With the panic of the preseason mercifully over, real football kicked off for the Washington Commanders as they squared off with the Philadelphia Eagles on a pretty September Sunday. Unfortunately, the game was not as pretty as the weather. The Commies opened the 2026 season with a 24–22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, and this was a frustrating one for fans. Rust, questionable coaching, and special teams mistakes. There is your recipe for starting the season 0–1.
The offense looked like a unit that had spent the preseason discussing football rather than playing it. There is no sugarcoating things with David Blough and this new offense. Jayden Daniels looked rusty for most of the afternoon. The receivers struggled to get open. The offensive line was average at best. Meanwhile, David Blough spent the first three quarters getting an unpleasant introduction to life as an offensive coordinator against Vic Fangio. By the time the offense finally came to life in the fourth quarter, Washington had already wasted far too much of this game.
And that is what makes this loss so unfortunate. There were opportunities to win it. The defense looked substantially improved from last season. There was an actual pass rush! Sonny Styles, who recorded five total tackles, two tackles for loss, and one sack, gave Washington fans plenty of reasons to get excited. Daniels eventually found his rhythm, and the passing game finally started producing. There was enough here to win a football game. I fear that near the end of the season, when teams are jockeying for the final wildcard playoff spot that the Commies will look back on this game and lament not picking up this win.
Unfortunately, the Commies also brought along the stupid penalties, poor clock management, and inability to get off the field on critical third downs. Then special teams contributed a missed field goal and a blocked extra point. Four points left on the field in a game Washington lost by two. Fantastic.
Look, I am happy to acknowledge the defensive improvement and Daniels’ excellent fourth quarter. Those things matter. But they do not erase the sloppy football that put Washington in this position. Nor does a late comeback attempt excuse an offense spending three quarters trying to remember where somebody left the instruction manual.
The most aggravating part was that familiar feeling down the stretch. You wanted to believe Washington would make the critical defensive stop. You wanted to believe Daniels would pull off the play that rescued the game. But there was that general aura of collapse hanging over the entire operation. We have watched enough Washington football to recognize it.
The Commies gave us reasons to be encouraged about individual players. They also gave away a winnable game against a division rival. I am considerably more interested in the second part.
Offense
The offense looked like it had not played at all during the preseason. The timing was off. Daniels was slow to process what he was seeing. His passing was not sharp, and the receivers were not doing much to make his afternoon easier. There was very little that looked comfortable or instinctive about this operation.
The fact that Daniels looked like he was either having trouble deciphering the defense or hesitant to pull the trigger on passes to receivers he thought were not open enough was disconcerting. Daniels’ lightning-quick release and elite processing skills are supposed to be his strengths. None of that was present in the first three quarters. Daniels looked more like an uncomfortable and unsure rookie yesterday than he did in his 2024 rookie season.
Of course, keep in mind that yesterday was the first game that Daniels started and finished since October 13, 2025. That was almost a full year ago! On top of that, the last time Daniels actually played football before this opener was December 7, 2025, against Minnesota, when he aggravated his injured left elbow.
Daniels did make a brief preseason appearance against Detroit on August 22, 2026, playing three snaps. Three snaps. That is not much of a tune-up after an injury-shortened season, and Daniels looked every bit like a quarterback still trying to get back up to speed.
Daniels’ first-half numbers were horrific: 6 completions on 16 attempts for 43 yards. A 37.5 percent completion rate. We are talking about 1935-era quarterback numbers. Somebody tell Blough that the forward pass is legal now.
Through three quarters, Daniels was 9-of-23 for 64 yards. That is brutal. There is no excuse for passing numbers like that through three quarters when you supposedly have an “elite” talent at quarterback. I had visions of Mark Brunell going 6 of 17 for 58 yards against Detroit back in 2004.
Daniels finally came to life in the fourth quarter as he completed 9 of 11 passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns. That was the Daniels we had been waiting to see. The passing game finally had some life, and Washington could actually move the ball without making every first down feel like a major construction project. I will absolutely give Daniels credit for that fourth quarter. I also would have enjoyed seeing some of it before the fourth quarter.
By the end of the game, Daniels finished 18-of-34 for 164 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions, adding 31 rushing yards on five carries. This gave Daniels a 66.5 QBR, which placed him 14th among quarterbacks in the NFL.
The offensive line was not the catastrophe people had feared. I think we all felt the national media was engaged in a massive overreaction to the second half of the Commies’ preseason. While not at the level of being unable to chew gum and walk at the same time, the reality was that the Commies’ offensive line was average against the Eagles. And average is hardly a glowing endorsement.
This group did not consistently impose itself on Philadelphia, and asking it to hold up while slow-developing plays went nowhere was not helping. There is a difference between an offensive line giving its quarterback a reasonable opportunity and expecting it to block indefinitely while everyone waits for a receiver to get open.
It was particularly ironic, after having to listen to Dan Quinn and Adam Peters pat fans on the head over the fans’ concerns with the center position, to see Nick Allegretti get put in a blender by Moro Ojomo as Ojomo blew up the Commies’ two-point play to seal the victory for the Eagles.
PFF’s initial pass-blocking charting credited Sam Cosmi with no pressures allowed, Chris Paul with one, Josh Conerly Jr. with two, Nick Allegretti with three, and Brandon Coleman with five. Those pressure totals show why simply declaring the entire line terrible misses the differences between the individual performances.
As for the wide receivers, they were largely MIA until the fourth quarter. Philadelphia’s secondary had this group locked down for far too much of the game. Terry McLaurin’s first catch came with 4:40 remaining in the fourth quarter. That is inexcusable.
I have not seen the All-22, so I do not know if the blame lies on Blough for not calling enough plays to McLaurin or on McLaurin for failing to get open. Either way, that is unacceptable. This offense is not going to hit its full potential unless McLaurin is properly involved and producing up to his standard. McLaurin ended up finishing with two catches for 14 yards.
There were only two bright spots for the Washington receiving corps. Rookie Antonio Williams led Washington with four catches for 64 yards and a touchdown, earning an initial 91.1 PFF offensive grade, and Stefon Diggs added four catches for 55 yards and a touchdown.
Williams and Diggs finally gave Daniels something to work with down the stretch. The rookie, in particular, was a welcome sight. Williams’ grade was the highest offensive mark in PFF’s published top-five list for either team. That is a hell of a debut.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt was nothing special. He finished with 63 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, averaging 3.9 yards per carry. Fine. There were useful runs in there, but nothing that makes me want to overlook what happened late in the game.
The fumble was terrible. Jalen Carter, who finished with five total tackles, a forced fumble, and a blocked extra point, knocked the ball out on Washington’s final touchdown drive, and Conerly recovered it. Washington kept possession, but Croskey-Merritt’s afternoon carrying the football was over. Kaytron Allen, who finished with four carries for 16 yards, handled the remaining rushing attempts.
Look, a teammate recovering your own fumble does not make the ball-security problem disappear. It means somebody else saved you from an even worse outcome. Croskey-Merritt cannot be RB1 if fumbling becomes a recurring problem. A back giving you 3.9 yards per carry is not producing so much that you can shrug off putting the ball on the ground in a critical situation.
Defense
The defense looked much improved from last year. No doubt. There was more aggression, more disruption, and an actual pass rush. For stretches of this game, Washington looked capable of dictating what happened instead of simply waiting to see what Philadelphia wanted to do.
Sonny Styles looked fantastic attacking the backfield. His speed and physicality kept flashing. The highlight was watching him obliterate Saquon Barkley on his way to sacking Jalen Hurts. Styles going right through Barkley to get to Hurts was glorious. Yes, please. More of that.
Styles shared the team lead with one sack, alongside Frankie Luvu, who added seven total tackles, and Odafe Oweh, who added four tackles. Styles also dropped Barkley for a three-yard loss on a third-quarter run. Those were meaningful plays that helped Washington force punts and stay in the game.
Unfortunately, the improved defense still had a painfully familiar problem: finishing the job on third down.
Barkley turned a third-and-two into a 42-yard run. Then, in the fourth quarter, Hurts scrambled for 22 yards on third-and-18. Eighteen! Washington had just pulled within one point, and the defense had a chance to get the ball back. Instead, Philadelphia kept the drive alive and eventually scored.
That is horrendous. You can make aggressive calls, get pressure, and win individual plays. But if the quarterback runs for a first down when he needs eighteen yards, you have still failed at the most important part of that possession.
In general, Hurts had a solid game against the Commies, going 14-of-25 for 203 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions, adding 46 rushing yards on seven carries.
Once Trey Amos got injured, I was less than excited about the cornerbacks that Peters had assembled for this team. The end of the pre-season gave us a final roster with just three cornerbacks on it. None of them excited me at all.
Well, it appears there is a real problem at cornerback for the Commies. Mike Sainristil finished with six total tackles, but he looked atrocious in coverage. He is not the answer at cornerback. PFF’s initial coverage charting charged him with two completions allowed for 73 yards on three targets and a 149.3 passer rating allowed. That is brutal.
The pressure up front is a welcome improvement. It also cannot erase receivers getting loose for huge gains behind it. Washington is still giving opponents too many opportunities to undo several good defensive snaps with one enormous play.
Javon Kinlaw finished with three total tackles and an initial 80.0 PFF defensive grade. Amik Robertson recorded nine total tackles and a 76.5 grade, while Leo Chenal had five total tackles and a 75.8 grade. All three appeared in PFF’s published top-five defensive list for the game.
There is something to build on here. I feel considerably better about this defense than I did watching last year’s group. But improved does not mean the third-down collapses and the tendency to give up big plays suddenly become acceptable.
Special Teams
Special teams flat-out cost the Commies this game.
Before getting to that mess, let us acknowledge Tyler Owens mogging Philadelphia’s punt return team. He made the tackle on two first-half punt returns, including one that lost a yard. Owens brought the sort of physicality that makes you sit up and pay attention. In a game with plenty to complain about, watching him wreck people was thoroughly enjoyable.
Tress Way also had an excellent afternoon: six punts, a 53.0-yard average, and a long of 60 yards. I see nothing in Way that suggests he needs to retire at the end of this season!
Unfortunately, the kicking operation left four points on the field. Drew Stevens finished 1-of-2 on field goals and 1-of-2 on extra points. He made a 55-yard field goal, but later missed from 54. Jalen Carter blocked an extra point. Washington lost by two.
Yes, a 54-yard field goal is a long kick. And a blocked extra point is a failure of the kicking operation that should not automatically be dumped entirely on the kicker. Neither distinction puts those points on the scoreboard.
You cannot waste opportunities like that against a division rival and then act surprised when you are desperately trying to manufacture a two-point conversion at the end. Owens can flatten people. Way can boom punts. Those are good things. They do not make up for the points Washington failed to collect.
Coaching
Offensive Coordinator: David Blough
Vic Fangio took David Blough to the woodshed for the first three quarters. There really is no gentler way to put it.
Too many plays took too long to develop. Daniels looked confused, the receivers were locked down, and the offensive line was being asked to keep blocking while the play searched for a reason to exist. At some point, the offensive coordinator has to recognize what his players can execute that afternoon and give them something that works.
And the draws. Wow. If you love draws, then you are going to love a Blough-designed offense. I would have preferred a little more evidence that Washington could consistently threaten Philadelphia through the air before repeatedly asking the running game to rescue another passing situation.
The fourth quarter was much better. Blough gets credit for his part in that, just as Daniels and the receivers do. But one good quarter does not erase three bad ones, and then we arrived at the two-point conversion.
A shovel pass to John Bates, who finished with two catches for 13 yards. Your blocking tight end. With the game on the line.
Bates is about the ninth guy on this offense I want holding the football on a play deciding the game. I like having a tight end who can block. That does not mean I want to make him the centerpiece of this particular moment. Ojomo blew up the play, and Washington’s chance to tie the game went with it.
Say what you want about Kliff Kingsbury, but in 2024 he understood the value of letting Daniels decide critical plays like this one. At the big-time moments of a game, you want your best players with the ball. Daniels had finally found his rhythm. This was the moment for Blough to give Daniels a chance to make something happen, rather than have the play depend on getting the ball to Bates.
Blough got too cute. For someone raised on Joe Gibbs and the Hogs, I prefer no-nonsense football over cutesy trick plays. Put your best players in position to win the game. Your mileage may vary.
Grade: D.
Defensive Coordinator: Daronte Jones
Daronte Jones showed up better than Blough in this opener.
Jones brought a far more aggressive defensive approach than we have seen in Washington for a long time. The defense attacked. The pass rush was better. Styles had opportunities to use his obvious athletic gifts. This looked like a coordinator trying to cause problems for the opposing offense, and I appreciated it.
Having said that, third-down defense was a problem. So were the explosive plays. There is nothing enjoyable about watching Washington put an offense in a difficult situation and then allow it to escape with a huge gain.
The Hurts scramble on third-and-18 was particularly brutal. That was an opportunity to reward the offense for finally waking up. Instead, the Eagles kept the ball, and Washington was soon chasing an eight-point deficit again.
Still, the improvement was obvious. Jones gave me more reasons for confidence than concern in his first game, even with some major mistakes that need to be corrected. I cannot say the same about Blough.
Grade: B-.
Head Coach: Dan Quinn
The Commies looked rusty and out of sync on offense. They committed six penalties for 45 yards. Those included two delay-of-game penalties, two false starts, and Diggs’ unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. That is a lot of entirely avoidable nonsense for a team trying to win a close game.
Diggs’ penalty was particularly stupid. You finally score a touchdown, and then your celebration interferes with the team’s opportunity to go for two and tie the game. Congratulations. You found a way to make a touchdown frustrating.
The clock management was poor, too. Delay-of-game penalties and wasted timeouts make an already struggling offense’s job harder. Getting the play called and the ball snapped should not be another obstacle Washington has to overcome.
All of this falls under Quinn’s responsibility. Blough owns his offensive calls. Jones owns his defensive calls. The players own their mistakes. But the CEO head coach owns the overall preparation and discipline of the team, and neither was good enough.
Then there was that general aura of collapse. Even as Daniels brought Washington back, it was difficult to believe the Commies would get the critical stop or execute the final play. There was always another mistake waiting to undo the progress.
The defense improved. The offense rallied. Washington still lost a game it had opportunities to win because too much of the operation was sloppy. That is a head-coaching problem.
Grade: C-.
All in all, this was a tough loss for Commies fans. Unfortunately, I think Commies fans should prepare themselves for plenty of more losses to come this season. This game did nothing to change my mind about my pre-season prediction that the Commies would win 8 games. But look on the positive side. Jayden Daniels started and finished an NFL game with no injuries for the first time in a year! That is something worth celebrating.
