In the slightly edited words of the immortal song “My Way”, here’s my open letter to Daniel Snyder:
“And now, the end is near, it’s time to face the final curtain.
No friends are left to cheer, the cases pile up for certain.
You’ve sailed on borrowed time, you’ve hid and skulked in every byway.
You’ve lost, the jig is up, it’s time to go away!!!!!!!”
And with that. While we wait for the final hammer to drop and the sale of the team to go through, we can get back to football and an endlessly intriguing matchup on Monday Night Football between the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles and the enigmatic Washington Commanders. So, living here are your Week 10 Commanders reality checks:
Commanders reality checks for Week 10 vs the Eagles
5. The Reality Is, Taylor Heinicke is yet again at a crossroads.
Taylor Heinicke entered the Washington franchise in 2020 after having already gotten well past what anyone but his mom and sister believed was the final crossroads of his NFL career. He got one last chance based on the rash of injuries Washington’s QB room faced that season. His stellar performance in the subsequent playoff game got his career back on track and set up another career crossroads.
The result, he got a contract to serve as the backup to Washington’s newly minted starter: Ryan Fitzpatrick. Enter Ryan Fitzpatrick’s hip injury in the first half of the first game of the 2021 season, and Heinicke was at another crossroads: started the remainder of the season and played well enough to garner consideration by some as a future starter, but at a minimum guaranteed himself a spot as the team’s backup for 2022.
Enter Carson Wentz’ broken finger against Chicago in October 2022 and another crossroads for Heinicke. After 2 wins and an ugly loss, Heinicke enters this week facing a definitive crossroads again. If Heinicke plays like he did against Minnesota this coming week, he will definitely not maintain his starting role the remainder of this season. If he somehow leads this team to victory as 10+ point underdogs, it will be very hard for this coaching staff to go back to Carson Wentz the following week.
It will be fascinating to see how Taylor handles the crossroads this time.
4. The Reality Is, a youth movement is needed on the offensive line
Cornelius Lucas and Trai Turner are solid backups in this league. They’re not fantastic. They’re not starters. They’re not good enough to excuse holding off on developing younger players. If Sam Cosmi is healthy enough to play, even if he’s not 100%, he should be playing over Cornelius Lucas. Chris Paul or Saahdiq Charles should be playing right guard. If both are ready, they should both be starting, and Norwell should be moved to a backup role as well. You’re taking your lumps with this unit anyway…you should be taking lumps while developing young players with upside.
3. The Reality Is, Benjamin St. Juste should continue to have the opportunity to travel.
Benjamin St. Juste is developing into a star. His performance was excellent traveling with Justin Jefferson on Sunday in spite of a couple of tough catches Jefferson made. He should continue to travel with any dominant receivers the team faces the remainder of the season. This Sunday, he should travel with AJ Brown and free up the rest of the defense to focus more completely on the diverse run-game of the Eagles.
St-Juste’s physical style, athletic profile and earned confidence make it possible Washington could have a superstar CB on their hands, and they must start treating him as such if they are going to reach the ultimate ceiling as a defense this season and beyond.
2. The Reality Is, key injury returns may make or break the Commanders’ chances in this one.
Chase Young, Jahan Dotson, Cole Holcomb, Cole Turner, and David Mayo have missed various amounts of time this season. If Washington can get most (if not all) of them back this week, it would go a long way toward their ability to compete with Philadelphia on Monday. Their talent deficiency is pronounced in certain areas of the roster, but with those guys back and healthy, this game may simply come down to who plays better, as opposed to Washington needing something fluky to be competitive.
The coaching staff has to find ways to maximize their talent, and a dud from Taylor Heinicke would make the infusion of healthy talent irrelevant. But if Heinicke steps up and the coaching staff doesn’t get out-coached, these key additions from the IR and the injury report could be a massive key in Washington’s ability to potentially pull off a massive upset.
1. The Reality Is, in any rivalry, sometimes you have to play spoiler.
In some seasons, the Washington-Philly games are some of the best matchups in the entire NFL. Not so this year. Washington is a mediocre team this season. Philadelphia is a good, borderline great team so far this season. Washington is a 10.5-point underdog against a more healthy, talented and rested team. But this is still an NFC East game. This is still a rivalry game. This is why the NFL is broken up into divisions…to bring extra intrigue to games like this one that, on paper, should be a snoozer.
Look for Washington to pull out all the stops in play-calling and game management. This game is functionally their Super Bowl this season. Win it, and they just might maintain a glimmer of hope to keep their season meaningful into the final stretch, along with a massive confidence boost that they can compete with anybody in the NFL. Lose it, especially decisively, and it would be nearly impossible to imagine a return to relevance this season. If you look at the odds alone, this is a fait accompli. Real fans know differently.
Give me your thoughts below in the comments section. Or, ping me on Twitter @TheRealityIs__ where I always post a few game-day gut-feel Reality Checks including a game prediction.