Someone Has to Win the NFC East. We Are Someone.
- If I was going to imitate our Commanders, I wouldn't start the 6pack until #3 or #4, opting instead for a few paragraphs of typos and grammatical errors. A few perfunctory points that added up to little more than empty words and random stats would be our version of the kind of start we have become accustomed to this season. Given how well we have seen the boys perform once they decide it's time to play, these first and second quarters have been a bit soul-crushing. That said, I don't think I have ever been as comfortable being down 10-0 in my entire life as I was last night. And that includes Super Bowl XXII against the Denver Broncos when we became the first team to overcome a 10-0 deficit to absolutely destroy an opponent. (The New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs erased 10-0 leads in Super Bowls XLIV and LVIII, respectively, but neither blew the doors off the hinges the way the Skins did in the 1988 championship game.) Seldom do you see a wounded and limping team like the Philadelphia Eagles come to town--their problems are many and they run deep. It ain't like we're some model of health and soundness, but with #5 upright and taking snaps, it never felt like the game was out of reach in the first half. Inside the NFC East, this is all well and good, but of our remaining 10 games, only two will be against division rivals. I would have liked to have seen us shake the "terrible start" doldrums coming out of the bye, but a big win over Philly could also be the catalyst we need to improve in first halves (which, I remind us all, is an insane problem to keep having).
- It seemed that Jayden Daniels also hit a bit of a wall on this topic himself last night, as he gathered the offense for what I think was at least a rare public pep talk. Austin Ekeler seemed to think it was just what the team needed, and I believe Daniels led us to scoring drives on three of our next four possessions. The problem isn't that we are incapable of scoring points or giving our opponents some crushing body blows. The problem is obviously that by the time we start doing it, we are left to look at the score and the clock and wonder if it's too little too late. I loved seeing the leadership out of #5, and thankfully he survived the contest to hopefully bring some momentum into the Rams game this week. Unfortunately, part of the problem early last night was the play of Jayden, as he looked out of sorts in the first quarter. On multiple plays on those first two drives, I watched Jayden at the line of scrimmage, seemingly still digesting play-calls as he stared at his wristband playbook. His eyes looked a little wide and from my perspective, he looked unsure--an absolute death sentence for a quarterback. One of Jayden's main calling cards is accuracy--he is Greg Maddux with the ball, hitting his spots at every level of the field. Early on last night, he was just plain inaccurate. He missed throws he is more than capable of making--throws he began making again as the game went on. All this to say that nobody in burgundy and gold has seemed to escape this slow start ailment.
- The Commanders will go as Jayden Daniels goes, and he still has more than enough talent, athleticism and magic to put us in the win column (last night was Jayden's first quarterback win in over a year). Making the job so much harder for our franchise signal-caller though, is the onslaught of pre-snap penalties and mental mistakes that are plaguing this team as we hit November. There are so many times this season that we find ourselves saying, "That simply can't happen." Guys making millions of dollars on the field and on the sidelines can't ever expect to be winners in this league if they remain committed to the kind of sloppy play we have put on tape. This Jekyll and Hyde routine of playing like it's our first day on the job for one half and then like one of the better teams in the league in the second half is really putting a strain on the whiskey budget. The first couple pours are generally angry pours, meant to help get through what is about to be a long game, followed by happy pours as what once seemed lost now feels like it's for the taking. It's a very delicate chemistry, designed to achieve a mental and spiritual limberness that my father and grandfather taught me was essential to being a Washington fan. Where was I...
- Oh yes...Jayden. We have to talk about the way a guy who has been susceptible to injury over the last year rolled with some serious punches last night. He absorbed some absolutely violent shots from some of the biggest and baddest dudes in the league. Jalen Carter is a demonic freak, while Moro Ojomo and Jordan Davis combine to give Philly one of the best defensive fronts in the game. They're gigantic and when they get to the quarterback, it changes both games and seasons. I know I wasn't alone in thinking Jayden may have been injured last night once or twice. It didn't help that NBC followed Marcus Mariota out of the huddle after one such play, leading me to believe he was coming onto the field, when in actuality he was heading toward the sidelines. That felt cruel. Since his return, Jayden Daniels has shown some serious resiliency. Instead of any injury-proneness, he has looked like a football player, and after his pep talk and play last night, he is clearly the kind of football player that other football players are going to follow.
- We talk about it every week now and it sure as hell is not a story that is changing: the NFC East sucks out loud. But let's all take a deep breath because the NFC South is giving us a real run for our money. Both divisions have combined for 11 total wins, but the NFC South has two more losses (ties rule!). The AFC divisions are on cruise control, which is fine because we wouldn't play them until the Super Bowl anyway (not everyone finds my homerism as endearing as Ricca does). The Commanders don't have any business even saying the word "wildcard" right now. Winning the division is likely our best and only chance to get to the playoffs, and thankfully we find ourselves kind of in the thick of the divisional race. Which is nuts. Here's something to remember if you haven't already committed this to memory: ties count as half a win in the winning percentage calculation used by the NFL. This means if we have the same amount of wins as a divisional rival, our winning percentage would be better and put us higher in the divisional standings. Of course, our tie came inside the division, so we have to take care of our business against the New York Giants on 11/12 (Thursday Night Football). Watching the Cowboys give one away to Arizona was just such a rush ahead of our tilt against the Eagles. It just can't and won't be said enough--someone is going to win the NFC East, and last I checked....we are someone.
- On last Tuesday's show, we suggested that getting to 5-6-1 was a stepping-stone goal that could set us up nicely to close the season with the chance to win the division. As hilarious as it is that 5-6-1 is aspirational for us, that would leave us five games left in the season against Houston, Atlanta, Minnesota, Jacksonville and Dallas. I think that is a slightly harder five-game stretch than the one we are staring at now, with upcoming games against the Rams, Giants, Bengals, Cardinals and Titans. Going 6-4 to close out the season may very well not be good enough, but it will be close--especially if two of those wins are against the Giants and Cowboys. Getting to nine wins feels like the magic number, but that will require us to win at least one of the games against Cincy, Houston and Los Angeles...while also winning the handful of games we will almost certainly be favored to win. It's a brand new season, and though there is little margin for error, the truth of the matter is that we have been splashing around in the margin of error for weeks now, and maybe we're just getting comfy.
Ken Meringolo
is lifelong Washingtonian, covering the Commanders, WCAC and building an image of class, competence and professionalism...one LEGO at a time.
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