When the Washington Commanders took the Philadelphia Eagles to the limit in Sunday’s 34-31 overtime loss, some around the NFL moved them up in the various league power rankings.
According to some, it was an impressive loss — if you could ever call any loss impressive. Yet, Washington’s players, including quarterback Sam Howell and defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, wanted nothing to do with moral victories.
Buy Commanders TicketsThe key for Washington was how the team would bounce back on a short week against the winless Chicago Bears.
They didn’t. Chicago jumped out to a 27-3 lead on Washington, and while things got interesting late, the Bears finished the game with 10 fourth-quarter points to come away with a 40-20 win — their first in almost one full calendar year.
It was ugly.
Where do we begin? Here are five takeaways from another national embarrassment for the franchise.
Something needs to change
Something needs to change. Anything. But what do you change five weeks into the season? It would be easy to say firing head coach Ron Rivera is the answer. Rivera knows that with a new owner, his odds of returning in 2024 were already long. So, if you fired him now, who would replace him? Certainly not Jack Del Rio. Have you seen his underachieving unit? And offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy hasn’t knocked it out of the park through five games, although he’s been much better than Del Rio.
While managing partner Josh Harris was seen on camera having a good time during the game, he can’t be happy. We know limited partner Magic Johnson wasn’t happy with the performance.
Something must change…….and it’s not the quarterback. Here’s an honest question on Rivera. Take out the ownership change. Can we say the Commanders are any better on the field in year four of his regime?
Slow starts
Raise your hand if you’re sick of hearing, “We need to start fast.” That’s been the message since training camp. And it’s still the same. How is it this franchise can look so flat and unprepared on the national stage? This isn’t about talent. The Commanders’ roster is much more talented than Chicago’s. This was about effort and preparation. The Bears came in one loss away from possibly firing head coach Matt Eberflus. Yet, Eberflus and his staff thoroughly outcoached Washington’s staff. Chicago’s players outperformed Washington’s players.
Telling the media you need to start fast is becoming tiresome unless you start fast — on both sides of the ball — and consistently.
Sam Howell
It was another gritty performance from quarterback Sam Howell. He wasn’t perfect. He barely missed a wide-open Dyami Brown for a touchdown in the second quarter. Washington settled for three points. He also threw an interception in Washington territory, and the Bears scored a few plays later.
Yet Howell kept fighting. He made multiple big-time throws, leading the Commanders on scoring drives. His effort to evade pressure and pick up extra yardage was impressive. He was sacked five more times, bringing his season total to 99 — which would beat the NFL record by 23.
There is a lot you can take from this game, but Howell’s play being a negative is not one.
The defense is the most overrated unit in the NFL
There’s this fallacy that because the Commanders have four first-round picks along the defensive line and six total first-round picks on the defense that the unit is among the best. They’re not. The Commanders have talented players, but there are no game-wreckers on defense. The secondary, especially at cornerback, is a nightmare. The Bears were gashing Washington’s front seven for 178 rushing yards. Everything looked easy.
Kendall Fuller was having a good season, but he struggled. Let’s talk about Fuller for a second. Is he having a good season because no one is targeting him due to other teams picking on rookie Emmanuel Forbes? Benjamin St-Juste gave up a big play early but was by far the Commanders best cornerback.
Washington has little to nothing at linebacker. Jamin Davis has shown promise. But this is his third season, and you drafted him in the first round. You shouldn’t be looking for promise and potential anymore. It should be about production. But as disappointing as Davis can be at times, he’s not the problem. Have you watched Cody Barton play? We’ve noted numerous times how Rivera and Del Rio played linebacker in the NFL, but their absolute failure in finding reliable linebackers speaks volumes about their personnel acumen.
Things can change for the defense, but will it be too late? Every year, Rivera’s team makes a run and has fans believing before falling flat on its face late in the season. It looks like we are headed in that direction again. There is no reason for Washington to be allowing 32 points per game.
They were blown out at home by a winless team
The headline says it all. The Bears hadn’t won in almost a full calendar year. They came into FedEx Field and dominated the Commanders on both sides of the field. The Bears won the battle of the trenches with relative ease. Things were so bad that Chicago was running on third-and-7 multiple times, right up the middle and picking up first downs. That tells you how much the Bears respected that defensive front.
There have been a lot of lows for the Commanders in prime time, and at FedEx Field, Thursday night may be the lowest of those lows. No one can say anything about officiating. Washington was whipped thoroughly from start to finish.
It’s a shame that new ownership has worked so hard to bring fans back, and this is the product they get. At least Magic Johnson cares. Fans booed the Commanders as they should have. The fan base has held up its end of the bargain. The same can’t be said for the football team and coaches.
