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The Athletic (paywall)
The Commanders’ season has derailed. Calm down, and see what the offseason brings
The Commanders’ fan base is passionate and loyal beyond all comprehension to a franchise that, for three decades, did nothing but bring shame and embarrassment to the team, and to the region. A magical 2024 alleviated a lot of that pain and suffering. But, 2025 has been a dreadful sequel. “Jaws: The Revenge”- level awful.* If you rock the burgundy and gold, you have a right to be profoundly disappointed.
But. Some of y’all — not all, but some — need to calm down.
Yes, Daniels should play as much as possible down the stretch, as long as he’s healthy. Including last year’s playoff run, he’s played in 27 career NFL games. He’s not a finished product. Even in a season as bleak as this one, he can take lessons from the last month of games against NFC East foes. You can only learn how to be an NFL quarterback by playing the position, in real games.
For example: Daniels’ counting stats in Minnesota Sunday — 9-of-20 for 78 yards and an interception, after which he was sent flying while trying to tackle Minnesota’s Andrew Van Ginkel, landing right on his injured left elbow — were horrible. But, Daniels also turfed or threw away multiple passes against the Vikings’ wildly effective blitzes when receivers weren’t open, rather than trying to play hero ball by scrambling and exposing himself to hits downfield, or forcing the ball into coverages. He lived to play another down.
No, Josh Harris should not fire Peters or Quinn. Last season disguised some of the team’s flaws; this season exposed them all. Peters and Quinn were responsible for the former. They have to own the latter as well. It’s obvious the 2026 depth chart has to look a whole lot different and be a whole lot younger. Going 14-6 last year, including the postseason, buys the GM and coach another crack at it. But their drafts and free agent signings have to be more impactful. Defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw, individually, has been pretty good at times. But the D-line has rarely dominated as a unit.
Most Sunday and Monday nights, you see defenses flying around the field, with young, fast, hard-hitting linebackers and defensive backs. They look cohesive. Their defenses swarm to the ball. If there’s a blitz to one side, guess what? Someone comes up to fill that vacant hole, and then tackles the receiver the opposing QB found on his hot read. Young defensive linemen consistently win up front and get into the backfield, or up in the quarterback’s grill.
That isn’t happening here. Last year’s defense was far from great, but it created turnovers and got to the quarterback at important moments. A significant defensive makeover for Washington is job one.
To be sure, the bloom’s off the rose for both the GM and head coach — and, to a lesser extent, the quarterback. All have significant work to do this offseason. But abandoning any of them because of one terrible season is the kind of shortsighted thing the Last Guy would have done, with the usual crappy, chasing-the-next-sugar-high results. Hold each accountable if there’s further backsliding? Most assuredly. But, it’s one lousy season. They whiffed on ’25. Give them a chance to fix it.
Pro Football Focus (premium content)
NFL offensive line rankings ahead of Week 15
7. Washington Commanders (Up 1)
Projected Week 15 starters:
LT Laremy Tunsil
LG Chris Paul
C Tyler Biadasz
RG Sam Cosmi
RT Josh Conerly Jr.
Washington’s front provided competent protection in Week 14, even as the offense was shut out by the Vikings. The Commanders’ line handled 32 pass attempts and yielded six pressures, including no sacks and one quarterback hit. The unit’s 90.6 PFF pass-blocking efficiency rating tied for seventh best this week.
After giving up 29 pressures in his first eight games, rookie right tackle Josh Conerly Jr. has allowed only seven pressures in his past five games. He also has not surrendered a sack since Week 8.
Best player: Laremy Tunsil
Tunsil did allowed no pressure against the Vikings in Week 14.
Commanders Wire
One bright spot on an otherwise horrible Week 14 for the Commanders
Both Chris Rodriguez and Jacory Croskey-Merritt ran well on Sunday. Rodriguez accumulated 52 rushing yards in his 10 carries, while “Bill” produced 32 yards on his seven carries. So, Rodriguez and Croskey-Merritt averaged 4.9 yards a carry, going for 84 yards in their 17 carries.
Riggo’s Rag
Commanders need to rethink how best to maximize Mike Sainristil moving forward
The Commanders thought they’d hit the jackpot when Sainristil was there for the taking at No. 50 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. His rookie campaign did nothing to diminish this optimism, especially given how well he navigated a move to the outside. Hopes were high that he could kick on and become a franchise cornerstone piece this season. Unfortunately, that hasn’t come to fruition.
Sainristil struggled more often than not. His switch back into the nickel saw him targeted as a weak link with frequent success. He’s given up the second-most receptions league-wide, and even three interceptions haven’t papered over the cracks.
The former Michigan standout showed brief promise when moved back to the boundary, but Sainristil reverted to type with a dismal outing against the Vikings. They looked in his direction whenever they needed a big play, and it worked. His 5-foot-9 stature became his undoing, with Minnesota’s bigger receivers getting whatever they wanted.
Washington has a big decision to make with Sainristil this offseason. He’ll still be around, but the Commanders need to figure out where he can be most impactful. Trey Amos will occupy one side. Still, with Marshon Lattimore likely done with the franchise, there needs to be a rethink across the board.
Pro Football Focus (premium content)
NFL season-long statistical review ahead of Week 15: Team tiers, pass rates and more
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Moving the Sticks
The following chart shows how often teams move the sticks — that is, convert a series of downs to a new series of downs. For example, the Buffalo Bills have moved the sticks on first down 23% of the time. They have moved the sticks on the first two downs 52% of the time. After three downs, they have converted to a new series of downs 74% of the time. In total (using all four downs), they are moving the sticks 77% of the time.
Note that these numbers are adjusted for field position and opponent, so one could consider this to be the rate of moving the sticks when facing a league-average field position against an average defense.
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Here is the same chart for the other side of the ball, which is also adjusted for field position and opposing offenses:
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Dropback Outcomes
With passing targets being the most efficient outcome of a dropback on average, just throwing more often than other teams can already be an important indicator of a good offense. There are notable exceptions for offenses with mobile quarterbacks, but teams mostly want to have a large green bar (targets) and a small purple bar (sacks) in the chart below:
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Pro Football Focus (premium content)
Grading all 32 first-round rookies after Week 14
Pick No. 29: Washington Commanders: T Josh Conerly Jr.
- Overall Rookie Grade: 58.6 (Rank: 6/7)
- Principal Opponent: Jalen Redmond
- Week 14 Snaps: 52
- Week 14 Grade: 63.8
Conerly turned in a decent performance amid an otherwise dreadful day for the Commanders’ offense in Week 14. He allowed two pressures, both hurries, en route to a 66.1 PFF pass-blocking grade. That continues a solid stretch of play for Conerly over his past five games. Since Week 9, he has secured a 74.9 PFF overall grade, which places him among the top 20 qualified offensive tackles in the NFL.
Podcasts & videos
Barry Svrluga sees Jayden Daniels’ regression | The Sports Junkies
Pro Bowl
Commanders.com
The case for Bobby Wagner to make his 11th Pro Bowl
Linebacker Bobby Wagner ranked fourth for his position — third among NFC linebackers — in the first week of Pro Bowl voting. Should that position hold, Wagner will be heading to San Francisco for his 11th Pro Bowl in 12 seasons, tying him for the fifth-most appearances in NFL history.
While the Commanders’ defense has underperformed this season, Wagner’s play has remained consistent, despite being one of the oldest active players in the league, andis worthy of your vote. (You can do your part to send him to the Pro Bowl **HERE**)
Wagner has always found a way in his career to rack up tackles. He has 14 consecutive seasons with at least 100 stops, which ties former Washington linebacker London Fletcher for the most all-time. Wagner’s 14th season has the potential to be one of his best, as he already has 131 tackles, which ranks third in the NFL this year, through 13 games. He’s on pace to have 171 for the year, which would be the second most of his career.
That production continued against the Vikings. Although the defense as a whole did not execute, Wagner was a standout in the Week 14 matchup, recording 16 tackles — his most since Week 4 of the 2023 season — and a sack. Wagner had 12 stops in the first half, which was the second most by Wagner in a single half in his career. It is the most he has had in a single half since Week 3 of the 2019 season.
Wagner has been reliable during his entire time in Washington, and he has a chance to make even more history by the end of the season. He’s three tackles away from passing Donnie Edwards for fifth in all-time tackles and 14 away from passing Lavonte David for fourth.
2026 Draft
A to Z Sports
The Commanders need to trade back in the 2026 NFL Draft
Taking a player in the top-5 won’t magically fix the roster, and they need to trade back and still land a top player who can make an impact. There will be plenty of teams that fell just outside of the top-5 picks that need a quarterback, offensive lineman, or defender that could move up where the Commanders are. Let’s say the Commanders finish with the No. 4 overall pick in the draft, and the New York Jets have the No. 6 or No. 7 overall pick; they can trade back and still draft a player like Caleb Downs.
The Commanders only have six picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, and that’s not enough to turn this aging roster around. Peters will also have plenty of decisions to make in free agency before the draft. The roster needs to lose a majority of the expiring contracts and old veterans and bring in new blood, which can be done in the draft.
NFC East links
Bleeding Green Nation
There are no fixes coming for the 2025 Eagles offense
We all knew whatever the Eagles were going to do against the Chargers would be a bellwether for how the rest of the season would go, at least offensively. Could the Eagles, off another mini-bye, figure out an offensive gameplan that featured new wrinkles, was cohesive, with a centralized philosophy where one thing builds off another, creates confusion for the defense and puts the still-talented offensive skill players in a position to succeed? Could the quarterback, who has not seen the field at all well since the Minnesota game and has thus far refused to run the football in 2025, throw caution to the wind, become a part of the running game and make adjustments in the passing game?
This is largely the same unit that won a Super Bowl just one season ago. Going into last night, there was reason to believe they could find that level of play again, even if that hope was a flicker of a flame in a driving wind.
Well, now, we know.
The offense isn’t getting fixed.
There are no answers.
The players are flat.
The quarterback is slumping.
The offensive line is a shell of itself.
And despite some different-looking plays, there was no rhyme or reason to anything offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo or Sirianni did last night.
Big Blue View
5 reasons to watch the NY Giants for the remainder of the 2025 season
Abdul Carter’s production
Carter has been benched twice in Mike Kafka’s three games, once for missing a walk-through practice and once for missing a special teams meeting. By all accounts, these transgressions were part of a pattern that developed under the stewardship of former head coach Brian Daboll.
Draft analysts I have spoken to said there were maturity and entitlement issues at Penn State with Carter that NFL teams knew they would have to deal with. It seems that under Daboll the Giants did not do enough to set Carter on the right path.
Is that lack of maturity, lack of understanding of what it is to be a pro, part of the reason for Carter’s quiet rookie season?
Carter, the No. 3 overall pick, drew comparisons to Micah Parson before the draft and was the preseason favorite to be named Defensive Rookie of the Year. In a recent ESPN story ranking 2025 rookies, Carter did not even make the top 10.
Carter does lead all rookies with 47 quarterback pressures, which is 15th in the NFL. In terms of what NextGen Stats calls “quick pressures,” when a rusher gets to the quarterback in less than 3 seconds, Carter is fourth in the NFL behind Parsons, Nik Bonitto and Will Anderson with 28.
So, it is not like Carter has not been a handful for opposing teams to block. It’s just that Carter was drafted to do more than that. He was drafted to be a game-changer, to be a player other teams had to fear. He has only 1.5 sacks and does not have a true game-altering play in the first 13 games of his career. His 0.4% sack rate is 136th out of 140 players in NextGen Stats linebacker category.
Blogging the Boys
Cowboys playoff chances could come down to an old friend in Dan Quinn
After what seemed to be a season-crushing loss to the Detroit Lions on Thursday Night Football, the Los Angeles Chargers cracked the door back open for the Dallas Cowboys to make a run at the NFC East.
The Cowboys still have plenty of work to do, needing to sweep the rest of their schedule that includes the Los Angeles Chargers, Minnesota Vikings, Washington Commanders, and New York Giants, but trailing the Philadelphia Eagles by a game-and-a-half, the Cowboys playoff hopes could very well lay in the hands of old friend Dan Quinn. Over the next four weeks, the Eagles will see the Las Vegas Raiders, Washington Commanders twice, and the Buffalo Bills.
It’s quite simple, the Cowboys finish the season 4-0 and the Philadelphia Eagles lose two more games and the Cowboys are NFC East Champions. The Cowboys could afford to drop one more game, but then the Eagles would need to lose three of their remaining four. With four games left, the Philadelphia Eagles will play the Washington Commanders twice. Despite the Commanders 3-9 record, Washington has played the Eagles tough in recent years.
The reality here is the Eagles are currently spiraling, dropping their last three games in rather embarrassing fashion. With Jalen Carter likely sidelined for a few more weeks, the Eagles offensive line dealing with injuries, and Jalen Hurts struggling to generate any sort of offense, the Cowboys window is cracked open. They will need to handle their business and get a little help along the way, so let’s hope that our old friend Dan Quinn can help us out with two more games on the schedule against Philadelphia.
NFL league links
Articles
Pro Football Talk
Steelers closing in on an NFL record 22nd consecutive season finishing .500 or better
The Steelers haven’t finished with a losing record since 2003, and with four games to go this season, they’re currently 7-6. With two more wins, they’ll clinch a winning season, and set a new NFL record in the process.
Pittsburgh’s current streak of 21 consecutive seasons finishing .500 or better is tied for the longest streak in NFL history. The Cowboys also had 21 straight seasons finishing .500 or better from 1965 to 1985.
If the Steelers finish this season at .500 or better, they’ll make it 22 years in a row and have the record to themselves.
The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2017, and coach Mike Tomlin’s seat has been getting warm as Pittsburgh fans have increasingly seen just finishing .500 or better as too low a bar. But it’s a bar that the Steelers [have] clear[ed] every year, for more than two decades.
Discussion topics
The Athletic (paywall)
Why are we seeing the worst version of Lamar Jackson, and what’s next for Daniel Jones?
[It] could be Jackson playing through a more serious injury than anyone realizes. The 28-year-old missed three games this season with a hamstring injury, but he has also missed recent practices due to ankle and toe ailments.
However, while it’s easy to focus on the injuries, the feeling is that there’s more to it, especially since Jackson has played through injuries at various points throughout his career.
Jackson returned from the hamstring absence to light up the then-reeling Dolphins in Week 9 by completing 18-of-23 passes for 204 yards and four touchdowns, but he has followed that up with five consecutive games with a sub-60 completion percentage for an average of 197.4 passing yards per game, 25.4 rushing yards per outing, two passing touchdowns, one rushing score, four interceptions and two lost fumbles. He also has been sacked 12 times during that stretch.
For a cold dose of reality, journeyman quarterback Taylor Heinicke posted eerily similar numbers during his five appearances with the Atlanta Falcons in 2023.
“He looks off with his timing,” a coach said.
Jackson has been inaccurate and late with too many recent throws, and he hasn’t run with the same authority and urgency that helped him capture a couple of MVP awards (2019, 2023). Without putting that pressure on defenses, too much else has fallen out of rhythm in Baltimore.
This weekend, Jackson snapped the first three-game stretch without a passing or rushing touchdown of his career.
ackson also doesn’t have a 20-yard run for the first time in his career. He had 55 such runs from 2018-24, including eight last season when he was MVP runner-up to Josh Allen.
From a preseason Super Bowl favorite to a team that’s currently outside the playoff picture, the Ravens have been one of the NFL’s most disappointing teams in 2025. But just like the case with Jackson, injuries can only excuse so much.
Jackson has singlehandedly overcome some of the Ravens’ deficiencies in past seasons, and they’ve desperately needed him to do it again this season. He just hasn’t been able to perform up to his standard.
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