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.
After last week’s Hail Mary walk-off winner, even the Vegas betting lines had their doubts if Washington could win this game as the Commanders were only favored by 4-points. Head Coach Dan Quinn was a little nervous as he did not want a letdown game against the Giants.
“It was like a historic win for us last week at home in the [way] it went,” Quinn said. “How do you recognize it and yet fill the tanks back up knowing you’re heading back into a division game? I thought it showed a lot of maturity from the team and poise to say, ‘That was cool, now we got to get right back into the next process.’ ”
For the season, the Commanders swept the Giants in their 2-game home/road series. Also, the last time Washington held a 7-2 record was 28 years ago, back in 1996. The team had to win today with Brian Robinson Jr. sidelined with that hamstring pull, and quarterback Jayden Daniels still nursing his sore ribs. Daniels was good enough to find Terry McLaurin on two touchdowns today en route to a 15-of-22 in passing for 209 yards. The offensive line shutout the Giants’ defense from making any sacks as they came into the game leading the league in sacks.
Tomorrow at 4 pm EST also marks the end to the 2024 NFL Trade Deadline. Washington has not made any trades to this point. The needs seem to be at cornerback, offensive line, and wide receiver. There are a few good candidates to look at with GM Adam Peters giving no clues as to what he will do.
Leading up to this trade deadline, there have been players who “privately stated or told their agents that they want to be traded to the Commanders” sources had told Adam Schefter of ESPN. Times are changing. Washington is becoming a destination spot, not because they are overpaying players like the old days, but because they want to win and be part of a special team.
The Commanders have done a spectacular job at keeping their intentions at the trade deadline in lockdown from any leaks. The obvious is where the team could use help, but keep in mind, most trades are made with draft picks going to the other team and that generally keeps you from not doing too many trades.
For years, it had been the Commanders who were trading away players. This year is clearly different. Last year, the team traded away Montez Sweat and Chase Young and got back a second round and third round pick respectively.
