Until midway through the fourth quarter of the Washington Commanders’ loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the main takeaway seemed obvious.
It would be that the Commanders proved they could win a game, or at least stay highly competitive, even with Jayden Daniels playing his worst game as a pro. The defense, recently a disaster area, is now good enough to carry the team.
Things changed quickly.
Washington’s defense held up well for much of the game, but they surrendered three touchdowns and 165 yards in the fourth quarter of a competitive contest. That cannot happen if the Commanders expect to compete against quality teams.
Even with that collapse, the defense was far and away the best unit for the Commanders on Thursday Night Football. Special teams were mediocre, giving up too many additional yards on kick and punt returns. And the offense bordered on abysmal.
Daniels desperately needs the upcoming mini-break to recuperate. It is fairly obvious that he is playing hurt right now and has not been nearly as effective over the past few weeks as he was earlier this season.
The fact that Daniels is playing with some sort of limiting injury was evident in the first quarter.
Commanders offense lacked the energy needed in Week 11
Washington had taken an early 7-0 lead and was looking to build on it when they got the ball back deep in their own territory with a couple of minutes left in the quarter. They found themselves faced with a 3rd-and-6 from the 10-yard line. Daniels looked to throw, and finding no one open, stepped up into a hole and took off.
In the first half of the season, we saw him do this repeatedly. His scrambles almost always resulted in first downs. Last week, the Pittsburgh Steelers limited these plays. This time around, Eagles' linebacker Nakobe Dean easily brought the signal-caller down well short of the line to gain.
This established a pattern. Daniels simply couldn’t make plays with his legs. He could not run away from defenders the way we have seen him do throughout the first half of the season.
More importantly, he did not throw the ball well.
Daniels missed a lot of open receivers and did not take a single shot downfield. There’s no way we can know the reasons for this, but it would fit with the injury scenario.
Philadelphia has a good pass rush. Downfield plays require the quarterback to hold the ball longer. Daniels took several shots even without those longer-developing plays. It would make sense if Kliff Kingsbury was concerned about exposing his rookie quarterback to more potential punishment.
The game plan appeared to call for runs and quick throws to the running backs and tight ends. Receivers were targeted on just 11 of 32 passes. The longest completion to a wideout went for 10 yards.
What made the game especially frustrating was that Washington became fairly effective on first down. They often had the ball in second and short situations. Virtually every time they found themselves in this advantageous spot, they ran the ball and suffered a tackle for loss.
The Commanders offensive line surrendered eight tackles-for-loss on the night. Jalen Carter dominated Sam Cosmi and Andrew Wylie, continually blowing up running plays. Things weren't any better on the left-hand side.
That situation - second and short - is a play-caller’s dream. You can take a chance. You can run play-action and go deep. You can try a trick play. Everything is available.
Kingsbury never tried anything. He ran the ball. Most of the time, his offense went backward. We can’t get inside the coordinator’s head, but the fact that he never even took a shot downfield suggests there was concern about how well Daniels could throw deep.
It became clear as the game went on that the Heisman Trophy winner became less accurate when he had to throw the ball more than 10 yards downfield. Washington’s offense stalled for most of the night and the defense could not hold up against the weapons that Philadelphia threw at them.
There were bright spots. Veteran running back Austin Ekeler continued to show his value. Rookie cornerback Mike Sainristil stood up to A.J. Brown most of the night. Frankie Luvu played well. The defensive tackles were solid for three quarters. Brian Robinson Jr. ran hard.
But the offensive line was dominated, the receivers were non-factors and the quarterback did not make plays. Kingsbury had no answers.
The decision to eschew a makeable field goal which would have given the Commanders the lead with eight minutes remaining was highly suspect. Washington had just been stuffed on two consecutive plays when they needed one yard to extend the drive. They lost yardage on third down yet still chose to try a 4th-and-2. Daniels bobbled the snap and tried to run. The play never had a chance.
Another sign of a quarterback who isn’t quite right.
If there is a silver lining, it is that Daniels kept competing though he was diminished. Now he and the rest of the team have 10 days to recover before hosting a struggling Dallas Cowboys team in Week 12.
The prized rookie is going through his first extended hardship. Daniels has responded to every challenge so far. How he responds to the latest one will determine whether Washington remains one of the league’s biggest surprises or sinks back toward mediocrity in the second half of the season.
My money is on the former.