Tag: RB Antonio Gibson

When they last met: Commanders vs. Buccaneers

Remember the last time Washington faced Tampa Bay?

“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 29, Tampa Bay 19 – Week 10, Nov. 10, 2021

Taylor Heinicke had perhaps his finest game for Washington, leading the Football Team to an upset win at FedEx Field over Tampa Bay 29-19.

Heinicke completed 26 of 32 for 256 yards, a touchdown, and no interceptions, while the defending Super Bowl champion Tom Brady threw two interceptions that set up scores for Washington.

The 6-2 Buccaneers, though the road team, entered the game a solid 9.5-point favorite. But the Football Team, which was 2-6, found itself up 13-0, as Brady was intercepted twice.

Joey Slye connected on field goals from 56 and 28 yards. Heinicke connected with DeAndre Carter from 20 yards, and Washington led 13-0 in the second quarter.

Following a Buccaneers field goal, Joey Slye connected again, this time from 29 yards, with 58 seconds remaining in the half for a 16-3 Washington lead.

Brady connected with Cameron Brate from six yards, narrowing Tampa Bay’s deficit to 16-13 with 8:46 remaining in the third quarter.

Antonio Gibson scored from a yard out, extending Washington’s lead to 23-13 at 4:21 of the third quarter.

Brady then found Mike Evans from 40 yards, and the Bucs closed to 23-19, but Ryan Succup’s extra point was missed, meaning the Bucs couldn’t tie with a field goal but would need a touchdown.

Washington then drove 80 yards in 19 plays, taking 10:26 of time. Gibson again scored from one yard for the final 29-19 margin.

Terry McLaurin led Washington with six receptions for 59 yards, and Carter contributed 3 for 56 yards. Evans led Tampa Bay with 62 receiving yards, and Chris Godwin contributed 57. Brady finished 23 of 34 for 220 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Note: This was the game Washington defensive end Chase Young tore an ACL and was thus out for the remainder of 2021 and most of 2022.

 

Who are PFF’s highest-ranked NFL & Commanders free agents?

A look at the top free agents and who are Washington’s top free agents?

Who are the best NFL free agents who will be available in this 2024 signing period?

Pro Football Focus (PFF) ranked what they believe are the top 200. Where did the best Commanders’ free agents place in the PFF rankings?

By the way, NFL salaries will increase a little more than expected.

Why?

Because with the NFL team salary cap leaping higher than expected to $255.4 million, that means each team will have $13 million more than initially projected. It doesn’t mean teams will use all of their money. Yet, it assuredly means there will be some players who are going to hit free agency, who are going to be paid more to re-sign with their current team.

Here is the PFF list of the 200 Free Agents

Below Commanders Wire will provide the PFF top 5 and then where the top Commanders free agents placed in the PFF rankings.

When they last met: Commanders and Seahawks

Kendall Fuller was the hero the last time these two teams played.

“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 17, Seattle 15 – Week 12, November 29, 2021

Kendall Fuller intercepted Russell Wilson’s two-point pass attempt with 15 seconds remaining, sealing Washington’s 17-15 win over Seattle at FedEx Field.

With 2:25 remaining, Washington led 17-9 and faced a 4th & goal from the 4. Kicker Joey Slye had pulled a hamstring earlier in the game, so Ron Rivera chose to go for the touchdown rather than a chip shot field goal to go up two scores.

Taylor Heinicke’s pass to Logan Thomas was caught and called a touchdown. However, replay revealed Thomas did not have control of the ball as he went to the ground and the Seahawks took over at their own 4 with 2:19 remaining.

Suddenly, the Washington defense was not in control. Russell Wilson completed seven passes and the Seahawks found themselves with a 1st & 10 at the Washington 32.

Wilson then connected with receiver Freddie Swain for a 32-yard touchdown with 15 seconds remaining, narrowing the Washington lead to 17-15. This set the stage for Fuller’s game-saving interception in the end zone for Washington.

Seattle’s onside kick was then recovered by Washington receiver Adam Humphries as Washington (5-6) escaped with a narrow victory on Monday Night Football.

Taylor Heinicke completed 27 of 35 for 223 yards, including one touchdown and one interception. Antonio Gibson rushed for 111 yards on 29 carries. He also led with 7 receptions for 35 yards.

When they last met; Commanders and Bills

It didn’t go so well for Washington.

“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.

Buffalo 43, Washington 21 – Week 3, September 26, 2021

The Bills crushed Washington, gaining 481 yards of offense on their way to an easy 43-21 victory at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, NY.

The Washington defense was clearly out of position time and again as the Bills raced out to a 21-0 lead. The ‘Football Team’ was able to reduce the lead to seven points when Antonio Gibson took a Taylor Heinicke screen pass 73 yards for a touchdown, and Heinicke scored from 4 yards.

However, the Bills then blew open the game with 22 consecutive points, stretching their lead to as high as 43-14.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen enjoyed one of his best days in the NFL, completing 32 of 43 passes for 358 yards, 4 touchdowns and no interceptions for a 129.8 passer rating.

Washington was dominated in every statistical category by the Bills: First Downs (29-13), Rushing Yards (122-78), Passing Yards (359-212), Total Offensive Yards (481-290), Turnovers (3-0), Third Down Conversions (9/15- 2/11), Time of Possession (35:37-24:23)

Buffalo leads the all-time series between the two franchises 10-6. Washington won the only playoff game between the two teams when they defeated Buffalo in Super Bowl XXVI 37-24 to conclude the 1991 NFL season.

Chris Simms: ‘Commanders not in command yet’

“Sam Howell looks like he belongs.”

The Commanders were not yet in command.

That is how Chris Simms host of Chris Simms’ “Unbuttoned” podcast on NFL on NBC summed up the Commanders performance in Week 1.

“Sam Howell did some good things. He made a few young quarterback mistakes. Some sacks, misses a throw. A lot of people are saying it was Heinicke-esque. It’s a little of that. But this guy has more talent than Heinicke. ”

“He had the fumble, had the interception.” Simms felt Howell tried to put extra juice on the pass and it got away from Sam and was intercepted by Zaven Collins. (I thought it was tipped at the line of scrimmage. Will need to go back and watch the replay).

Simms also pointed to the Antonio Gibson fumble ending a nice drive. Yes, Washington had gained 59 yards, and that was a killer fumble.

“Jonathan Gannon (Cardinals coach) should be proud. His defense did some good things. Washington didn’t run the ball well, the Cardinals got pressure on Howell, and there were not a lot of big pass plays.”

Simms pointed to safety Kam Curl and defensive end Montez Sweat, who both made several plays on the day.

“Sam Howell looks like he belongs; he really does. Their offensive line, I think, is going to be better this year. Even though it was not their best showing here.”

The comparison was also made that Howell is a bit like Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield.

“I don’t think we can expect the Cardinals to win a ton of football games, I don’t,” said Simms. “I’m not trying to be disrespectful, but I think it was encouraging that they hung around today created some chaos on the defensive side of the ball.”

Washington’s offense will need to prevent defensive chaos next Sunday when they are the road team at Denver. They will also probably need to win the turnover battle, which they lost 3-2 to the Cardinals Sunday.