Total Loss in Week Two Sends Commanders Fans into their Well-worn Foxholes

1. I've welcomed three children into my family and into this world. I have experienced extraordinary highs with my friends and family, celebrating momentous milestones along life's journey. On the other side of that coin, like so many of you, I have army-crawled my way through life's lows, counting on the support of friends and loved ones to keep my head up and keep hope alive.
   
   As I pondered this yesterday, it occurred to me that I don't think I hear from more people in my life/orbit/network than when my favorite team loses its starting quarterback. Thankfully, most of those messages are sympathetic...most of them.
   
   And so we start today in a place we know all too well. The feeling of loss we grapple with today, while just sports-related, weighs heavily on us. Thankfully, we are all experts at "gaining perspective" and remembering this is "just football." (It's not working for me this morning either.)
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2. It's easy for some people to say it's "just football" because they may not have walked a mile in our flip-flops. What Commanders fans know in their gut is that—as it has been for the last few decades—there is always more to deal with when this happens to us.
   
   Of course football players get injured, and dual-threat quarterbacks open themselves up to that threat more than most. We watched Jayden Daniels tuck and run with HUGE success yesterday against the Dallas Cowboys. He was the leading rusher in the game, for God's sake, and he only played one half.
   
   And yet, his injury had absolutely nothing to do with his ability to use his feet. Instead, he was injured on a fluke occurrence when Chris Paul stepped on his foot, he got spun around and reached down to stabilize himself. That led to his elbow bending in a way that elicited an "OH SHIT" from Tom Brady.
   
   Worse...the play in question came tailor-made for second- and third-guessing from every single person on the planet (most of whom texted me yesterday). So instead of knowing that "these things happen" and that we have to weather this storm that countless teams and fanbases have to weather every year, we get to hear from the biggest peanut gallery ever.
   
   And it sucks.
   
   We can't just have an injured quarterback—we also have to have a play-calling scandal.
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3. No, Dan Quinn and David Blough's play call did not cause this injury.
   
   If you care to know, I would have taken the points and the field goal at the end of the half. Only Dan Quinn truly knows how close the decision was between trying to score a touchdown with three seconds left in the second quarter or sending Drew Stevens in for three. And inside that decision is where we will all be spending many, many hours of thought and torture.
   
   Over the first two weeks, I have watched multiple teams make end-of-half and end-of-game decisions. Even last night, the Chiefs were faced with giving Harrison Butker the chance to kick a record field goal for the win or keeping Patrick Mahomes on the field for a Hail Mary toss.
   
   Second-guessing coaches when they make those calls is kind of what being a sports fan is all about, but for us, it wasn't just a choice between three points or a possible seven. For us, we also lost our franchise quarterback.
   
   That is a very crappy reality for Commanders fans—and Commanders coaches—to have to wade through today. It means we skip right past what people think the right situational call should have been and dive right into an admittedly illogical argument about Quinn putting Daniels in harm's way for a play some of us would have called differently.
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4. I keep coming back to this: I don't think a coach should ever make a play call based on him thinking our quarterback will get stepped on and place his arm down awkwardly on the turf.
   
   I mean, this is the pros...I get there is still some new-car smell to this "under-center" offense of ours, but these guys all know how to play their positions.
   
   I wish all we had to worry about was the decision between zero, three or seven points to end the first half. Hell, I have been at Redskins games where the other team's defense scored on us with zeroes showing on the clock at the end of the first half. (Seriously, Pete Kendall...why did you pick that ball up and run with it?!?!)
   
   The Commanders were set to receive the second-half kickoff, and the momentum had shifted to our sideline. I felt that three points at the end of the first half set us up well to use that opening possession of the third quarter to take the lead—with Jayden under center.
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5. We all saw the Cowboys' offense take to the air right out of the gate yesterday—with success. That said, after two Dallas offensive possessions, the score was 10-0 and there were signs that our defense was tightening up.
   
   Our rushing defense played great yesterday. Again, it was Dak's arm that did most of the damage to the Commanders. We outscored Dallas in the second quarter, 10-7...and it should have obviously been more.
   
   I feel like this should have led more to a "let's take the points" approach to end-of-half play-calling, but Quinn and Blough were no doubt watching Jayden Daniels move the offense down the field and envisioning that continuing in the second half.
   
   You see? Here we are talking about the play-calling...which will forever be linked to something a play-caller simply never accounts for—or shouldn't.
   
   I wish us all the best of luck in this conversation for the next 6-8 weeks.
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6. It's hard to focus on, but there were bright spots in yesterday's game...even though they provide little joy given the circumstances.
   
   We didn't just lose our franchise quarterback—we also lost our second straight NFC East contest. We are winless in the division, winless in the conference and winless on the season. That makes it kind of hard to get overly excited about Stefon Diggs adding a pair of touchdowns. (We will repeat what we have been saying in this space—Diggs getting into the end zone is 100% going to be a thing.) I was so proud of Stefon for not humping the goalpost. (Didn't have that on my lifetime bingo card of lines I would write.)
   
   There was a bigger emphasis on getting Terry McLaurin the ball, as he led the way in passing targets with nine. Marcus Mariota played exactly the way we expected him to. In fact, from a passing standpoint, there was little drop-off from Daniels to Marcus, but the danger Jayden poses to defenses is not present when #8 is under center.
   
   Washington controlled time of possession, tripled Dallas' rushing yards and converted 8-of-14 third downs—about a 25% improvement in efficiency week over week.
   
   In addition to #5, we'll be following closely to see how Brandon Coleman, Sam Cosmi and Javon Kinlaw react to treatment this week.
   
   Maybe we will be given some good news this year regarding the health of our franchise quarterback. Until then, it is hard to shake the feeling that we are all trapped in a movie we have seen countless times.
   
   I didn't think I would be in this foxhole so early in the season...thankfully, it is well-dug and well-supplied after last season. Keep your heads up, y'all! We have an opportunity right away to put ourselves back in the NFC conversation with a win over the defending Super Bowl champs. Here's hoping people find our mysterious source of optimism endearing.

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