6 Commanders who deserved a win in Week 5 loss to Titans

The Washington Commanders are officially in desperation mode after Sunday’s defeat to the Tennessee Titans. It’s the team’s fourth-straight loss and you can all but rule out them competing for the NFC East crown. Even the playoffs might be out of the equation for Ron Rivera’s group if the surprisingly competitive NFC.

It was the same old story for the Commanders, who played a sloppy game and committed nine more penalties after getting flagged 11 times in Week 4. Despite that, they had a chance to win the game after Terry McLaurin drew a pass interference penalty in the end zone, setting up a 1st and goal from the two-yard line.

It had all the makings of a storybook ending, but Carson Wentz controlled the script and threw a game-sealing interception on 3rd and goal after he was lucky to escape without a turnover on the first two plays of the sequence. It’s an unfortunate ending for Wentz, who was largely brilliant all game.

Wentz was the reason the Commanders were in the game at the end, but so were these studs, who really deserved to be on the winning side.

6 Commanders who deserved a win in loss to the Titans

6 & 5. Terry McLaurin/Cole Holcomb

McLaurin ALWAYS deserves better. That goes without saying, but the receiver was once again dominant (when given the chance) on Sunday. His first reception came on a crossing route in the slot. Highly underrated after the catch, McLaurin broke several tackles to get the Commanders some breathing room after they started the drive pinned deep int their own territory.

McLaurin finished the game with 5 catches for 76 yards on six targets. Still not enough volume, but an improvement relative to previous games. How he wasn’t targeted on the final drive that ended in a Carson Wentz interception is beyond me. Instead, Scott Turner opted for a bunch of clustered passes in tight end formations. Someone should tell Turner that McLaurin thrives in contested-catch situations.

Holcomb, meanwhile, was flying all over the FedEx Field turf. He finished the game with 15 tackles, by far a season-high. The most pleasing aspect of Holcomb’s performance was he remain disciplined despite playing with high energy.

We have to go back and watch the film, but we don’t recall many instances where a Titans ball-carrier wiggled free from Holcomb’s clutches. After a rough start to the season, this was the Holcomb fans were expecting to see on a more consistent basis after his breakout 2021.

4. Kam Curl

Is Kam Curl the best linebacker on the Commanders’ roster? If he isn’t, he sheds blocks better than any linebacker on the roster, that’s for sure.

Look no further than this 3rd and long with the Titans pinned against their own end zone. Curl fights off multiple blocks to blow up a screen pass to Dontrell Hilliard. Before the running back could even turn up field, Curl was breathing down his neck.

Tennessee beat the Commanders on consecutive screen plays in the first quarter; the first went to Derrick Henry for 24 yards before Hilliard scored a touchdown from 13 yards out on seemingly the same exact play to take a 7-0 lead.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone Washington’s defense has performed better since Curl returned from thumb surgery. He had a forgettable moment against the Eagles, but hasn’t put a foot wrong since. As the team’s most versatile defender and most consistent secondary performer, extending Curl should be near the top of Washington’s to-do list in the offseason.

3. Jonathan Allen

Death, taxes and Jon Allen showing up on Sundays.

Coming off his first career Pro Bowl in 2021 Allen performed like an All-Pro in a losing effort last weekend against the Cowboys. He finished the game with eight tackles, four tackles for loss, six run stops and three pressures, thought it felt like more than that.

Sunday was much of the same for Allen. While Montez Sweat was the Commanders’ top-performing defender in the game, Allen wasn’t far behind, recording a huge hit on Ryan Tannehill to force a third down incompletion before sacking the Titans quarterback later in the first half that preluded a punt.

Allen will struggle to garner All-Pro recognition with Aaron Donald, Cam Heyward, Jeffery Simmons, Chris Jones, Vita Vea, Kenny Clark and DeForest Buckner all vying for a spot, but every Commanders fan recognizes Allen is one of the game’s best defensive linemen even though he doesn’t get the national spotlight.

2. Dyami Brown

What if we told you a few days ago that Dyami Brown would be on the receiving end of the biggest play of the Commanders’ season? What if we told you a few days ago that Dyami Brown would be on the receiving end of two of the Commanders’ biggest plays this season? You’d probably check us into an insane asylum, and rightly so.

With Washington trailing 7-3 and in dire need of an offensive spark, Brown wiggled free from Caleb Farley and Carson Wentz uncorked a beautiful deep ball for a 75-yard touchdown. Just like that, the Commanders took a 10-7 lead in the second quarter.

Beautiful throw. Beautiful adjustment by Brown to haul in the pass. The touchdown was the longest by a Washington receiver since Terry McLaurin had a 75-yarder in 2019. Incredible considering Brown had one catch for six yards coming into the game and had only played 37 snaps over the previous four games.

Not to be outdone, though, Brown came out of nowhere again in the second quarter to haul in a 30-yard touchdown from Wentz.

Perfect throw and an even better catch from Brown, who channeled his inner beast mode Sunday and deserves more playing time going forward.

Washington’s offense has lacked explosiveness and chunk plays all season. Ball-tracking and speed have never been a question with Brown. Hands have always been his biggest problem, but they looked pretty darn good against the Titans.

1. Montez Sweat

The Commanders’ defense set the tone early on Sunday and Sweat was a huge part of that. On Tennessee’s first two drives, Sweat tallied a sack, a tackle for loss on a running play and drew a hold that would’ve led to another sack.

By the 14 minute mark of the second quarter, Sweat compiled two sacks, three quarterback hits and three tackles for loss. Just incredible production from a player who entered the game with zero sacks, one TFL and six quarterback hits.

Commanders fans filed a missing person’s report for Sweat after the team’s first four games. It seems as though the former first-round pick heard the criticism because the Titans’ right tackle had zero answers for No. 90 on Sunday.

You can’t expect Sweat to be a world-beater every week, but the Commanders desperately need more pass-rushing output from the 26-year-old. Hopefully this was a sign of things to come from Sweat. This was the third multi-sack game of Sweat’s career and his first since October of 2020 against the Cowboys.

Long time coming.