Tag: 2024 NFC East

Commanders’ Dan Quinn not changing the process ahead of big game

Dan Quinn wants the Commanders to embrace this opportunity.

Dan Quinn knows this is his biggest game thus far this season.

Quinn took over a program hemorrhaging badly, finishing 4-13 in 2023, getting blown out often, and not being competitive.

His first-year Commanders are 7-3 and have been a big surprise in the NFL this season. Yet, he doesn’t want them to think this game Thursday night in Philadelphia is beyond them. He does want them to feel the weight of it and enjoy the opportunity.

“Yeah, I want us to feel comfortable in these environments. That’s the only reason. I want us to enjoy the buildup and knowing that the process of getting ready is like all the other ones.”

Once again, the end result is not doing what you can to win a game but rather working the process to do the best you can to improve yourself. Again, Quinn is correctly process-oriented.

“So, I wouldn’t say I’m treating it differently. I would say the process of us getting ready to play will be exactly the same going into this one, going into the next one, the following one.”

“I just want them to know in these big moments and big games, that’s where guys like Jayden is honestly at his very best. In these crucial moments and these big plays to go. And I want us to feel very comfortable in this spot.”

Quinn doesn’t want his teams to be overconfident, but he also doesn’t want them to back off from these opportunities.

“I’d rather embrace it than shy away from it, but it has no different process to it. I want to make sure I’m clear with you on that.”

Process, process, process.

Stephen A. Smith would take Commanders’ QB over others in NFC East

Stephen A. Smith is high on Jayden Daniels and the Commanders.

A recent ESPN “First Take” segment featuring Stephen A. Smith, Tedy Bruschi, and Shannon Sharpe focused on Washington Commanders QB Jayden Daniels’s early performance in his first four NFL games.

Smith wasn’t shy about praising Daniels over the other NFC East quarterbacks.

“I am rolling with Jayden Daniels. First of all, I’m not rolling with a guy like Dak Prescott, who’s had eight years to win a Super Bowl and can’t even win more than two playoff games in eight years. As far as I’m concerned, he has shown me what he is. He’s elite in the regular season but far from it in the postseason.”

“This brother (Daniels) brings me hope. Let’s understand something, 82.1 % completion percentage. Over their three-game winning streak, this man has scored on 22 of 24 of their drives over the last three games. Ten touchdowns, ten field goals, excluding kneel downs.”

Smith then referred to Dan Quinn saying he blew a 25-point lead in the Super bowl, but that he also got his team to the Super Bowl and concluded “he kinda knows what he is doing.”

Smith admitted then he had been down on Kliff Kingsbury, not thinking he had deserved a shot at an NFL head coaching job. He then said Kingsbury did not deserve to by pass a lot of other NFL coordinators to get that head coaching job with the Cardinals.

“But we all knows as a coordinator, he can call up some plays. We all know as coordinator he’s cultivated relationships with quarterbacks…and that’s going a long way. Now he is doing it with Jayden Daniels, because Daniels has raved about the level of communication they have with one another.”

Smith then recalled how much talk pre-draft was the number of hits Daniels took at LSU and how would he survive in the NFL “That’s not what he is doing. He is being smart, he’s running with the football, making plays with his legs. He’s certainly making plays with his arm.”

“We are looking at Washington being formidable, they could potentially win this division…The way this kid is playing, and the pieces he has around him, I like what I see.”

As if that wasn’t enough, Smith did his version of the NFL power rankings, and the Commanders were ranked No. 5.

Here is a video of the entire segment.

Colin Cowherd gives his pre-training camp NFL standings predictions

Cowherd says the Commanders will be a playoff team.

Colin Cowherd announced Friday, “This is my pre-camp, before any injuries, pre-camp predictions.”

Here is the video for all of his comments, and below, we provide a short quote from Cowherd on each team as he predicted the standings.

AFC EAST

Buffalo Bills: “The Bills have won the division four straight years.”

Miami Dolphins: “Tua passed for 4600 yards last year.”

New York Jets: “Aaron Rodgers has taken four snaps in 559 days with the Jets.”

New England Patriots: “One of the worst rosters in the league.”

AFC NORTH

Baltimore Ravens: “Top-five offense, top-five defense.”

Cincinnati Bengals: “Last year, with Jake Browning, they had a winning record.”

Pittsburgh Steelers: “They can’t get their O-Line or OC figured out.”

Cleveland Browns: “Total question mark on Deshaun Watson.”

AFC WEST

Kansas City Chiefs: “Until further notice, won the division 8 straight times.”

Los Angeles Chargers: “Have limitations on the perimeter.”

Denver Broncos: “PFF says they have the worst roster in the league.”

Las Vegas Raiders: “Rookie coach and quarterback issues.”

AFC SOUTH

Houston Texans: “Strong draft, added Stefon Diggs, Joe Mixon.”

Jacksonville Jaguars: “Trevor Lawrence’s best roster yet.”

Indianapolis Colts: “Question Anthony Richardson’s playing style and health.”

Tennessee Titans: “Questions at QB and their O-line is worse than Will Levis.”

* Wild Card Teams: Bengals, Chargers, Jaguars

NFC EAST

Philadelphia Eagles: “Easily the best roster in the division.”

Washington Commanders: “The surprise team in the NFL.”

Dallas Cowboys: “Overly dependent on Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb.”

New York Giants: “Just not good enough at quarterback.”

NFC NORTH

Detroit Lions: “Best offensive line in football.”

Green Bay Packers: “Best young offensive talent in the sport.”

Chicago Bears: “Can’t wait to watch them play, HC on the hot seat.”

Minnesota Vikings: “Best fourth-place team, love their offense.”

NFC WEST

Los Angeles Rams: “Back-to-back sensational drafts.”

San Francisco 49ers: “Good, but an old, expensive football team.”

Seattle Seahawks: “Gino Smith good enough to win games.”

Arizona Cardinals: “Just don’t think they compete with the rosters above them.”

NFC SOUTH

Atlanta Falcons: “Second-best O-Line in football.”

Tampa Bay Bucs: “Baker is more than capable.”

Carolina Panthers: “Not very good.”

New Orleans Saints: “Don’t like their coaching situation at all.”

* Wild Card Teams: 49ers, Commanders, Packers

 

NFL insider previews the Commanders and NFC East

The Commanders are a mystery in 2024.

What would you say are the non-negotiables for the 2024 Commanders if they are to be a playoff team?

NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero, filling in on the “Rich Eisen Show” this week, provided his non-negotiables for each team in the NFC East.

NY Giants: Daniel Jones plays like a $40 million quarterback.

“He has had injuries; he must stay healthy. They lost Saquon; this is going to be a lot on Daniel Jones. He is going to have to figure out how to move that team forward.”

Philadelphia Eagles: They get back to playing offense the way they have when they were one of the best teams in the NFL.

“A lot of things got away from them down the stretch last season. You’re now changing out both your coordinators again. It comes back to how do we put Jalen Hurts in the best position to succeed?”

Washington Commanders: If you stacked up all the teams that I don’t know what they are going to be, the Commanders are one of the top teams on the list.

“I know Dan Quinn is a hell of a culture builder. I know Jayden Daniels was a hell of a college quarterback. Beyond that, you’ve got this combination of the Austin Ekelers, the Bobby Wagners, the big names that are toward the back end of their career. You obviously have a holdover like Terry McLaurin. I just don’t know. Maybe they get that first-year boost from the head coach who comes in, takes a team and it is a different vibe.”

Co-host Chris Brockman offered that he thinks it is clear they will be in the top five of the draft again. He added he doesn’t see Washington going over six wins.

Dallas Cowboys: There is a lot that still needs to be sorted out.

“Is CeeDee Lamb going to be at training camp? Is Dak Prescott going to get a new deal? Do they even potentially do a Mike McCarthy extension? Dak has to play his absolute best, elevating everyone, including into January.”

Where did Commanders’ Jayden Daniels rank in ESPN projections?

What will Jayden Daniels’ numbers look like in 2024?

ESPN released its projections for the top 2024 NFL Quarterbacks. Where would you project Jayden Daniels on such a list?

Providing their list of the top 40, they projected the outcomes of the upcoming season for each quarterback.

As for the NFC East, two quarterbacks were projected to be in the top ten. Spoiler Alert: Washington’s Jayden Daniels does not appear in the top ten, but he is projected to finish above one other quarterback in the division.

If you were told Daniels is going to be the 12th-best NFL quarterback in his rookie season, most Commanders readers would definitely take that projection.

Of course, the projections are impossible to predict, but for whatever it is worth, ESPN projects Daniels will complete 321 of his 513 passing attempts for 3,463 passing yards. He will throw 16 passing touchdowns and also throw 14 interceptions. He will rush for 584 yards on 106 attempts and five rushing touchdowns while also being sacked 41 times.

Jalen Hurts was projected as No. 1 overall, Dak Prescott as No. 6, and Daniel Jones as No. 25.

Former Washington Commanders quarterbacks Sam Howell and Carson Wentz were projected at Nos. 36 and 40, respectively.

The entire document lists projections for all 32 teams and each position and is entitled Mike Clay’s 2024 NFL Projection Guide. It is 80 pages in length, so if you don’t want to get lost in all of that data, here is how Clay projects his top 16 (top half) NFL Quarterbacks.

  1. Jalen Hurts, Eagles
  2. Josh Allen, Bills
  3. Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs
  4. Lamar Jackson, Ravens
  5. Joe Burrow, Bengals
  6. Dak Prescott, Cowboys
  7. C J Stroud, Texans
  8. Anthony Richardson, Colts
  9. Aaron Rodgers, Jets
  10. Kyler Murray, Cardinals
  11. Brock Purdy, 49ers
  12. Jayden Daniels, Commanders
  13. Jordan Love, Packers
  14. Deshaun Watson, Browns
  15. Justin Herbert, Chargers
  16. Kirk Cousins, Falcons

NFL Network analyst predicts Commanders 2024 regular season games

Washington is not picked to finish last in the NFC East.

As we move toward NFL training camps in July, the NFL prognostications have begun.

NFL Network analyst Adam Rank provided his game-by-game predictions for the Washington Commanders this week. In fact, Rank predicted all 32 team’s games for the upcoming 2024 regular season.

If you wish to watch the entire video of each team’s prediction, watch here.

Otherwise, what does Rank see first for the Commanders? Then, what does he see for the NFC East rivals?

Commanders fans won’t like it, but Rank has the Commanders only winning six games (6-11) in 2024. That’s not much analysis, although in his defense, how much analysis can one provide when you are undertaking the impossibly broad task of predicting all 32 NFL teams’ regular season?

Rank does point out that the Commanders have a new head coach in Dan Quinn, and also will be playing a rookie quarterback, Jayden Daniels.

The Commanders will start out extremely slowly, according to Rank. He has them 1-5 after their first six games. The only win in those first six games is a Week 2 home win over the NY Giants.

The other wins for the Commanders are a Week 7 home win over the Panthers, over the Steelers in Landover on Week 10, a Week 13 home win over the Titans, an upset win over the Eagles at Commanders Field in Week 16, then a finale Week 18 win at Dallas.

As for the remainder of the NFC East?

Rank has the Eagles winning the division, finishing 12-5, while the Cowboys fall considerably in 2024, only accumulating an 8-9 record. Finally, Rank has the NY Giants finishing last in the division, one game behind the Commanders, at 5-12.