Category: Around the NFC East

Commanders’ Joe Whitt is honest about playoff chances

Joe Whitt Jr. is focused on winning the next game only.

Experienced leadership is important in any organization.

So why would it be any different in the NFL? Less experienced players can learn from the knowledge of more experienced players. With the Commanders now losing their last three games, defensive coordinator Joe Whitt was asked about the older players counseling, the younger players through the losing streak.

“You know, not necessarily, just, when we were winning four games in a row, or now that we’ve lost three, it’s the same,” replied Whitt. “You lean on it and the thing that you have to do, and I know you’re going to say this is coach talk, but it’s the way that we live and the fact that you take a win and a loss the same way. You take four wins and four losses the same way. You have to just go back and figure out how you’re going to win the next game?”

When a team is declining in their performance, coaches have to work at assessing the performance and then determining how they are going to change some things to bring about progress.

Whitt then brought up the concept of improving as a defensive unit.

“What do you have to do to improve? There’s good in every loss, and there’s some bad in every win. And so, we have to make sure that we lean on the brotherhood that we have, win or lose and continue to know that everything is in our hands.”

In coaching, there are always things that are under your control and things where you do not have control. Recognizing the difference is always crucial to the success of the team. Washington is 7-5 and can still control their destiny, but another loss this Sunday would result in no longer having complete control and needing the help of other teams.

“We control what we control, and if we handle business, we’ll get the results that we want. If we don’t, all right, we’ll be at home. So, that’s just it.”

Commanders’ Dan Quinn on coaching through struggles

Quinn discusses coaching through the difficult moments.

Three weeks ago, the Commanders were 7-2.

Practice must have been more fun; watching the film and seeing the successful wins was more enjoyable.

That was then and now is now.

Three weeks later, the Commanders have lost three consecutive games, bringing their record to 7-5. The film must not be enjoyable to watch. Seeing the missed opportunities and practicing is about correcting what is now on your next opponent’s film.

Dan Quinn was asked Wednesday if his week-by-week plan changes based on the recent struggles.

“For myself there’s always a bigger picture of things, what’s a trend and where do you want to go,” said Quinn. “I’ll express that to the staff and to the team. But you do dig into the team, and then you emphasize the things that you want to work on this time right now.”

Having lost three consecutive games, there could be a multitude of things a coaching staff observes needing lots of work. Yet, you can’t address each one of those concepts within a practice.

“And so, you don’t pick 15 different things to work in one week of practice. ‘This is something you want to improve on, let’s put the work in to do that.’ So, after three losses, it’s challenging. It’s the most challenged we’ve been so far. It’s confusing, frustrating, all of those things. That’s also part of competing and knowing how to handle those emotions and dig in on the things that you need to dig in on and that’s what we intend to do.”

Thanksgiving Day, 50 years ago: A bad day for Washington

This was not a Happy Thanksgiving memory for Washington fans.

It was Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, 1974, Washington at Dallas.

The NFL had 26 teams in those days, and get this: only the top four in each conference qualified for the playoffs. Washington was coached by George Allen (Bruce’s father), and he led the Redskins to a winning record in all seven of his seasons (1971-77) in Washington.

The Redskins under Allen to this point had been 9-4-1 (1971), 11-3 (1972), 10-4 (1973), and were now 8-3 in this 1974 season. Dallas won the NFC in 1970 and 1971, losing the Super Bowl and then winning. Washington had won the NFC in 1972, losing to the Miami Dolphins 14-7 in Super Bowl VII.

Just two weeks earlier, Washington had raced out to a 28-0 first-half lead, but it had to hold on to defeat Dallas 28-21 at RFK Stadium. Now, on this Thanksgiving Day, 1974, the two teams would meet at Texas Stadium in Irving.

Redskins DT Diron Talbert, in those days, liked to talk trash, attempting to distract Cowboys QB Roger Staubach. He spoke of how the Redskins were going to knock Staubach out of the game. From the start, the Redskins defense harassed, chased, and hit Staubach.

Washington led 16-3 in the third quarter when Staubach was hit hard again, this time knocked out of the game. Enter Cowboys’ rookie QB Clint Longley. Longley would only last to play in three NFL seasons (1974-76). However, on this day, he didn’t know the pressure and expectations that would follow. He simply threw the ball carefree and made Cowboys history.

Longley quickly hit Billy Joe Dupree on a 35-yard touchdown down the middle of the field, narrowing the Redskins’ lead to 16-10. When RB Walt Garrison scored from one yard, Dallas led 17-16.

The Redskins woke up to reality, and Duane Thomas ran to his left for a 19-yard touchdown, regaining the lead at 23-17.

Dallas had one last chance. With 28 seconds remaining, Longley dropped back and heaved the ball downfield, where Drew Pearson caught the game-winning 50-yard touchdown for the 24-23 Cowboys win.

Washington defensive back Ken Stone seemed absolutely lost on the play. He was picking up Pearson in coverage, but he wasn’t. Then, he saw Pearson run by him, and it was too late. Stone’s amazingly inept play made a hero out of Longley.

Redskins fans old enough to remember ( I was age 11) will never forget. They can never forget such a poor defensive performance in the second half against an NFL rookie who appeared in only nine games, starting only two.

Longley proved not to be a very good NFL quarterback, but on this one day, his special day, he brought the Redskins one of their worst, unexpected, inexcusable losses in franchise history.

It was not a Happy Thanksgiving for Redskins fans 50 years ago today.

What everyone said after the Commanders’ loss to Cowboys

Here’s what everyone said after Commanders’ loss to Cowboys.

The Commanders were again outscored in the fourth quarter and lost their third consecutive game, Sunday, when they fell to the Dallas Cowboys 34-26 at Northwest Stadium.

Here is a collection of post-game quotes from players, analysts, coaches, and media personalities.

Dan Quinn

“What I told the team after the game was that this is the most challenged we’ve been in our time together. And I reminded them, it’s not enough to learn the lessons, but we have to apply them.”

“I remind them it’s never about one play. And so, that execution falls on all of us players and coaches, and I firmly believe that. And so, we’ll get to it tomorrow. We’ll look at the tape and get right to the truth of it all.”

“Yeah, I want to make sure like this confidence is rolling whoever we’re playing. And I don’t want it to go up and down and up and down. So again, I look back at the tape and the best part of this is you get to go dig in and go forward again, man. But from a performance side, is there plenty to clean up on? You bet. And you don’t want to miss an opportunity and when you got a home game and going forward in the division, you want to take advantage of those. And when you miss them, it stings.”

Jayden Daniels

“We’ve been in third and longer a lot, you know, these past couple games. So, that’s kind of where you get into the exotic pressures and stuff like that. You know, we’ve just gotta be better on first and second downs and stay ahead of the chains.”

Chris Russell (Team 980)

“I fully expected the #Commanders to win this game & begrudgingly picked them -10.5 on Friday. As I kept mentioning – the notion they were going to cruise over these next few weeks (Dallas, Tennessee & New Orleans) was laughable. It’s a potential nightmare now.”
Ben Standig (The Athletic)
“From a team spokesperson: Out of an abundance of caution, Austin Ekeler (concussion) is headed to the hospital for further testing.“
John Keim (ESPN)
“Wow. Just a brutal finish to cap a horrendous performance.“
Bobby Wagner

Jason Garrett (NBC)
“They’ve got to start getting the ball down the field. [Terry] McLaurin has got to get involved in this game earlier. That’s the only way they get this offense going again.”

Austin Seibert

“It didn’t make a difference at all. It’s on me.”
“I felt fine. That’s why I made the decision to play and here we are.”

Tress Way

“This dude is just making freaking kicks all year long so we still have a lot of ball left and making a little playoff run. It’s just really tough. Rinse and repeat and come back and get ready for Tennessee.”

“I would have to…..I’d really like to see the film. They always say the eye in the sky don’t lie but [LS] Tyler [Ott] and I talked after and our job is to make it as seamless as possible for Austin and we just didn’t feel like we quite had it there. Rinse and repeat. Get ready to go again.”

Terry McLaurin

“It doesn’t come down to one play. It doesn’t come down to one kick. We had our opportunities to take control of the game and we didn’t.”

Rick ‘Doc’ Walker

“I’d love to learn a lesson while Winning.”

Grant Paulsen (106.7 The Fan)

“The Commanders have fallen to 7-5. Lots of football left this season but this was a cold water performance. Hard to count wins against the bad teams they play in future after losing as an 11-point favorite.”

Thom Loverro (Washington Times)

“George Allen spinning in his grave — special teams allow 99-yard kickoff return. Remember the days when the Commanders went the entire game without punting?”

 

 

Commanders make three roster moves, including surprise release

The Commanders made three roster moves Saturday, including a surprise release.

Both the Commanders and Cowboys made some roster moves in preparation for Sunday’s game at Northwest Stadium.

Roster moves were inevitable, but it was unexpected that Chris Rodriguez would be released. The second-year running back out of Kentucky by Ron Rivera, ran well, rushing for 52 yards on 11 carries against the NY Giants three weeks ago.

Someone had to be released because the Commanders activated DE Javontae Jean-Baptiste from injured reserve, removing him from the injury report.

Thirdly, the Commanders have removed kicker Austin Seibert from the injury report, yet haven’t released backup kicker Zane Gonzalez.

Dallas waived former Washington defensive end KJ Henry and placed S Markquese Bell on IR. The Cowboys also activated T Chuma Edoga and DE Marshawn Kneeland from IR, and both are expected to play Sunday.

The Cowboys also announced WR Brandin Cooks, CB Trevon Diggs and G Zack Martin won’t be playing against the Commanders, Sunday. In addition, TE Princeton Fant and CB Kemon Hall were activated from the practice squad.

Commanders HC Dan Quinn is fired up for Washington-Dallas week

It’s Dallas week. Dan Quinn is fired up.

Dan Quinn remembers well when the Cowboys and Redskins were a big deal.

Quinn was born in 1970 and raised in New Jersey. He has said on more than one occasion that he grew up watching the NFC East.

He recalls the Giants’ Bill Parcells’s two Super Bowl teams, the Cowboys coached by Tom Landry, the Eagles by Buddy Ryan, and the Redskins by Joe Gibbs.

Regarding the Week 12 match-up this week of the Cowboys coming to Washington, Quinn wasn’t shy Wednesday with the media, saying, “For me and for the guys, man, it’s like, Washington-Dallas Week, let’s get down.”

Whether Quinn watched, in particular, the Cowboys at Redskins 1982 championship game, I don’t know. But the fact he referred to this week as “Washington-Dallas Week” reveals in itself that Quinn does have a knowledge of the rivalry and what it was 40 years ago.

The Cowboys won two Super Bowls in the 70s with QB Roger Staubach at quarterback and the “Doomsday defense.”  QB Danny White never had a Doomsday defense when he led the team to three consecutive NFC Championship games before losing all three, the last to the Redskins in 1982.

The Redskins won the NFC East three consecutive seasons (1982-84), and went to four Super Bowls under Gibbs (1981-92) winning three, along the way winning and losing some big games to the Cowboys.

Quinn was asked Wednesday what the game means for the former Cowboys and his message to them.

“I haven’t talked to them much different about that. You probably know from now, I don’t make one [game] too often bigger than another. I just think they’re all really important and we absolutely go after it as hard as we can.”

But of course, Quinn is more than aware that NFL divisional rivals are more intense regular season games.

 

Senate Committee vote could one day see Commanders in DC

Great news for the Commanders in their quest to build their next stadium in Washington, D.C.

On Tuesday, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted to give the District of Columbia the freedom to build a new stadium at the old RFK Stadium site.

The D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act passed the Senate committee with a 17-2 vote. Only Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) voted against it.

The hopes are that the new stadium built on the old RFK site would then become the future home of the Washington Commanders, bringing the franchise back to the location where five Washington Redskins Super Bowl teams played their home games beginning in the 1961 season through the 1996 season.

This was a bipartisan effort, and the vote now means the Congress, which adjourns on December 20, must proceed with the next legal step.

There is opposition, and it is not a matter of Republicans and Democrats opposing each other. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) publicly declared himself against the legislation, referring to the proposal as “not in the best interest of the American taxpayer.”

Previously, the state of Maryland, which now houses the Commanders at the newly named Northwest Stadium in Landover, had approved the state investing $400 million into the Northwest Stadium area.

The Commanders are obligated to play at the current Landover stadium through the 2027 season. Moore, understandably, doesn’t want the Commanders to go back to the District. He wants to keep them in Maryland by building a new stadium near the current stadium.

Meanwhile, DC mayor Muriel Bowser has publicly expressed for some time that she envisions the old RFK site as one rebuilt for the Commanders’ new home, with restaurants and housing also included in the project.

“Today’s vote marks a pivotal moment in our efforts to unlock the potential of the RFK Campus,” Bowser said in a statement after Tuesday’s vote.

Bowser continued, “We look forward to a full vote on the Senate floor so we can get it signed into law before year’s end.”

The Redskins, in the 1961 season, began playing in what was then called “District of Columbia Stadium.” The name was shortened understandably to “D.C. Stadium”.

Senator Robert F Kennedy was assassinated in 1968, and the stadium was renamed in 1969 to “Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium,” which naturally soon became known simply as “RFK.”

 

NFC playoff picture for Commanders through Week 11

The Commanders are in an excellent position, but there is plenty of work ahead.

Having gone through 11 weeks of the 2024 season, what is the NFC playoff picture look like for the Commanders?

  • Two division leaders are earning the respect of the rest of the NFC as Detroit (9-1) and Philadelphia (8-2) clearly are playing the best football in the conference.
  • One division is literally up for grabs. The NFC West could easily be won by any of the four teams. The Cardinals (6-4) lead, but the Seahawks, 49ers and Rams are all tied only one game back at 5-5.
  • The NFC South is a two-team race between the Falcons (6-5) and the Bucs (4-6).

So, the NFC division leaders and top current top-four seeds along with wildcard seeds are:

  1. Detroit 9-1  (NFC North)
  2. Philadelphia 8-2  (NFC East)
  3. Arizona 6-4  (NFC West)
  4. Atlanta 6-5  (NFC South)
  5. Minnesota 8-2  (NFC North)
  6. Green Bay 7-3 (NFC North)
  7. Washington (7-4) (NFC East)

With the Commanders having lost two consecutive games, they have fallen down to the last qualifying spot, the number 7 seed. What this means is that in the first round of the playoffs, if the regular season were to conclude with the teams in this order, Washington would travel to Philadelphia to play the Eagles.

Consequently, as it stands today, the first round of the NFC playoffs would find these match ups:

(7) Washington at (2) Philadelphia

(6) Green Bay at (3) Arizona

(5) Minnesota at (4) Atlanta

(1) Detroit would have the first-round bye and play at home in the second round against the lowest seeded team to advance to the second round.

What did Jahan Dotson say about Commanders and Dan Quinn?

What did former Washington first-round pick Jahan Dotson say about his former team?

Jahan Dotson was the object of much criticism during Commanders’ training camp.

He was traded to the Eagles, and for the next three or four days, the main topic on DC Sports radio was body language and its importance in team building.

The biggest surprise was that GM Adam Peters traded Dotson to the NFC East divisional rival Philadelphia Eagles. Peters was heavily criticized for trading Dotson within the division.

However, Dotson has not (yet) had a productive season through nine Eagles games. He has eight receptions for 98 yards and no touchdowns in his nine Eagles games.

When Dotson was asked about Thursday’s opponent, the Commanders, how did he respond?

“You have a great coached team, a great leader of men,” Dotson said of Quinn. “If you can implement the right kind of mindset and the right kind of culture, you can do a lot of great things, and that’s a kudos to coach Dan Quinn. He’s doing a fantastic job. He knows how to grab the room and … he makes it very easy for people to listen to him and do what he asks.”

Being traded by Quinn before he had even completed a single training camp, one might expect much different comments. But apparently, after spending his first two seasons with Ron Rivera and his second one with Eric Bieniemy as offensive coordinator, Dotson was apparently very impressed with Quinn’s coaching and leadership.

What did Dotson have to say about his former Washington teammates? “They have some fantastic players over there and they’re putting their players in some good positions to make plays.”

Credit to Dotson here. He could have taken a shot or two at the new coaching staff that kicked him out the door. However, he took the time to be honest and give credit where it was due.

After all, Dotson played on that 4-13, weak, noncompetitive team that finished next to last in the NFL, earning the No. 2 overall draft pick.

Dotson knows how much worse it was last year; he lived it.

Dan Quinn refuses to talk to Commanders about standings & playoffs

Dan Quinn does not want his team to miss one step on this journey by talking about the future.

What has Dan Quinn told his Commanders team about the NFL standings or the playoffs?

“Zero, zero,” Quinn replied to the media on Tuesday.

The former Atlanta Falcons head coach won a division and finished second in the division three times. To conclude the 2016 season, he won the NFC title and nearly won a Super Bowl.

So he knows the ropes. He also knows the dangers of allowing players to look too far ahead. They can easily forget what is right in front of them and not being prepared, lose their opportunities.

“That’s not a coaching cop-out either. I just honestly want to stay in the pocket of where we’re at. I don’t want us to miss a step on this journey, and I don’t want to miss the next step that we have to take. And that’s this weekend and then the next one and the next one.”

When the Commanders won their Week 9 game at the NY Giants, they weren’t dominant, but they did do enough to prevent the Giants from having the ball and a chance to take the lead in the second half (27-22 final).

Quinn and Adam Peters have changed this entire culture, from 4-13 in 2023 to talking about how high a seed the Commanders can be in the NFC playoffs in 2021.

“I’m just kind of thinking about today, today’s practice and Thursday’s game, man. And like I haven’t talked to them much past that. It’s just let’s go battle for it this weekend. And I did the same thing last weekend when a lot of talk was, there’s two games in 11 days, and that I said, maybe we just got one game this week, and we got one game next week. And so, we’ll worry about next week then.”