What huge disappointments emerged from the Washington Commanders' thrilling overtime loss at the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4?
They say there are no moral victories in professional sports. If that’s true, the Washington Commanders came as close as possible to one on Sunday in their 34-31 overtime loss to the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Sam Howell and the entire offense responded to a dreadful game against the Buffalo Bills with their most assured performance of the year. On the road, against an undefeated team giving up fewer than 20 points a game, Eric Bieniemy’s crew scored 31, including a miraculous touchdown to tie the game with no time on the clock.
Ron Rivera’s decision to eschew a two-point try at the end and go into overtime may count as a disappointment to some. I understand the strategy, and I agree with it, though I must admit I would have liked to have seen what would have happened had they rolled the dice. But I do not count that as a disappointment.
What's important for the Commanders is building on the obvious positives that emerged from their latest road loss. It'll sting for a day or two - especially considering how close they came to getting one over on their divisional rivals - but time to dwell is a luxury Washington doesn't have with a quick upcoming turnaround before taking the primetime stage.
Before we get to that point, here are five huge disappointments from the Commanders' heartbreaking reverse at Lincoln Financial Field.
Commanders lost a thrilling clash
The only disappointment that really hurts - the only one that will have any kind of lasting impact - is the final result. The Washington Commanders didn’t win a game that they could have won. The fact that almost no one expected them to triumph doesn’t make it any less disappointing.
Had the Commanders won, they would have been tied with the Dallas Cowboys at the top of the NFC East with arguably their toughest game already out of the way. They would have proven they can not only compete against - but defeat - the league’s best teams in a hostile environment.
This game moved the franchise a spot ahead on the gameboard of their rebuild. A win would have shot them forward five or six additional steps.
Far and away the most important aspect of this loss is that Washington has to go out and beat the Chicago Bears on Thursday night. The fixture in the Windy City last season was a boring one, but the result is all that counts.
Chicago would have won with better coaching, but Washington pulled out a close one. This year, the two teams seem to be moving in opposite directions, and getting a struggling Bears team at home on a short week should result in victory.
They have to guard against allowing the strong showing against the Philadelphia Eagles to lull them into a subpar game against the Bears. If they do, then this loss grows into a much bigger disappointment for the Commanders.
Commanders gave up too many big plays
The Washington Commanders' defense went almost an entire half without giving up any back-breaking plays to a potent offense. Then, just before halftime, wide receiver DeVonta Smith made a miraculous juggling catch for 37 yards, setting up the Philadelphia Eagles for a field goal as the half expired.
That would be a harbinger of things to come in the second half when the Eagles added three more passing plays of more than 20 yards to take control of the game. All three were to A.J. Brown. Two resulted in touchdowns and the third set up another field goal.
Rookie cornerback Emmanuel Forbes was the primary victim during a torrid day for the No. 16 overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft. But, he is a rookie when push comes to shove.
For the game, Brown and Smith caught 16 balls for 253 receiving yards. That’s an average of almost 16 yards per catch. That obviously cannot continue. But I am not the least bit worried about Forbes or the rest of the secondary.
I assume they will learn from this experience and improve as the season goes on. Kendall Fuller and Benjamin St-Juste are playing at a fairly high level. Quan Martin is back on the field. And Forbes, despite getting beaten for several big plays by one of the league’s top receivers, looks to me like a young player who belongs on the field.
Disappointed, but not worried.
Commanders defense's lack of turnovers
Before the game, I did an analysis of how the Washington Commanders managed to upset the Philadelphia Eagles last season. They repeated two of the three big things that won that game. They committed to the run, and they managed to lure their opponents into a lot of bad penalties. The one thing they couldn’t do was force turnovers.
They were close on several occasions. On the first drive of the second half, Chase Young and Daron Payne converged on Jalen Hurts as he was beginning his throw, forcing the ball to squirt out of his hand. This was as close to a fumble as you can get, and safety Kamren Curl was there to pounce on the ball with nothing but open field in front of him.
But the play was ruled an incomplete pass. It was the right call, thanks to Hurts’ remarkable grip on the ball, but it was so close to being a game-changer.
That play was out of Washington’s hands, but the first play of the fourth quarter was not.
The Eagles ran a conservative sweep on 3rd-and-11 from inside the red zone. Washington’s defense smothered the play and Benjamin St-Juste stripped the ball from Kenneth Gainwell. Several Commanders had a shot at the recovery, but Cody Barton didn’t identify the fumble quickly enough, and Lane Johnson managed to beat Montez Sweat and the aforementioned cornerback to the ball.
On the next play, Jake Elliott kicked a short field goal to put Philadelphia up by a touchdown.
If the Commanders are able to secure one of those near misses, they probably win the game.
Commanders punter Tress Way
This one hurts.
Tress Way has been the Washington Commanders' best, most consistent player for the past decade. But the veteran punter had a very bad game against the Philadelphia Eagles, which was very out of character when one considers his impressive start to the 2023 campaign.
Way, who has consistently averaged in the high 40s on his punts for the past several years, only managed a 42.6-yard average on Sunday. More importantly, his net yards dropped from a season average of over 40 to just 35 in Week 4, which was extremely disappointing considering the fine margins involved in the overall outcome.
Part of that can be blamed on the punt coverage unit. But not the final punt.
In overtime, when the Commanders desperately needed a booming punt to pin Philadelphia deep in their own territory, Way had his worst kick of the year at the worst time imaginable.
It fluttered to the right and went out of bounds just 29 yards downfield. Jalen Hurts only needed two first downs to move the Eagles into position for Jake Elliott’s game-winning field goal, and the gifted signal-caller duly obliged to end any hopes Washington had of securing another shocking result at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Kid
If you were watching the Washington Commanders on television yesterday, you know who I’m talking about.
Immediately after wide receiver DeVonta Smith’s miracle catch at the end of the first half, FOX came out of a commercial showing a young Philadelphia Eagles fan in the stands signaling the former Alabama star's jersey signaling that the catch was good. Then, after the call was officially confirmed, they found another young supporter - this one in a Jalen Hurts jersey - going ballistic with glee at the call.
His joyous shouting revealed a gap-toothed grin and his Hulkamania pose revealed his passion for his team. Pretty commonplace at Lincoln Financial Field, but annoying nonetheless.
I remember when Washington was developing young fans with that kind of passion. The past quarter century of dysfunction stymied such devotion and it could take a long time for such unrivaled love for this team to return despite the presence of Josh Harris' ownership group.
Performances like the one Sunday against the Eagles could begin to rebuild it. All disappointments aside, that’s what I am taking away from this game, but if the Commanders keep on progressing and matching the very best this league has to offer, then it won't be much longer before they enter playoff consideration.