7 things Washington Commanders fans want to see in 2024

Commanders go 3-3 or better in the NFC East

You might want to sit down for this one.

Over the last seven seasons, the Washington Commanders are 11-30-1 against their NFC East rivals. That works out to a winning percentage of 26. That is atrocious.

They have only managed one winning record against the division in those years. That was in 2020 when they took advantage of catastrophic injuries to the offensive lines of both the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles to win the NFC East. They still somehow managed to lose twice to the New York Giants that season.

During those same seven years, they have twice gone winless within the division, including last season. The Commanders simply have to turn that abysmal record around.

No one expects them to dominate Dallas or Philadelphia in 2024, but they should beat the Giants twice and manage at least one win against the upper-tier teams. Of course, beating the G-Men has proven remarkably difficult for this team in the recent past, so perhaps a sweep is aiming too high.

The turnaround has to begin soon. Since 2000, this franchise has finished in the upper half of the division (meaning, the top two) just five times. They have finished in the bottom half an appalling 19 times, including 11 last-place finishes.

Commanders improve their yards-per-play

In 2023, Washington averaged five yards per play on offense. That tied them with other mundane offenses like the Pittsburgh Steelers, Denver Broncos, and Chicago Bears hovering toward the top of the bottom third in the league. That is not a good number in today’s NFL, but it wasn’t terrible.

However, when paired with their yards-per-play-allowed on defense, there is a major problem. The Commanders' porous defense allowed 5.9 yards-per-play, second worst in the league behind the Cincinnati Bengals. Such an imbalance is untenable.

The Commanders have to improve on both sides of the ball. The offense struggled to produce big plays. That is attributable to a variety of issues, from poor quarterback play and a dearth of playmakers to inadequate pass protection and hard-to-figure game plans. All of that has to change in 2024.

It won’t be magically resolved, but there needs to be progress on all fronts.

Washington's defense simply has to stop surrendering multiple chunk plays per game. Since we have already noted the defense failed to generate turnovers, let's point to a different problem.

Substandard linebacker play last season allowed opponents to run at will in the middle of the field, and complete underneath passes for easy first-down conversions. The linebacking corps has been revamped for 2024. This should lead to a better yards-per-play number.

Seeing Bobby Wagner and Frankie Luvu making tackles at the line instead of seven yards downfield will put smiles on Commanders fans' faces.