The Washington Commanders are 3-5 at midseason, an extreme letdown from the high hopes the team had entering the year. They'll have another chance to turn it around on Sunday Night Football against the Seattle Seahawks, but it might be their last.
This season's issues have predominantly been a product of injuries and age catching up to a roster built to cover for Washington's lack of developing pieces. That's an approach that must shift if the Commanders hope to be long-term contenders.
In the meantime, Washington does have one silver lining for the rest of 2025. Everything has gone about as badly as it could go, so from this point forward, the Commanders can experiment a bit as they desperately look for answers.
Commanders should be throwing anything they can at the wall for the rest of 2025
Whether it's different lineups, different schemes, or altered in-game strategies, everything needs to be on the table for head coach Dan Quinn and his staff. We've already seen some creativity in terms of personnel adjustments, with the Commanders trying to get young linebacker Jordan Magee more involved and moving Frankie Luvu to edge rusher for most of Week 8 against the Kansas City Chiefs.
It can't stop there. Give some of Bobby Wagner's snaps to sixth-round rookie Kain Medrano. Try mixing up the defensive backfield. Mike Sainristil played much better last year as an outside cornerback; move him back there. Could Marshon Lattimore be better off at safety?
On offense, there needs to be more creativity in Kliff Kingsbury's play-calling. More outside runs for Jacory Croskey-Merritt, please. Let Jayden Daniels take more shots down the field. And it's time to take off the training wheels with Luke McCaffrey.
These are the types of uncomfortable risks the Commanders can afford to — and pretty much have to — take right now. Everyone has already written them off as a playoff contender, so the worst that can go wrong is that they abandon what's not working, and it still doesn't work. In the best-case scenario, Washington can turn its season around.
There are still nine games to go. If the Commanders can find a way to beat the Seahawks and the Detroit Lions next week, they'll be 5-5 with momentum on their side and the most challenging part of their schedule behind them. Narratives can transform in the blink of an eye in the NFL.
But nothing changes unless you try. That needs to be the Commanders' approach if there's any hope of salvaging their campaign.