The hard truth about the Commanders’ successful  will bite them comes

 

 

The Washington Commanders (7-4) have had an excellent season. The latest losses to the AFC North-leading Pittsburgh Steelers (7-2) and NFC East-leading Philadelphia Eagles (8-2) don’t take anything away from that fact.

When zooming out and taking a full look at the Commanders’ résumé, however, there’s a trend that sticks out like a sore thumb: They have just one win over a team with a winning record and three of their four losses have come against teams with winning records.

 

Their fourth loss was at the hands of a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that was almost at full strength back in Week 1, too. When the Bucs are healthy they are one of the better teams in the league, which is backed by their big road win over the Detroit Lions in Week 2. They were 4-2 before the current four-game losing streak knocked them down to 4-6.

The Commanders’ Week 4 game against the Arizona Cardinals is the lone win against a squad above .500 and honestly, it’s a toss-up when it comes to who wins that matchup, today. Overall, the Commanders are 1-3 against teams with a winning record and they’ve lost those three matchups by an average margin of 5.3 points per game.

 

There are several reasons why the Commanders lost these games. The defense was torched all day long by the Bucs and Ravens offenses, the Steelers pass rush took advantage of a beat up Commanders o-line and Washington’s defense also allowed 28-points on the day. Lastly, Daniels and the Commanders offense simply couldn’t get anything going against the Eagles defense.

The last two weeks have also featured questionable decisions when it comes to both the gameplan and in-game management. Most noticeably Dan Quinn’s decision to go for it on 4th and 2 instead of kicking a 43-yard field goal that would’ve given his team a 13-12 lead with about eight minutes left in the game against the Eagles.

Overall, though, the catalyst behind Washington’s four losses is the roster. The Commanders are still building and have some areas that really need an upgrade. Both tackle positions, left guard, and any receiver position behind Terry McLaurin are average, at best. On defense, the team could use another dependable pass rusher outside Dante Fowler Jr. and it could use more secondary help. Even if Mike Sainristil has been playing as well as he has. It’s not like Marshon Lattimore has made a difference yet, either.

The situation isn’t dire, by any means, but it’s going to hold Washington back come playoff time. I’d even say it would hurt the Commanders during their playoff run, but they have the eighth-easiest remaining strength of schedule over the final seven weeks of the season. They should beat teams like the Cowboys (twice), Saints, and Titans. Their matchups against the Eagles and Falcons, remain to be seen, though.

 

The one thing folks can count on is the fact this team will fight until the end against any and every opponent. So, if the Commanders can stay in games and get a lucky bounce or two (which happens in football all the time), then there’s certainly a chance they can stop the trend. At the same time, however, I’m sure they don’t want to win games based off luck. They want to win on their own terms.

The only part with that is they aren’t going to be fully ready to do that against the NFL’s best until 2025. But based off how Adam Peters and Dan Quinn are building this franchise, that looks like it’s going to be a lock.

 

The one thing folks can count on is the fact this team will fight until the end against any and every opponent. So, if the Commanders can stay in games and get a lucky bounce or two (which happens in football all the time), then there’s certainly a chance they can stop the trend. At the same time, however, I’m sure they don’t want to win games based off luck. They want to win on their own terms.

The only part with that is they aren’t going to be fully ready to do that against the NFL’s best until 2025. But based off how Adam Peters and Dan Quinn are building this franchise, that looks like it’s going to be a lock.The one thing folks can count on is the fact this team will fight until the end against any and every opponent. So, if the Commanders can stay in games and get a lucky bounce or two (which happens in football all the time), then there’s certainly a chance they can stop the trend. At the same time, however, I’m sure they don’t want to win games based off luck. They want to win on their own terms.

The only part with that is they aren’t going to be fully ready to do that against the NFL’s best until 2025. But based off how Adam Peters and Dan Quinn are building this franchise, that looks like it’s going to be a lock.The one thing folks can count on is the fact this team will fight until the end against any and every opponent. So, if the Commanders can stay in games and get a lucky bounce or two (which happens in football all the time), then there’s certainly a chance they can stop the trend. At the same time, however, I’m sure they don’t want to win games based off luck. They want to win on their own terms.

The only part with that is they aren’t going to be fully ready to do that against the NFL’s best until 2025. But based off how Adam Peters and Dan Quinn are building this franchise, that looks like it’s going to be a lock.The one thing folks can count on is the fact this team will fight until the end against any and every opponent. So, if the Commanders can stay in games and get a lucky bounce or two (which happens in football all the time), then there’s certainly a chance they can stop the trend. At the same time, however, I’m sure they don’t want to win games based off luck. They want to win on their own terms.

The only part with that is they aren’t going to be fully ready to do that against the NFL’s best until 2025. But based off how Adam Peters and Dan Quinn are building this franchise, that looks like it’s going to be a lock.The one thing folks can count on is the fact this team will fight until the end against any and every opponent. So, if the Commanders can stay in games and get a lucky bounce or two (which happens in football all the time), then there’s certainly a chance they can stop the trend. At the same time, however, I’m sure they don’t want to win games based off luck. They want to win on their own terms.

The only part with that is they aren’t going to be fully ready to do that against the NFL’s best until 2025. But based off how Adam Peters and Dan Quinn are building this franchise, that looks like it’s going to be a lock.The one thing folks can count on is the fact this team will fight until the end against any and every opponent. So, if the Commanders can stay in games and get a lucky bounce or two (which happens in football all the time), then there’s certainly a chance they can stop the trend. At the same time, however, I’m sure they don’t want to win games based off luck. They want to win on their own terms.

The only part with that is they aren’t going to be fully ready to do that against the NFL’s best until 2025. But based off how Adam Peters and Dan Quinn are building this franchise, that looks like it’s going to be a lock.The one thing folks can count on is the fact this team will fight until the end against any and every opponent. So, if the Commanders can stay in games and get a lucky bounce or two (which happens in football all the time), then there’s certainly a chance they can stop the trend. At the same time, however, I’m sure they don’t want to win games based off luck. They want to win on their own terms.

The only part with that is they aren’t going to be fully ready to do that against the NFL’s best until 2025. But based off how Adam Peters and Dan Quinn are building this franchise, that looks like it’s going to be a lock.The one thing folks can count on is the fact this team will fight until the end against any and every opponent. So, if the Commanders can stay in games and get a lucky bounce or two (which happens in football all the time), then there’s certainly a chance they can stop the trend. At the same time, however, I’m sure they don’t want to win games based off luck. They want to win on their own terms.

The only part with that is they aren’t going to be fully ready to do that against the NFL’s best until 2025. But based off how Adam Peters and Dan Quinn are building this franchise, that looks like it’s going to be a lock.The one thing folks can count on is the fact this team will fight until the end against any and every opponent. So, if the Commanders can stay in games and get a lucky bounce or two (which happens in football all the time), then there’s certainly a chance they can stop the trend. At the same time, however, I’m sure they don’t want to win games based off luck. They want to win on their own terms.

The only part with that is they aren’t going to be fully ready to do that against the NFL’s best until 2025. But based off how Adam Peters and Dan Quinn are building this franchise, that looks like it’s going to be a lock.