Week 4 vs Philadelphia Eagles:
Sam Howell ‘doesn’t believe in moral victories’, and neither do I. While I am proud of how this offense played, especially Sam Howell’s bounce back after last week’s dud. They still got off to a slow start and flamed out in the 4th quarter. While some losses certainly sting less than others, and you can take momentum from weel played toughed losses into the next week. The standings, however, do not care how much you lost by you lost. The playoffs will not care that the Commanders only lost to the Super Bowl contending Eagles by a field goal in overtime, they lost.
The secondary is looking like it may be a real concern here through 4 weeks. It seems each week they’re giving up chunk plays through the air. This week’s culprit was rookie 1st round pick Emmanuel Forbes. Forbes was left on an island all day vs Aj Brown, it was a bold strategy Cotton, and it did not pay off for them. Brown had a monster day hauling in 9 catches for 175 yards and 2 touch downs. Forbes was left frustrated and defeated on the sideline. I still have plenty of faith in Forbes to get it together, he’s a tough and lanky corner. He has not gotten as many interceptions as fans had dreamed of coming into the season, but he has shown a knack for getting his hands on the ball and does have 1 INT to his name so far. We need to give this young man time; corner is one of the hardest positions to play right behind quarter back.
Speaking of QB, Sam Howell looked fantastic throughout most of the game. He was getting the ball out quickly and efficiently, he finished his day with 290 passing yards, 1 passing TD and 6 rushes for 40 yards. He showed a lot of poise and confidence for a young QB coming off an atrocious 4 int week. The offensive line had their worst game of the season thus far. As we’ve talked about in previous weeks Sam has held onto the ball for far too long, contributing to many of the total team sacks. The same cannot be said of the Eagles game, Sam was sacked 5 times despite being quick and decisive with the ball. I mentioned in last week’s wrap-up that if Sam sped up his decision making that we would have a better indication of where this o-line truly stands. The Eagles have one of the best d-lines in the league, but this game showed that the o-line is not good enough if they continue to play at the same level moving forward. Last week we also talked about Eric Bienimey and how he abandoned the run game despite it being just 16-0 with almost a half to play, he made sure to get the backs involved this week. 28 total carries for 107 yards and 2 touch downs was just what the doctor ordered. A consistently productive run game not only wears down a defense, but it makes your QB’s life substantially easier as well. Having that threat all game certainly helped contribute to Sam Howell’s bounce back game.
Overall, there were a lot of positives to take away from this game on offense, but far too many negatives from the defense. The defense was looked at as the unit that could carry the Commanders through rough patches, but they have been nothing but a liability so far. Some benefit of the doubt can be given to them in the Bills game in terms of the final score, but that’s still now 3 straight weeks of allowing 30 or more points. Something has to change fast, or the Commanders season could get derailed in a hurry. The play on a short week vs the Bears on Thursday night, a Bears team currently on a 14-game losing streak dating back to the 2022 season. This game is not a must win in the sense of the season would be over with a loss, but this a game that the Commanders should win, and convincingly. If they want to be viewed as a true playoff team, and a team that has officially turned the corner, you cannot just scrape out a win and you certainly cannot lose. Hopefully the defense can have their own bounce back game, being 3-2 after Thursday night with the Falcons and Giants to follow would leave Commanders fan at ease, for now.
Week 5 vs Chicago Bears
Wow. I’m really not sure what else to say, that was possibly the most embarrassing loss I have witnessed in almost 30 years of fandom. Looking back, just right above, I said this was a must win game for the Commanders. It wasn’t just the loss; it was everything not named Sam Howell. The offense got off to a slow start with some 3 and outs. Those are not killer mistakes in a game, sometimes you just have to find your groove. We aren’t talking opening the game turning the ball over, they were just not clicking yet. Let’s take a look at the how the defense fared to open this game by looking at the Bears 5 first half drives shall we? Touchdown, Field goal, Touchdown, Field goal, Touchdown. The Commanders offense scored 3 points in the first half, that’s not good enough, but 27 points to the Bears? What are we doing on defense?
For the second straight week CB Emmanuel Forbes had a terrible night, getting benched in favor of Danny Johnson this time. Only 1 wide receiver caught passes for the Bears, DJ Moore, who caught 8 of the Bears 15 receptions for 238 yards and 3 touch downs. The other 7 receptions for the Bears? All caught by 2 tight ends, Cole Kmet and Robert Tonyan, 7 combined catches for 52 yards and 1 touchdown. Pathetic really isn’t a strong enough word for how bad this performance was. The offense decided to wake up coming out of the half, their first 2 drives resulted in a touchdown + a 2PT conversion and then a field goal. Heading into the 4th quarter it was 27-14, the Commanders gave themselves a chance. A Bears field goal followed by a Commanders touchdown, and it was 30-20 Bears with 10:51 left in the game, Commanders were officially back in it. Side note: I would not have cared if they had been successful and pulled off a huge comeback, they deserved and would have gotten zero credit from me for even being in that position in the first place. The defense fell apart once again down the stretch, shocker right, but the offense flamed out as well. 30-20 would have been sad enough, but the Commanders out did themselves this time. They let the Bears grab 10 more points in about a 5-minute stretch, 40-20 Bears. I know I am letting the defense have it, but it is deserved. This was inexcusable on every level, and if the defense continues to play this poorly then the Commanders season may have ended Thursday night, because they won’t be stopping any offense left on their schedule.
With 12 games left on the season, this loss was not a true season ender. At the same time, looking at the rest of the schedule the Commanders have the Falcons and Giants over the next 2 weeks, but then its heavy hitter after heavy hitter the rest of the way with little breathing room. I understand there are those who will look at who the Commanders have left to face and conclude that they should turn their attention to the draft and securing a top pick. I won’t knock those, but I will never pull for ‘tanking’ this early in a season. I am not a fan of tanking in general, but when you are officially out of the race that is a different story. At that point, I do not see much purpose in the late season ‘moral victories’, its meaningless. We are far from the end of the season though and far from being eliminated, and I do still believe there is talent on both sides of the ball. I also do not believe that the secondary is as bad as it has looked these last two weeks, but it is certainly an area of concern. At 2-3, the Commanders will be turning their attention to the Atlanta Falcons on 10/15, it’s all they can do.