A look back in Commanders history: The 2013 season

LANDOVER, MD - DECEMBER 22: London Fletcher #59 of the Washington Redskins walks off the field after the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Redskins 24-23 during an NFL game at FedExField on December 22, 2013 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD - DECEMBER 22: London Fletcher #59 of the Washington Redskins walks off the field after the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Redskins 24-23 during an NFL game at FedExField on December 22, 2013 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
(Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /

In each of these recaps I will be handing out a few awards and recapping some season accolades that I thought were worth mentioning. This will include reminiscing on some of the more notable games from any given year.

The 2013 Commanders’ offensive player of the year award, in my opinion, goes to Alfred Morris. Morris was just as dominant as he was in his rookie season and was named to the Pro Bowl after posting almost 1300 yards and seven TDs.

Washington’s defensive player of the year goes to DeAngelo Hall, who had four INTs, three forced fumbles, and three defensive TDs. Hall always had a knack for creating takeaways and the awful year for the team did not stop him from making his big plays.

The 2013 team MVP goes to Brian Orakpo, who had 10 sacks and two fumble recoveries. That combined with his 16 TFLs and even a pick six made him the most valuable player on the Washington that year. He would leave in this offseason to get paid in Tennessee, and leave the Commanders with a hole at OLB.

The award for best game of the 2013 campaign is the Week 9 OT win vs San Diego. The game saw Alfred Morris rush for over 120 yards and a TD. Washington fans also saw London Fletcher deliver one of his last great performances for the organization with 13 tackles. But the true highlight of the game was Darrel Young, the team’s fullback, who posted a stat line of five rush attempts 12 yards and three (!) TDs, including the game winner in OT. An impressive display of “touchdown vulturing,” which surely upset Morris fantasy owners that week.

The worst game of the year was an obvious pick for me, which is saying something considering I had 13 games to choose from. Week 14, in a home game against the Chiefs, the Commanders were annihilated 45-10. This was the worst game of the season for a few reasons other than the score. First of all, for some reason I thought it would be fun to go to Dave and Busters with my friend, and Eagles fan. While I sat through the Commanders falling behind 31-0 in the first 20 minutes of the game in a wet, raining, and almost completely empty FedEx Field, the Eagles were in one of their most exciting games from the last decade in a foot of snow.

That, mixed with the parallel of this Week 14 beatdown vs the previous season’s Week 14 miracle comeback against Baltimore, made for the perfect storm of hate towards the team. I couldn’t help but loathe the doctors and coaches who let RG3 continue to play through his injuries the year prior, in that dreaded wild card game vs Seattle.

At the end of each of these season recaps I will give a final grade. This will be graded against the rest of Washington’s seasons from the last 15 years and not an average NFL team’s journey. Even with the Commanders curve in effect, the 2013 squad final grade is still a resounding F.

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