After a four-game skid early in the 2020 season, Washington head coach Ron Rivera took the podium and told the press, “I’m taking my shot.”
He said this in regard to winning an exceptionally weak division. Six seasons later, the Commanders find themselves in a similar situation. The first eight weeks of the season have been overwhelmingly volatile, and the team has failed to gain traction. But after an ugly, yet vital win, Dan Quinn is taking his shot.
The Commanders’ Season to This Point
The Commanders’ record of 2-4-1 is not exactly a playoff hopeful’s dream. A mix of injuries, gaffes, bad luck, and poor play led to a general Washington skid that had some wondering if institutional change was necessary. Members of that institution — namely the coaching staff — have the rest of the division to thank. Aside from the Giants, the NFC East has imploded on its preseason expectations.
The Eagles are dealing with their own injury plague and now sit at a measly 2-6, with all hopes of a playoff season dead in the water. The 3-5 Cowboys lost Sunday after blowing a late lead to a Gardner Minshew-led Cardinals team. The Giants have managed to stay afloat, though it’s difficult to call them real contenders. On their third quarterback of the young season, the Giants squeaked by some bad teams to start the season. Though it’s worth noting they took an impressive Week 7 win against the Texans before the bye. J.J. McCarthy looks like an excellent buy-low trade option to this point.
As it stands, the Commanders haven’t done much to separate themselves from any of those teams. They narrowly lost to a fully healthy Eagles team to start the season. They dropped a game in Dallas after Jayden Daniels went down with an injury, and they threw away a win against the Giants with a late-game debacle that ended in a tie. A 1-2-1 record in a poor division is not a recipe for success. But there are reasons to stay hopeful in the DMV.
The Path From Here
Somehow, only 2.5 games back from being in position to host a home playoff game, the Commanders hope to start stringing together some wins. Washington hosts the underperforming Rams for a Week 9 showdown before hitting the road to East Rutherford. The Week 10 Thursday Night Football matchup with the Giants is a game Washington cannot afford to drop if they have any serious hopes of playing meaningful football in January.
After that Washington has a series of difficult, but winnable games. It may not require perfection —there’s a strong chance the NFC East winner will only require nine, or even eight wins. It’s still early to be making these kinds of predictions, but no team in the NFL’s most prestigious division has exactly inspired confidence beyond that point.
Whether this is an achievable scenario with the current Washington roster and staff remains to be seen. Outside of a pair of not-so-convincing wins against Seattle and Philadelphia, and narrow losses (and a tie), Washington has to walk the walk before anyone should take themselves seriously.
A healthy Daniels is a major step towards that. It’s clear he is the heartbeat of this team. Daniels has nearly single-handedly willed Washington to stay in some of these games. The best thing Washington has going for their play so far is the turnover margin. Currently, it sits at +7, tied for the best in football with division leaders Jaguars and Vikings. Daniels has not thrown an interception to this point in the season.
Daronte Jones’ blitz-heavy defense is putting together strong performances as well, allowing just 16 points in their last six quarters of play. Against the Eagles, the Commanders pressured Tanner McKee on 45.6% of his dropbacks, and tallied five sacks.
Perhaps most importantly, the Commanders must get healthy. While stars like Laremy Tunsil and Terry McLaurin are done for the season, reinforcements like Johnny Newton and Bill Croskey-Merritt don’t seem to far from returning. It’s also worth noting that the trade deadline is drawing near.
Washington could certainly benefit from adding a veteran via trade to it’s depleted roster. Did the SNF win convince general manager Adam Peters to pull the trigger and buy? It all ties into that mentality Rivera shared in 2020. Does Quinn believe he can right the ship? Does Peters believe the season is worth salvaging? Ultimately, will the Commanders take their shot?
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