For some, the sirens went off after the loss to Pittsburgh. For others, it came three nights after the Philadelphia Eagles’ loss.
On paper, this part of Washington’s schedule was always somewhat unfair. The Commanders had to play the Steelers and Eagles in four days. The club’s bye week comes in Week 14. That’s a tall task for a team that went into the season thinking this was a year to reset the organization.
I had preached calm to a fan base that is still suffering PTSD from the Daniel Snyder era.
Washington had 10 days to prepare for a Dallas Cowboys team that didn’t have a pulse. Team owner Jerry Jones has done everything to undermine the organization he loves. Jones is responsible for mismanaging the offseason, and when questioned, he threatened to have the radio host removed from his job.
Surely, by 5:00 pm, Washington coaches and players would be at the podium talking about how this was a get-back-on-track win.
That’s not what happened in an up-and-down emotional 34-26 loss to the Cowboys.
Washington played the game like it was a circus. There was the interception where it looked like Brian Robinson Jr. was playing hot potato. Cowboys’ defensive end Chauncey Golston gladly grabbed the “potato.”
If you think that was bad, how about the kicker? Until Sunday, Austin Seibert was one of the highlights of Washington’s season, but he couldn’t have come up smaller yesterday. Seibert missed two extra points, including one that would’ve tied the game after Jayden Daniels’ miracle 86-yard touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin and a field goal.
The bad day for the special teams was capped by an onside kick being returned for a touchdown.
Three weeks ago, there was talk about the playoffs. They are a Tennessee Titans loss from the “I just hope we can win a game” portion of Jim Mora Sr’s famous rant.
Even when things were going well on offense, the naysayers told anyone who would listen to wait until the second half of the season to sing Kliff Kingsbury’s praises. That Kingsbury’s offense usually crumbles down the stretch.
After starting the season on fire, the last three games have been a complete 180 for Daniels.
During the three-game losing streak, Daniels was 64-104 (61.5%) with three touchdowns, three interceptions, and ten sacks. During this span, Daniels and Robinson Jr. have been injured but the recent struggles can’t all be attributed to that.
Tennessee comes to Washington off a road win against the Houston Texans. Undoubtedly, the Titans will be viewing the Commanders as a wounded duck, a team that has regressed as the season has progressed. It’s the perfect situation for a team that has a quarterback who can be Joe Montana on one play and JaMarcus Russell on the next.
Washington has squandered away a chance to win the division, their playoff position, and confidence. At this point, they want to win another game.
