A Victory Monday and a day ahead of the NFL Trade Deadline

They say you have to beat the inferior teams, and the Washington Commanders won on Sunday by a final score of 27-22. While the final score seemed close, the Commanders went into Victory Formation at the New York Giants’ 1-yard line. There was no reason to try to push the ball over for a touchdown at that point in the game. The Commanders took their victory in the Meadowlands to keep their spot in first place in the NFC East and move to 7-2 on the season.

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Beyond the Miracle

A photo of young Sam Huff. When Allie Sherman traded Huff to Washington Sam never forgave him. On November 27, 1966 Washington was leading 69-41 as time was expiring. Huff called time out to give time for Charlie Gogalak to add 3 more points of salt to the wound. The Giants would finish that season 1-12

Be honest: How many times have you watched IT? Dozens? Hundreds? Have you memorized, however involuntarily Jim Nance‘s call? “It comes down to one last play. And, it’s going to be…getting longer by the second. All the way back to the 30-yard line. Now you can step into it. Here comes the Hail Mary with the game on the line…AND THE BALL IS CAUGHT! IT’S A MIRACLE! Noah Brown. OH MY GOODNESS! AND, THIS TOWN IS GOING CRAZY! Just a madhouse in Landover, Maryland.” Tony Romo then added, “He did it!” It’s a great call of a remarkable moment. The entire football world was watching. Choose whatever moniker you want to give this play: Candidates include, The Raise Hail Mary, Hail Maryland, and many others. The Chicago radio team called it, “The gut punch of gut punches.” Sure was fun, eh? Not to be a killjoy, but to slightly alter a baseball phrase; you don’t win this week’s games with last week’s highlights.

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Jayden Daniels’ clutch gene and ability to be a leader as a rookie

The great ones have that “It Factor” that goes beyond what the other players have in tangible tools. We knew that Tom Brady had it. We know that Patrick Mahomes has it. In a different sport, Derek Jeter had it. They have that “clutch gene” that allows them to step up in the biggest spots and highest leverage moments. They are leaders on their team. And they lead to victory. Right now, you have to be thinking that Jayden Daniels has that gene.

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Victory Monday after the Walk-Off Hail Mary

There were a few miracles on display during Sunday’s game for the Washington Commanders. The first miracle began with Jayden Daniels starting and finishing the game that few expected him to play in after he injured his rib(s) the week before in the first quarter. The second miracle was the Hail Mary throw by Daniels with no time remaining in the game to give the Commanders the walk-off win by a final score of 18-15 over the Chicago Bears.

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“The Beloved” Come to Town

George Halas sits with his Chicago Bears players. He famously said, “The only way to succeed is to make people hate you.” During a Championship game on a frozen tarmac the opposing team switched to sneakers because their spikes wouldn’t penetrate the ice. Halas instructed his team to step on the sneakers at every chance. He played for keeps.

Normally a 40-7 drubbing of the opposition would be a cause for hearty celebration. Not this one last week against a dreadful Carolina team. The injury to Jayden Daniels on the game’s first play cast a pall over an otherwise stellar outing. Brandon Coleman also entered the League’s Concussion Protocol. Both are probably out this week and next. It’s a mistake to evaluate a team based solely on the Starting 22-players. Teams need to be evaluated by “Position Rooms.” Who is the backup? Who is the backup to the backup? In a sport where the injury rate is touted as being 100% it’s nearly a given that the depth of the position rooms is going to be tested. The biggest takeaway from last week’s game is that Marcus Mariota came into the game and excelled.

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Who will be the QB1 on Sunday for Washington?

The Washington Commanders paid a $6 million insurance policy when they signed veteran quarterback Marcus Mariota as the QB2 on the depth chart behind Jayden Daniels. The team will be cautious with Daniels who suffered an unspecified rib injury last Sunday in the first quarter.

Head coach Dan Quinn and General Manager Adam Peters are doing their best to keep everyone guessing — and today should tell us for sure if Mariota will start on Sunday against the Bears. The full details on the injured rib remains a mystery. Daniels did not practice yesterday.

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Victory Monday comes with Jayden Daniels’ health concerns

Normally, we would be in full celebration mode on a Victory Monday with the Washington Commanders in first place. The team completed a blowout 40-7 victory against Carolina to improve to 5-2 on this season. However, there is some trepidation as QB1, Jayden Daniels, is nursing sore ribs and was pulled in the first quarter of the game on Sunday.

The team has ordered an MRI for Monday to get more information on Daniels’ ribs, and to check for any micro-fractures and/or cartilage damage. With Daniels returning to the sidelines in the second half in sweats, smiles, and thumbs up, the fans certainly seemed to feel better with hopes that the injury was nothing serious.

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Reality Check

The NFL is a small community. In this 2018 photo current Carolina owner David Tepper is chatting with his Head Coach Ron Rivera. Tepper would fire Ron mid-season the following year. The next season began Riverboat Ron’s four-year tenure in Washington.

Last week the Washington football hype train hit a speed bump when it encountered the Baltimore Ravens. Six weeks of increasing achievement hit against the reality of a real Super Bowl contender. For decades the Ravens were everything the WFT was not; A strong and efficient organization that consistently fielded competitive teams. Their Head Coach has been there for 17-years. Washington meanwhile was an Owner-driven hot mess. The franchise famously received new ownership, gutted the organization, and came as close to starting over as practical. Coming into the matchup Dan Quinn said frankly, “The Ravens are where we want to get to.” So, it should not have been a surprise that the nascent Burgundy and Gold squad left Baltimore with a loss, albeit a hard-fought one. They also left town with a season-ending injury to standout Defensive Tackle Jonathan Allen. When reality hits it usually punches hard.

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Brian Robinson was running practice drills today

Do you want the good news? Brian Robinson Jr. was doing practice drills after missing Sunday’s game with a knee injury. The official injury report listed him as “limited” and that certainly seemed to be the case as we saw him working out on a field by himself with a staff member.

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Washington is in 1st Place in the NFC East through Week 6

We don’t have a Victory Monday today, however we can celebrate the fact that the Washington Commanders are in first place through Week 6 in mid-October in the NFC East. The one-score loss to the Ravens in a 30-23 final will give head coach Dan Quinn and his coaches plenty of tape to go over on what went wrong and what went right.

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