The Washington Commanders sit 2-2 and in a far different place from where they ended last season. The team’s signature late-game heroics and relatively clean bill of health last year have been replaced by a mixed bag of performances and a laundry list of injuries.
This was always a possibility, with a tougher schedule and plenty of tape for opponents to feast on. It may also be merely an early detour before Washington rediscovers its success of 2024.
But before the team heads to L.A. to take on Justin Herbert and the Chargers in Week 5, it’s worth zooming out on its start to 2025.
The good
Special teams
Any other season, including this at the top would be a stretch. But special teams units have been true game-changers across the league through Week 4, and Washington’s teams have been exceptional — save for place-kicking. The Commanders’ punt and kickoff coverage units and their returners have been some of the more consistent and impactful groups on the team.
“It’s the flagship,” safety and special teams ace Jeremy Reaves said. “Everybody talks about football (and) the 22 starters that go out there, but we’re the first people that kick off the game — kickoff and kickoff returns. So we set the tone of how that game is gonna go, whether you tackle them inside the 20 or 25 or you get a big return like Deebo (Samuel) had to the opposite side (in Week 3 against the Raiders). You set the precedent of what the game is going to be.”
Thanks to Samuel and Luke McCaffrey, the Commanders lead the league in yards per kickoff return (33.7) and average starting field position after kick returns (their own 35.6-yard line). Washington’s opponents, meanwhile, have averaged only 24.0 yards per kickoff return (sixth-fewest in the NFL) and a starting field position of their own 30.3-yard line after kickoff returns (17th-worst).
On punt returns, Washington is tied for eighth with an average of 14.8 yards per return and fifth in opponent yards per punt return (3.9). It helps having a speedy rookie like Jaylin Lane, who has been a returner for as long as he’s been playing football. He ripped a 90-yard punt return for a touchdown against the Raiders, the second-longest punt return in the NFL so far this season.
Tress Way has netted 43.1 yards per punt to rank 10th in the NFL, and is tied for the league-lead with four punts dropped inside the 10-yard line. Way has placed 50 percent of punts inside the 20, tied for the fifth-highest rate in the league.
The outlier is Washington’s place-kicking. Matt Gay has made only 70.0 percent of his field-goal attempts, the second-worst percentage in the league. His misses: 58, 52 and 37 yards.
Third-down defense
The Commanders had the league’s finest third-down defense heading into their Week 4 meeting with the Falcons, allowing opponents to convert only 28.6 percent of their attempts. But Atlanta converted six of them (half of its attempts) on Sunday, three of which were on its final drive.
So the Commanders are now tied for sixth in the NFL in opponent third-down conversion rate, at 33.3 percent, a massive improvement from last season, when their third-down D ranked dead last (54.8 percent) through the first four games.
Ball security
Jayden Daniels didn’t throw a pick until Week 4 last season and the team finished the year with only 16 turnovers, a far cry from the 32 they had a year prior. So far this season, Washington has maintained its tight grip, turning the ball over only twice — interceptions thrown by Marcus Mariota in Weeks 3 and 4 — and not allowing any points off turnovers.
The kids
The rash of injuries across the roster has forced a number of younger and less-experienced players into larger roles, and though it hasn’t been perfect, their emergence has been promising. Lane, who was drafted in the fourth round to be a slot receiver and returner, has proven his mastery of the latter while showing he’s more versatile than perhaps anticipated on offense. He’s played out wide more than twice as much as he’s been in the slot.
McCaffrey, a third-round pick in 2024, couldn’t separate himself from the pack in training camp, but he sure has in the last couple of weeks. He’s caught a touchdown in each of the last two games and is averaging 31.7 yards per kick return, the second-most in the league behind Samuel’s 36.8 yards. He’s also been a standout blocker on run plays (like he was on Samuels’ 19-yard TD run in the fourth quarter against the New York Giants) and special teams (like he was on Samuel’s 69-yard kickoff return against the Raiders.).
Second-year receiver Luke McCaffrey has been a bright spot for the Commanders. (Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
Seventh-round rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt, better known as “Bill,” leads the Commanders with 172 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. And his 5.9 yards per carry average is tied for third among all qualified players.
And second-round rookie corner Trey Amos has been the team’s stingiest corner in coverage, forcing four incompletions and allowing a team-best 71.9 passer rating when targeted in coverage (min. 15 coverage snaps), according to Pro Football Focus.
The bad
Injuries. SOOOOOO many injuries.
The Commanders have been hit in all three phases with injuries. Four starters were placed on injured reserve — DE Deatrich Wise Jr. (quad), RB Austin Ekeler (Achilles), CB Jonathan Jones (hamstring) and S Will Harris (fractured fibula) — and four others are dealing with less severe injuries that have cost them time. The most notable, of course, is Daniels, whose knee sprain has sidelined him for the last two weeks. Then there was Terry McLaurin’s quad injury that kept him out of practice and last Sunday’s game in Atlanta. And tight end John Bates and receiver Noah Brown have been dealing with groin injuries the last two weeks.
Defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste will need surgery and be placed on IR, too, because of a torn pec he suffered in Atlanta.
The good news is that starting right guard Sam Cosmi, who has been out since January to recover from a knee injury he suffered in the divisional playoffs, is now eligible to return to practice, if the medical team clears him. Coach Dan Quinn indicated on Monday that the team may soon open Cosmi’s 21-day window, and could also get some other injured players back this week.
“I would say we’re all trending in the right space there,” Quinn said when asked about McLaurin, Brown and Bates in particular on Monday. “We will have a better update on Wednesday in terms of practice planning and that, but arrows are heading up for a number of the guys.”
Too few takeaways
Ball-hawking was a staple of Quinn’s and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr.’s original vision for the defense. “Ball is life” is their mantra to players. But it wasn’t until Week 4 in Atlanta when Washington’s defense finally got its first takeaway: a pick by Mike Sainristil in the third quarter. The Commanders have come close multiple times, but haven’t been able to finish the job.
“It’s really important and we know it helps us win,” Quinn said earlier this month. “You can’t be reckless to just take a shot at the ball and not tackle and hit, but we have to improve in that spot.”
Poor performances on the road
Washington’s defense has been dominant and the offense fairly efficient at home (better in Week 3 than Week 1). But on the road, both phases have come unglued. The offense scored only 18 points in Green Bay and converted only one of eight third-down attempts in Atlanta. The defense was worse in both games, allowing more than 400 yards.
Too many big plays allowed
The Commanders have given up 32 explosive plays (completions of at least 16 yards and rushes of at least 12 yards), tied for the fifth-most in the league through Week 4. Amazingly, that’s an improvement over this time last year; the team gave up 34 explosive plays in Weeks 1-4 last season.
The chunk plays have been costly for Washington, and have often been caused by inattention to basic details: missed tackles, poor eye discipline, failing to read keys, a breakdown in communication, coverage busts and so on.
Tackling was especially problematic in Green Bay and Atlanta, where the Commanders missed a combined 21 tackles, according to PFF.
After the loss to the Falcons, players said the mistakes were on them and not the scheme. But on Monday, Quinn admitted there’s perhaps more they coaching staff could have done to help alleviate some of the persistent issues.
“I thought we could have stunted more to try to put the offensive line in some disadvantages,” he said. “When you have good balance like they had (on Sunday), you’re not teeing off to go, but I do feel like we’ve got to get them off the spot.”
The in-between
The Commanders had a clear identity last season, in part because of the way they won. Seven wins, including the postseason, were decided on the last play from scrimmage, showing just how narrow the margin of error really is in the NFL. Had the Commanders made some of the mistakes they made last weekend, or given up, say, another 20-yard catch here or a missed a tackle there, their 12-5 record could have looked much different.
Reestablishing their identity is imperative, but it might also be impossible when so many starters are hurt. And it won’t get any easier in the coming weeks. Washington is about to enter a tough stretch with a road game against the Chargers, a rematch with the Chicago Bears at home, a trip to Dallas in Week 7, and a meeting with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in Kansas City on a Monday night in Week 8.
“What I do know is that this is a resilient team,” Quinn said. “We’ll grow from (Sunday’s loss). We have to. But lots for us to correct and get right … before we take it out on the road to head out to L.A.”
(Top photo of Marcus Mariota and his offensive line: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)