, we have actual competence in the ownership group, the front office, and on the coaching staff. Our offense, led by super-everything Jayden Daniels, is fun and massively successful. No better time to hop aboard.

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