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All week, the Washington Commanders’ trip to Baltimore was the talk of the league.
Could Washington make a statement by going to Baltimore and beating one of the hottest teams over the last three weeks?
Despite getting a career-high 269 yards passing from rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, the Commanders fell to the Beltway brother, 30-23.
Washington head coach Dan Quinn knows the questions will shift to the defense. The defense gave up five straight scoring drives. Two of Baltimore’s scoring drives were 93 and 94 yards.
The Commanders’ defense knew they couldn’t allow the Ravens running game to get started, and they failed. Derrick Henry had 132 yards, and Lamar Jackson chipped in another 40. It almost felt like Baltimore didn’t run Henry enough.
The success on the ground galvanized the passing game. Jackson found Zay Flowers nine times for 132 yards. Commanders defensive back Benjamin St-Juste will be having nightmares all week. Fair or unfair, St-Juste was on the bad end of the Ravens’ passing game success. Tight end Mark Andrews pitched in with a season-high 66 yards receiving, including a big 38-yard reception.
All in all, Baltimore had the ball for 36:08.
But give Washington some credit. The Commanders continued to stay within striking distance despite the problems running the ball without injured running back Brian Robinson. Washington finished with 52 yards on 18 carries.
That meant asking Daniels to do more in a hostile environment while playing catch-up. If there had ever been a game in his young career that could have led Daniels down some typical rookie mistakes, it was this one. We saw that a rookie quarterback who had his own running game taken away made good decisions after good decisions.
It’s why, in a league where you can’t give away games, the Commanders should embrace some of today’s positives. Washington’s shaky defense was on full display, and the offense wasn’t clicking on all cylinders, but the Commanders still found themselves one stop away from having a chance to tie the game.
Today’s loss said a lot about the Commanders, and it isn’t the narrative the DMV has heard for over a generation. The narrative is one of resilience, character, and even some dog.
