5 pivotal games that will define the Commanders' 2024 season
By Seth Jones
After the Washington Commanders’ schedule was officially released, pretty much every fan began speculating right away how the season would turn out. Record predictions were plentiful across the national and regional media, but which games were most important should have been the first port of call.
The most important games are the ones that will define a season for a team. I have mapped out five games that will determine whether head coach Dan Quinn can achieve success in his first campaign at the helm.
The first pivotal contest comes in Week 1 when the Commanders travel to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Commanders at Buccaneers - Week 1
The first game of the season for the Commanders has the new roster flying to Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers. This does not mean everything, especially for a team that is for the most part new to each other like Washington. However, a strong season opener, especially with a win, would give fans more closure that the offseason hype might truly be real.
This will not be an easy season opener, as the Buccaneers were able to make it to the divisional round in the playoffs last year and push the Detroit Lions to their limit.
Week 1 might not be a good game for Jayden Daniels. It will be his first NFL experience and his processing needs a lot of developing. Hopefully, he can prove everyone wrong and hit the ground running.
Paying attention to this new defense and seeing if they can win this game for the Commanders will be another intriguing factor. The newcomers in Frankie Luvu, Jeremy Chinn, Mike Sainristil, Bobby Wagner, and Johnny Newton - if he’s healthy enough to play - have a big opportunity right out the gate to prove that they will turn around Washington's defensive unit from a not so pretty 2023.