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On a night where the Washington Commanders had a perfect opportunity to firmly entrench themselves in a playoff spot, Lucy once again pulled the football away from Charlie Brown. Sunday was a movie we have watched 1000 times over as fans of the Burgundy and Gold. We checked off all the boxes for how to lose a football game in the biggest of moments - lose the battle along the line of scrimmage, not convert for touchdowns in the red zone, commit turnovers, poor coaching decisions, give up defensive scores to the opposition, and commit back breaking penalties. Forget the refs, Sunday night was all about what the Commanders failed to do. Let's get right to this week's Studs, Duds, and Hat Tips.
Studs:
1. Jahan Dotson: 4 catches for 105 yards, to go along with another touchdown reception was a great stat line for the rookie WR on the national primetime stage. Those around the country who were largely unfamiliar with Dotson to this point in the season undoubtedly would have walked away being pretty impressed with the kid's skills. He showed fantastic hands and concentration on a beautiful deep ball catch in the 4th quarter, that will surely go down as one of the most exciting offensive plays by the Commanders during the 2022 season.
2. Tress Way: All-Pro. He will arguably go down as maybe the best punter in Washington history that any of us have been able to witness playing.
Duds:
1. Defensive Line: in the process of going 6-1-1 in our previous 8 games, the Commanders relied on a flat out dominant defensive front led by the likes of Montez Sweat, Jon Allen, and Daron Payne. On Sunday night, the big three were largely invisible for large stretches of the game. Saquon Barkley was able to achieve a 4.8 yard per carry average on the evening, we put up a donut on the sack stat sheet, and we got absolutely bullied on the Giants' final drive of the game with Barkley ripping off 3 ten-plus yard gains to help set up another Giants field goal and extend their lead to 8 points with just under two minutes to play.
2. Offensive Line: they say you win December football games along the line of scrimmage and the Giants proved that on Sunday night. Our offensive line had a very difficult time pass blocking, Heinicke went down for three sacks on the evening, and Kayvon Thibodeaux had his rookie coming out party against who else...our Commanders. If it wasn't already cemented, last night's game proved that our offensive line is going to need some serious attention in the upcoming draft.
3. Scott Turner: the Giants managed to score only 20 points in two straight games against us this season and walked away undefeated. Unreal. Scott Turner has to do better, he has to. Red zone struggles also continued again this week vs. New York and it hurt us dearly. I am not sure this man can continue to be employed next year.
4. Ron Rivera: Daboll played to win last night. You knew the writing was on the wall when Rivera elected to punt from the New York 34 yard line for a net gain of 4 yards and Brian Daboll chose to go for it on 4th and 9 from virtually the same spot on the field and gain a first down that ultimately led to a touchdown for New York. Rivera has done a great job of getting his players to consistently claw out of in-season holes. Unfortunately, he didn't have his team ready to perform in the most critical of moments last night, with a playoff path right out in front of them. The Commanders will now have to have a monumental bounce back against San Francisco in order to restore any legitimate belief that they can qualify for the post season. If the last three weeks get ugly, I am not sure Rivera survives in the offseason.
5. Referees: let's get one thing straight - Sunday night's poor performance falls squarely on the shoulders of the Washington Commanders' coaches and players. On a night where we struggled though, the refs certainly did us no favours on numerous occasions. The non-PI call on the final throw of the game was suspect, as were a few other calls. All in all though, when you aren't sharp and crisp as a football team in basically a do or die game, it's hard to overcome calls that go against you.
Hat Tips:
1. Brian Robinson: it has been a joy watching this kid come back from the horrible off-field incident he was involved in a short time ago. On Sunday night, he had 12 carries for 89 yards and a 7.4 yard per carry average. His physicality was on display and he certainly has an "old school player" feel about him when he carries the football.
That's it for this week. Do you agree? Disagree? Who did we miss?
Is the season essentially over for the Commanders? Or with our backs completely against the wall, are we going to do the unthinkable and defeat the 49ers, Browns, and Cowboys to hold onto a playoff spot?
Studs:
1. Jahan Dotson: 4 catches for 105 yards, to go along with another touchdown reception was a great stat line for the rookie WR on the national primetime stage. Those around the country who were largely unfamiliar with Dotson to this point in the season undoubtedly would have walked away being pretty impressed with the kid's skills. He showed fantastic hands and concentration on a beautiful deep ball catch in the 4th quarter, that will surely go down as one of the most exciting offensive plays by the Commanders during the 2022 season.
2. Tress Way: All-Pro. He will arguably go down as maybe the best punter in Washington history that any of us have been able to witness playing.
Duds:
1. Defensive Line: in the process of going 6-1-1 in our previous 8 games, the Commanders relied on a flat out dominant defensive front led by the likes of Montez Sweat, Jon Allen, and Daron Payne. On Sunday night, the big three were largely invisible for large stretches of the game. Saquon Barkley was able to achieve a 4.8 yard per carry average on the evening, we put up a donut on the sack stat sheet, and we got absolutely bullied on the Giants' final drive of the game with Barkley ripping off 3 ten-plus yard gains to help set up another Giants field goal and extend their lead to 8 points with just under two minutes to play.
2. Offensive Line: they say you win December football games along the line of scrimmage and the Giants proved that on Sunday night. Our offensive line had a very difficult time pass blocking, Heinicke went down for three sacks on the evening, and Kayvon Thibodeaux had his rookie coming out party against who else...our Commanders. If it wasn't already cemented, last night's game proved that our offensive line is going to need some serious attention in the upcoming draft.
3. Scott Turner: the Giants managed to score only 20 points in two straight games against us this season and walked away undefeated. Unreal. Scott Turner has to do better, he has to. Red zone struggles also continued again this week vs. New York and it hurt us dearly. I am not sure this man can continue to be employed next year.
4. Ron Rivera: Daboll played to win last night. You knew the writing was on the wall when Rivera elected to punt from the New York 34 yard line for a net gain of 4 yards and Brian Daboll chose to go for it on 4th and 9 from virtually the same spot on the field and gain a first down that ultimately led to a touchdown for New York. Rivera has done a great job of getting his players to consistently claw out of in-season holes. Unfortunately, he didn't have his team ready to perform in the most critical of moments last night, with a playoff path right out in front of them. The Commanders will now have to have a monumental bounce back against San Francisco in order to restore any legitimate belief that they can qualify for the post season. If the last three weeks get ugly, I am not sure Rivera survives in the offseason.
5. Referees: let's get one thing straight - Sunday night's poor performance falls squarely on the shoulders of the Washington Commanders' coaches and players. On a night where we struggled though, the refs certainly did us no favours on numerous occasions. The non-PI call on the final throw of the game was suspect, as were a few other calls. All in all though, when you aren't sharp and crisp as a football team in basically a do or die game, it's hard to overcome calls that go against you.
Hat Tips:
1. Brian Robinson: it has been a joy watching this kid come back from the horrible off-field incident he was involved in a short time ago. On Sunday night, he had 12 carries for 89 yards and a 7.4 yard per carry average. His physicality was on display and he certainly has an "old school player" feel about him when he carries the football.
That's it for this week. Do you agree? Disagree? Who did we miss?
Is the season essentially over for the Commanders? Or with our backs completely against the wall, are we going to do the unthinkable and defeat the 49ers, Browns, and Cowboys to hold onto a playoff spot?
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