There was a collective mantra echoed among Washington Commanders fans this week. Basically, everyone begged for no emotional letdown. You see it all the time in the NFL. A team coming off a big win — or a team that has a big rivalry game the next week — overlooks its current opponent only to lose the game.
The Commanders didn’t let that happen. A Kendall Fuller pick-six really helped the cause, but Washington didn’t take its foot off the gas. The defense held Dameon Pierce to less than 10 rushing yards, and Davis Mills found little success through the air before scoring a garbage time TD in the fourth quarter.
The offense wasn’t prolific and struggled on third down, but it sustained long drives to exhaust Houston’s defense. In fact, their three scoring drives in the first half went for a combined 28 plays and consumed nearly 13 minutes of clock.
By the end of the first half, the Commanders opened up a 2-0 lead, their biggest since Ron Rivera was hired as head coach in 2020. Washington is now 6-5 on the year and should be taken seriously in the crowded NFC playoff picture.
Here’s why.
3 reasons the Commanders should be taken seriously in NFC playoff picture.
3. No crippling injuries
Let’s put it this way. The Commanders were in the NFC playoff picture for a duration of last season despite being one of the NFL’s most injured teams.
Between, Curtis Samuel, Chase Young, Montez Sweat, Brandon Scherff, Logan Thomas, Chase Roullier, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Benjamin St-Juste and Sam Cosmi, (we’re probably missing a few), the then-Football Team played a huge chunk of of their schedule without some of their most important players.
After Week 11, Washington has a relatively clean bill of health. The only notable inactives for Sunday included Cole Holcomb and J.D. McKissic.Is anyone losing sleep over David Mayo and Armani Rogers being shelved? Didn’t think so.
We already knew Carson Wentz was injured, but he’ll like be active next week, and the team is playing better with Taylor Heinicke anyway. Chase Young still being sidelined is disappointing, but all signs point to him returning in Week 12, and the defensive line (more on them in a minute) is playing out of its mind.
Never underestimate the importance of health in a playoff race, and Washington’s injury luck has improved dramatically after 2021.
Don’t worry, I knocked on wood.
2. Offensive identity is conducive to playoff football
The Commanders running game has been breaking out of late, and it spearheaded their unlikely upset of the Eagles on Monday night. In that game, Washington rushed 49 times for 152 yards and two touchdowns. They only managed 3.1 yards per carry, but that number is skewed due to the ridiculous volume.
If you watched the game you know Brian Robinson and Antonio Gibson were influential in upsetting the Eagles. That’s huge for the Commanders because pounding the rock is a staple of playoff football. Even though it largely feature’s the game’s best passers, you can’t survive the playoffs without a running game.
On Sunday, Robinson and Gibson — and even Curtis Samuel — did whatever they wanted against the Texans’ bottom-barrel run D.
Robinson took 15 carries for 57 yards, good for 3.8 yards per attempt; the rookie’s most efficient outing of the year. Gibson, however, led the way with 72 yards on 18 carries, equating to a passable 4.0 yards per attempt.
It stinks J.D. McKissic is done for the year, but Robinson and Gibson are two physical backs defenses will want no part of tackling once the climate drops in the weeks and months to come. You’d be hard-pressed to name five running back committees that look more dangerous than Gibson and Robinson.
1. Defensive line is elite
Another staple of playoff football is elite defensive line play, and Washington’s front four is playing as good as any in the entire NFL. You could argue Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne and Montez Sweat each deserve to make the Pro Bowl. That won’t happen, but everyone and their mother in Washington knows it’d be a deserved honor.
In the first half alone on Sunday, each of Allen, Payne and Sweat recorded a sack, bringing their respective totals to 5.5, 6.5 and 5.0 for the year.
In the process, the Commanders became the only team in the NFL with multiple interior defensive linemen who have five or more sacks in 2022. Washington also joined the Cowboys and Titans as the only teams to have three players with five or more sacks, barring the rest of the weekend’s results.
Not only have Allen, Payne and Sweat never clicked like this before since they became teammates, but Chase Young could rejoin the mix next week. While Young will likely be on a pitch count, he still has the talent and explosiveness to make plays.
There’s no greater reason Washington should be taken seriously in the NFC playoff race than its defensive line. If two of Allen, Payne and Sweat don’t make the Pro Bowl, the league should be ashamed. Best trio in football right now.