Tag: K Cade York

When they last met: Commanders and Giants

What happened the last time these rivals met?

“When they last met” is an ongoing series during the NFL season, recalling the preceding game between Washington and the next opponent on the Commanders’ schedule.

Washington 21, NY Giants 18 – Week 2, September 15, 2024

Austin Seibert, playing in his first NFL game of 2024, successfully kicked seven field goals, the last of which gave the Commanders a walk-off 21-18 victory over the New York Giants in Landover, Maryland.

GM Adam Peters claimed Seibert after Washington released kicker Cade York.

On the other side of the field, the Giants lost their kicker, Graham Gano, which resulted in the Giants attempting two-point conversions twice but missing both of them.

Quarterback Jayden Daniels was spectacular over most of the field, completing 23 of his 29 passing attempts for 226 yards and no interceptions. However, Daniels was sacked five times, and the Commanders never reached the end zone.

Instead, Seibert was called upon and came through with field goals from 27, 45 and 26 yards in the first half, keeping Washington close to the Giants, as they trailed only 12-9.

Seibert tied the game in the third quarter with a field goal from 27 yards. He then gave the Commanders a 15-12 lead, connecting from 29 yards with 2:47 remaining in the quarter.

In the final quarter, trailing 18-15, the Commanders got into position, allowing Seibert to tie the score from 33 yards with 7:12 remaining.

When the Giants turned the ball over on downs, Daniels drove the Commanders down the field one last time, and Seifert’s 30-yard field goal as time expired, gave Washington their first victory of 2024, evening their record at 1-1.

While Daniels manufactured a 99.1 passer rating, Brian Robinson churned up 133 rushing yards on his 17 rushing attempts, and Zach Ertz led the Commanders with 62 receiving yards on his four receptions. Washington moved the ball so well all day that punter Tress Way was never needed to punt.

Dan Quinn relieved the Commanders found a kicker

Quinn talks going from looking for a kicker to giving Austin Seibert a game ball in less than a week.

Dan Quinn has coached two Commanders’ regular-season games and is already on his fifth kicker.

Appearing on the “Rich Eisen Show” Wednesday morning, Eisen asked Quinn, “When you signed your kicker last Tuesday, did you think you would be giving him a game ball five days later?”

“Hell no!” Fired back Quinn, laughing in amazement.

“I wanted to make sure that we were just constantly supporting him. We have a fantastic snapper and holder that work with him in Tyler Ott and Tress Way. They gave him a great chance to come in and do well.”

“We’re really pumped. He came through in the biggest of ways, including a game-winner. So, a remarkable first game as a Commander.”

https://twitter.com/TomPelissero/status/1835411403395510350

“Is that your first game coaching ever with seven field goals?’, asked Eisen.

“Absolutely. It was actually a franchise record with six. But we joked maybe Austin wanted to put a little distance between himself and somebody else, so he nailed seven.”

Oh, the kickers who have been Commanders in such a short time for Dan Quinn. The Commanders opened the regular season with Cade York, whom they had acquired from the Browns for a conditional draft pick. He didn’t meet the conditions, so he was released after the opening week loss to Tampa Bay.

Having played the Jets in the preseason opener, Austin Seibert did a fine job kicking, so when he was released, GM Adam Peters quickly grabbed him before anyone else could, preparing for their Week 2 games.

Riley Patterson wasn’t performing up to expectations, so he was released on August 22. Before York and Patterson, the Commanders had signed and given some preseason experience to Ramiz Ahmed before releasing him on August 13.

Of course, all of this came about because veteran Brandon McManus, the guy Washington expected to be its kicker in 2024, had been signed, participated in workouts, and never informed the Commanders of his impending legal charges. So, they released him on June 2.

Commanders announce two new roster moves

The Commanders officially add a new kicker and sign an interesting prospect to the practice squad.

Tuesday, the Washington Commanders made one expected move and signed a local college project.

As expected, the Commanders, after releasing kicker Cade York, officially signed kicker Austin Seibert to the active roster.

Tress Way will love this move, as Seibert and Way both played for the Oklahoma Sooners. Seibert scored 499 points in his college career, an NCAA record at the time. The Browns used a fifth-round pick on Seibert in the 2019 draft, while Way went undrafted and signed with Washington after being released by the Bears in 2014.

York missed both field goal attempts in a Week 1 road loss to the Tampa Bay Bucs. In addition, York also erred, sending a kickoff out of bounds. He had come to the Commanders via a conditional draft pick if he performed well enough to be on the Commanders roster for two games. Thus, Adam Peters made the move, releasing York on Monday, retaining the draft selection.

Astute Commanders fans will recall Seibert kicking for the Jets in this season’s preseason opener. He has played in 31 games in five NFL seasons, making 80.4% of 56 field goal attempts and 90.3% of his extra points.

“I think it just really goes to show we have really high standards,” head coach Dan Quinn said during his Monday press conference. “That’s kind of where we’re at to say, ‘Hey, we’re knocking back off of this’…not one time to keep attacking and finding ways to go get better.”

Seibert has already been around the NFL block a couple of times, kicking for the Browns (2019-20), Bengals (2020), Lions (2021-22) and the Jets (2023). Here are his complete NFL stats.

Tuesday, the Commanders also added rookie offensive tackle Anim Dankwah to the practice squad. The 6-foot-8, 353-pound tackle was a First-Team All-MEAC tackle while playing for Howard University. Initially, Dankwah was an undrafted free agent of the Philadelphia Eagles.

 

Commanders: Some things changed, some things remained the same

The more things change, the more they remain the same — for the Commanders.

The more some things change, the more some things remain the same.

The old saying is still true in various aspects of life, and Sunday revealed it is true regarding the 2024 Commanders as well. What’s changed? The general manager, Adam Peters, is new, and so is head coach Dan Quinn, as well as most of his coaching staff is also new.

It’s also quite new that 30 players are on the active roster that were not Commanders in 2023. What’s also new is the name of the next Washington Commanders kicker, seeing Cade York was released after only one game.

York had come to the Commanders for a conditional seventh-round draft choice. The Browns were going to cut him anyway, as Dustin Hopkins continued to prove to Ron Rivera that he belongs in the NFL and was extended by the Browns. York had to be with the Commanders for two games for the draft choice to become a reality. This was enough motivation for Peters to release York.

What hasn’t changed is that the Commanders surrendered the most passing touchdowns in 2023, and they picked up right where they left off, yielding four more in the Week 1 loss.

Benjamin St-Juste was fighting out there. I will give him that. He even interfered with Mike Evans on one touchdown pass in the second quarter. Mike Sainristil looked like, well, a rookie. He was lost and beaten badly more than once. Emmanuel Forbes? Looked like the same rookie of 2023.

https://youtube.com/shorts/ARteugC4RDU?si=ksJmjH1C7wPCEDJq

You recall back to last year, when Ron Rivera was recorded saying the Commanders were hoping to draft Emmanuel Forbes that night in the first round. Were they actually that determined and hopeful to draft Forbes? Before selecting him, Rivera was telling Commanders Nation how Forbes had great ball skills and had set an NCAA mark for pick-sixes.

Other than the highlights film of Forbes at Mississippi State, how much of the game film did they actually watch? It’s unthinkable to consider this as a possibility. Forbes has gotten beaten so badly, so repeatedly, there had to be college games where his coverage was shown to be inadequate. How did they not see that? How did they not recognize that?

However, at this rate, will Forbes show that Rivera may have gone 0-4 in his four NFL draft first-round picks with Washington?