Is the honeymoon already over? Fans were let down once again.
Thursday’s 40-20 loss to the Bears was one of the more disappointing losses in recent Washington football history.
Why is this the case? Most likely it is because our hopes had been raised by multiple factors. What are those factors?
Sam Howell played well enough in his only 2022 game that we foresaw development this season and improvement at the quarterback position.
Ron Rivera, in the offseason, repeatedly told of how Emmanuel Forbes and Quan Martin were going to be helping this year’s team create turnovers, which was lacking on the 2022 defensive unit.
Eric Bieniemy was brought in to replace Scott Turner as offensive coordinator. Bieniemy was being presented as an instant, huge improvement over Turner, who could also help in the development of Howell.
Jahan Dotson flashed some really great pass-catching and route-running skills in his rookie season. Dotson would only improve in his second season, causing the offense to have a dynamic duo of wideouts in Dotson and Terry McLaurin.
2022 guards Trai Turner and Andrew Norwell very much underachieved in 2022. So much so that neither was invited back for this season. Sam Cosmi and Saahdiq Charles were said to be very much more athletic, mobile and would bring improvement to the interior of the offensive line as well as mobility in the screen game that terribly struggled in 2022.
Cole Holcomb departed via free agency, but oh, how the Commanders’ brass was happy with the signing of Cody Barton to start for Holcomb at linebacker.
Former owner Daniel Snyder sold the team officially in July. In addition, the new ownership group could not have launched their endeavor any better than they did that first weekend. Josh Harris, Mitch Rales and Mark Ein are local. They spoke of loving the Redskins. They proclaimed with energy they wanted to regain the glory days of the Redskins being one of the most successful franchises during the George Allen (1971-77) and Joe Gibbs (1981-92) seasons. And Earvin “Magic” Johnson would also help, having been such a competitor and team player himself in the NBA.
Instantly, attendance at training camp soared. Excitement at the home preseason games was swelling. The team began the season with two opening wins. The home schedule saw three sellouts; fans were returning, spending their money because our hopes were rising.
We understood losing to Buffalo and Philadelphia; after all, both of those teams are Super Bowl contenders. So, much of the talk Monday through Wednesday was about how the Commanders were going to win this “must-win” over the Bears. There was even much talk of “by how much” would the Commanders need to win to satisfy the fan base.
Suddenly, the Commanders trailed 17-0. Disappointment became confusion, which led to consternation, anxiety and dread. Then it was 27-3 at the half, and most of us were frustrated, angry, infuriated.
Our hopes had been raised so much, only for the team to again completely dash them. Our emotional balloons had been burst.
Adversity has set in; the honeymoon period is coming to a close. We again hope, hope for a recovery to respectability.
