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The Washington Commanders faced a daunting schedule in 2021. One year after winning the NFC East with a 7-9 record, a still-rebuilding Washington team played a first-place schedule full of star quarterbacks, including Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen, Russell Wilson and Justin Herbert.
The Commanders struggled, finishing 7-10 for third place in the NFC East. While Washington’s schedule was demanding, it did battle a tremendous amount of injuries and a late-season COVID-19 outbreak.
According to Mark Gaughan of the Buffalo News, the Commanders lost 111 games by starters in 2021. That figure ranks No. 28 in the NFL, per the study. Only the Detroit Lions, Baltimore Ravens, New York Giants and New York Jets had worse injury luck last season.
On the other end of the spectrum, the New England Patriots were atop the list with just 23 games lost by starters. The Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams and Atlanta Falcons rounded out the top five.
Do we see a theme here? Outside of the Falcons, the top four teams made the playoffs, with the Rams winning the Super Bowl, the Chiefs going to the AFC championship game, and the Bills falling in the AFC divisional round.
The injuries hit Washington early, as quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was lost for the season after just six passing attempts. Fitzpatrick, Chase Young, Montez Sweat, Logan Thomas, J.D. McKissic, Landon Collins, Curtis Samuel, Brandon Scherff, Chase Roullier, Sam Cosmi and William Jackson III were among the players to miss multiple games in 2021.
Another important item to note was Washington lost head trainer Ryan Vermillion ahead of the Week 4 game at Atlanta. Vermillion was placed on leave while being investigated.
Expect a busy offseason for head coach Ron Rivera as the Commanders need to find stability at quarterback while still addressing other areas of need such as inside linebacker, wide receiver and guard.
Some good news for the Commanders in 2022 is the schedule doesn’t look quite as difficult. Now, they just need some injury luck.