The Washington Commanders are at a crossroads in their season as they approach their most important game yet — on the road in Madrid. Currently standing at a disappointing 3-7, the team has lost five straight games, including their last four by a staggering combined total of 89 points. This shocking development has sent fans and analysts alike reeling, pondering the fate of the franchise.
The Commanders’ defense has been recently decimated. They’ve surrendered a staggering 154 points over the last four games, setting an all-time franchise record for most points allowed in a four-game stretch dating back to 1954. To further complicate things, the opponents have only forced a combined four punts over those same three games. This trend is indicative of their continued failure to halt drives. Remarkably, starting defensive ends Deatrich Wise Jr. and Dorance Armstrong are both out for the season with injuries. That still leaves the team with painful, continual defensive holes that are not going to be fixed this season.
The situation around defensive tackle Daron Payne isn’t looking good. Now he has to sit a game for being ejected after throwing a haymaker against Detroit’s Amon-Ra St. Brown in their previous meeting. The Commanders have entered an all too rare club of just three teams in the past 35 years. They’ve endured four consecutive 20+ point losses, raising the red flag on their competitiveness and viability.
Even after experiencing such hardship, the team is still dedicated to the task of righting the ship. Marcus Mariota, a player for the Commanders, expressed optimism about the upcoming trip to Madrid, stating, “This is a good opportunity for us to figure out who we are and who we want to be, and just to get this thing right.” This is one centralizing moment that the team is using as an opportunity to reset. They hope to change that narrative on a calendar year that began with high hopes after last year’s surprising 12-5 record.
To be sure head coach Dan Quinn has owned up to the team’s failures but is hell bent on staying the course. He noted that the defense has been taking “a step forward and then two steps backwards” throughout the season. Quinn emphasized the need for players to recognize their current position: “It’s not what we want and that’s a big part of us. The identity and play style and all of it.
And with defensive player Bobby Wagner adding to that, with Quinn’s discontent, saying they’re angry about how they’ve been playing. He stated, “I understand we’re not where we want to be in this moment,” underscoring the urgency for improvement. Wagner added, “It’s frustrating. We don’t want to be in this situation. It’s on us to get ourselves out. We can’t look back on the past and talk about what should have been or what could have been.”
As the Commanders prepare for their next game, they know that the way they play will have more immediate and further reaching impacts. If they do not find a way to reverse their fortunes, they risk landing a top-10 pick in the upcoming NFL draft, possibly even a top-five selection. This impending reality looms over the front office as they continue to drive toward erasing last season to become playoff contenders again.
As October 5, the Commanders were still riding their most recent win over the Los Angeles Chargers. They were able to pull off a decisive 27-10 victory on the road. Since that Week 6 loss to Chicago, they haven’t been ahead in a single contest. This streak has lasted through all their games since then. This confusing streak of missed opportunities has those both on and off the team wondering about the supposed ‘dream team’ and their process for recovery.
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