The Washington Commanders have been on a bit of a decline recently following a great start to the season, losing two straight games in five days to fall to 7-4 overall.
Surprisingly, the Commanders’ offence laboured all night against a Philadelphia Eagles defence that has recently proven to be one of the finest in the NFL. The Eagles limited Jayden Daniels and company to only 264 yards of offence and 18 scores. The Commanders went 3 for 12 on third down and were unable to extend drives for the rest of the game.
With the Commanders losing 19-10 late in the fourth quarter, Daniels had one final chance to mount a last-ditch comeback. However, that hope was short-lived, as Daniels was intercepted by Eagles safety Reed Blankenship on the opening play of the drive.
Daniels disclosed what he and the intended receiver, tight end Zach Ertz, discussed following the play.
“We were just talking about what we need to improve on, what he sees and stuff like that,” Daniels told me. “Obviously, Zach has been through this type of stuff in his career, so the question is, ‘How can we bounce back?’ And he was kind of just encouraging me, like, ‘Hey, there’s no other guy I’d rather play with. There is no other individual I would rather catch the ball from. It’s a long season, so keep your chin up and keep moving ahead.”
Commanders collapse after a surprising start.
Thursday night’s 26-18 loss to the Eagles was the Commanders’ second straight loss, and they have already lost substantial ground in the NFC East competition. If you had told Commanders supporters before the season that they would be 7-4 through 11 games, they would have accepted it, but the way they’ve gotten there in the last few days has been aggravating.
Dan Quinn and company followed a close loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers with a disappointing offensive effort against the Philadelphia Eagles. On Thursday night, the Commanders struggled both on the ground and in the air, which was especially troubling in critical circumstances like third down.
Many fans are recalling Kliff Kingsbury’s tenure with the Arizona Cardinals, when the team typically deteriorated throughout the second part of the season. That is cause for concern for the Commanders’ offence, as Kingsbury calls the plays. If they endure a similar collapse, this Commanders team could swiftly fall down the standings.
There is excellent news for the commanders. Their schedule lightens up dramatically down the stretch, with the next three games against the Dallas Cowboys, Tennessee Titans, and New Orleans Saints. All three of those teams have already lost control of their seasons, so it’s entirely feasible that they’ll be 10-4 in a month and everything will feel like a distant memory. However, if they lose one of those games, it may indicate difficulty for them going forward.
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