Alex Pantling, Getty Images
Reality Hits the Commanders, but the NFC East Still Offers Hope
Injuries deliver another blow to the Commanders, but a wide-open NFC East keeps hope alive in this week’s Sixpack of the Mondays
- I believe it was Patches O’Houlihan who said, “If you can dodge reality, you can dodge a ball.” The wheelchair-bound legend and seven-time champion of the ADAA (American Dodgeball Association of America) seemed to be great at overcoming his reality until reality came crashing down on top of him in the form of a huge Vegas casino sign. It was hard not to feel like I was channeling Patches on Sunday as the full weight of reality came crashing down on the Commanders and their fans in London. Still missing our franchise quarterback (and starting left tackle, starting right guard, No. 1 wide receiver, starting safety, and starting cornerback … among others), we watched Marcus Mariota pick up where he left off last week. High energy, smart decisions, and grizzled leadership were on full display from No. 8—until a red-zone sack ended what we can only hope is just his autumn and not his career.
- After watching what Mariota did for the Commanders last week against the reigning Super Bowl champs, the season felt saved—if for no other reason than we expected to have Jayden Daniels back sooner rather than later/never. Everyone understands where you are in any given season when you are down your starting quarterback. There are barely 32 above-average quarterbacks in the league at all, and when you have to trot out a backup, it is an incredibly tangible difference for the rest of the offense and, of course, for the opposing defense. Marcus Mariota has shown himself to be that rare kind of backup who is more than capable of keeping the train on the tracks for multiple weeks if necessary. The win over the Seahawks was a testament to that, and in the first quarter yesterday, all signs pointed to a Commanders team ready to strap some opponents across those train tracks. And then we were served yet another terrible dose of reality.
- If it’s true that the season is firmly on the rocks by the time you are counting on your backup quarterback, you can certainly imagine the footing you find yourself on when you are relying on your third-string rookie signal-caller out of Rutgers. No offense to Athan Kaliakmanis, who stood tall in an almost nonexistent pocket and took crushing blows from DeForest Buckner and company, but the writing felt like it was on the wall—and written in Sharpie—once the Colts’ defenders pinned their ears back and began attacking the rookie. What sucked the hardest was having to watch us go from the team that was fully in charge of the game to the team that simply wasn’t going to be able to do enough to win. From an impactful pass rush to multiple turnovers, the defense came out firing on all cylinders. Mariota did enough to convert both turnovers into points, and the pace of the game was overwhelmingly dictated by us. My point here is that while AK performed admirably, there was a sense of inevitability to the outcome as the game wore on, and that inevitability was force-fed to us like a giant turd sandwich. Thankfully, they served up a huge side of deep bombs to wash that turd sandwich down. Watching AK reach back and take deep shot after deep shot was—at the very minimum—exciting. We put our chances of winning in our one-on-one wide receiver matchups downfield, which was actually pretty smart since the Colts were playing about 15 guys at the line of scrimmage.
- There is another side to this reality, though, and it has the kind of silver lining that is tailor-made for the Sixpack. The Commanders are 1-3, finishing up one of the tougher first months we have seen on our schedule in recent years and surviving some pretty harsh setbacks. The win against the Seahawks is the classic definition of a “quality win,” and the improvement of our defense year over year (so far) has been strong. Heading into a divisional battle against the New York Giants, it at least seems plausible we could have Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin back on the field for us—maybe even Sam Cosmi? We’re even favored in the game against—get this—the first-place team in the NFC East! Of course, they are also down a starting quarterback, but they have still jumped out to a 3-1 start to the season. As hard as it is to take a season seriously when you are asking an untested rookie to lead you, it is also impossible not to identify the genuine opportunity that awaits us on Sunday.
- While other divisions are dealing with things like the return of the real Patrick Mahomes, a stifling Brian Flores defense, and the resurgence of previously down teams like Cleveland, Las Vegas, and even Carolina, we find ourselves in a pretty open NFC East facing off against a Giants team at a crucial moment of the season in a game that will (hopefully) see the return of No. 5 under center. None of our fellow divisional squads are blowing up the league’s skirts this season. In a year when you take tough losses to good teams out of the gate and weather storms without frontline players, knowing your division is still very much up for grabs is a gift. It just feels so weird to watch a game like the one we watched yesterday—when you realize the defense is just being asked to do too much—and think that in less than seven days we could be involved in a clutch divisional battle with our best player back on the field. I fully understand that the Greek Rifle could very well be our starter this week, but with the season still up for grabs, I will stay on the side of hope until we are told who is and who is not playing quarterback against New York.
- How about some HYPERLOCAL sports talk to close out? There are only so many ways I can stay somewhat even-keeled about the loss yesterday … and I am out of those ways. The high school fall season is hitting its stride. Conference play is just about here, and we are excited to see some of our top-ranked teams battle against each other as they fight for postseason opportunities. In fact, we will be excited to watch the top three teams in last week’s football rankings play a round-robin schedule later this month. Gonzaga, last week’s No. 1 team, lost against a tough Malvern Prep team out of Pennsylvania, while both DeMatha and St. John’s took care of business against out-of-conference opponents. Those three teams will fight for WCAC supremacy over the next seven weeks (including playoffs), and there are few—if any—high school conferences in the nation that can match the intensity and talent of the WCAC. Quince Orchard and Wise continue to pace the area’s public-school teams—winning by a combined 117 points over their two opponents this past weekend. From the soccer pitch to the volleyball court to the field hockey turf, our area student-athletes are gearing up for an exciting fall finish. It has truly been one of the best stretches in local sports for me since we started covering high school sports in earnest over a decade ago. Keep your eyes peeled for our streaming app, on the way in a couple of weeks, for chances to see these top teams and athletes in action!
Ken Meringolo
is lifelong Washingtonian, covering the Commanders, WCAC and building an image of class, competence and professionalism...one LEGO at a time.