The clock struck midnight on the Commanders Cinderella season.
Washington travelled to Philadelphia looking to survive and advance. Instead, a culture-restoring season came to an eye-opening finish with a 55-23 loss. Although the loss stings, the future is bright in Washington. Jayden Daniels looks like a megastar at the QB position. The team enters the offseason with the third most cap space, albeit with key holes to fill. What’s next? A crucial offseason in setting the foundation of this football team moving forward. The NFC Championship Game showed many areas where the team must improve if it wants to take the next step. Adam Peter’s and company have a long offseason ahead. What they do next will be critical.
Nell’s Super Six Pack
No Ball, No Life – The Commanders turned the football over 4 times, and could not get the Eagles to turn it over once. The offensive turnovers were crippling and eventually stalled a key comeback effort late in the 3rd quarter where Washington had the opportunity to cut it to a one possession football game with either a field goal or touchdown. This should be viewed as the main reason this team lost the game.
You got Barkely’d – Without DT Daron Payne, Washington allowed Saquan Barkley to carve them up on the ground. The NFL’s leading rusher finished with 15 runs for 118 yards and 3 TD’s, including a 60 yard touchdown on his first carry off the game.
Scary, but not frightening – Commanders WR Terry McLaurin put together the best year of his career during the 2024 season. In Sunday’s loss, it felt like there just simply wasn’t enough of the All-Pro wideout. McLaurin had a 36 yard touchdown in the 2nd quarter to cut Philly’s lead to 14-12. He finished with 3 catches for 51 yards on just 4 more targets, not enough looks for an All-Pro.
Pass Rush eliminated – The Commanders defense sacked Jalen Hurts just twice in Sunday’s loss, but outside of those two plays, simply did not impact the QB enough in the pass game. Hurts wasn’t under duress much of the day finishing 20/28 for 246 yards and a touchdown.
The Future is Bright – Despite the tough loss, the DMV has PLENTY to be optimistic about moving forward. Finally, for the first time in my lifetime, the Commanders have a franchise quarterback in Daniels. The offseason is about improving the team around him on both offense and defense. We know with Daniels work ethic, this is the WORST he’ll be in his NFL career.
Game balls – Jayden Daniels, Zach Ertz, Frankie Luvu and Jonathan Allen.
