3 studs as Commanders pull off miracle upset of rival Eagles
By Mike Luciano
1. WR Terry McLaurin
McLaurin had quite the difficult challenge ahead of him in this game, as Darius Slay and James Bradberry represent arguably the best cornerback tandem in the NFC. Undaunted by this matchup, McLaurin showed why he remains one of the game’s most underrated and underappreciated players.
McLaurin finished the evening with eight catches for 128 yards. For the sake of comparison, Gibson was the only other player who caught more than three passes, and Curtis Samuel was the only one not wearing No. 17 with more than 15 yards receiving. It was McLaurin against the world, and McLaurin won.
Terry McLaurin was dominant for the Washington Commanders.
McLaurin, who was recently extended, is on pace for his fourth consecutive season with at least 900 receiving yards. Considering the fact that he was a third-round pick, has been stuck in a conservative offensive scheme, and has caught passes from nearly a dozen quarterbacks, those numbers are staggering.
With matchups against much-hyped Houston Texans rookie Derek Stingley, a nasty Giants defense, and a hard-hitting 49ers team, the Commanders will need McLaurin to be at his absolute best if they want to keep their postseason hopes alive. Considering how he torched Slay in this game, that shouldn’t be too hard.
