The Commanders will open their 2024 season at Tampa on September 8.
How long has it been since the NFL Washington team opened an NFL season on the road?
Well, put it this way: Jay Gruden was the head coach, and Case Keenum was the starting quarterback. Keenum’s backups were Colt McCoy and Dwayne Haskins.
Terry McLaurin was playing in his first NFL regular season game, and the two running backs who had carries for Washington that day were Derrius Guice and Chris Thompson.
McLaurin made a huge splash debut into the NFL that day, catching five passes on seven targets for 125 yards, including a 69-yard touchdown from Keenum. The other receivers catching passes that day other than McLaurin were Vernon Davis, Paul Richardson, Trey Quinn, Kelvin Harmon and Jeremy Sprinkle.
Washington had traveled to Philadelphia to open the 2019 season and started magnificently. Keenum connected with Davis on a 48-yard touchdown and McLaurin on a 69-yard touchdown. Plus, Dustin Hopkins’ 41-yard field goal was sandwiched between, and the Redskins were beating the Eagles at Lincoln Field 17-0.
When Hopkins booted a 48-yarder on the closing play of the first half, the Redskins led the Eagles 20-7. However, Carson Wentz led the Eagles to 25 consecutive second-half points for a 32-20 fourth-quarter lead. The final was Eagles 32-27 over the Redskins.
A great first half had launched the season with great hope and excitement. However, the second half would be a microcosm of the season, as the Redskins began 0-5, and Gruden was fired.
Things were so bad in 2019 when the Dolphins were unsuccessful on a game-ending two-point conversion attempt; it actually saved the Redskins from starting the season 0-10.
The dreadful season saw Haskins celebrating with fans and thus missing the final possession for the victory formation snap against the Lions. The silly act was a sign of Haskins’s future actions with Washington, which resulted in his not lasting two seasons before being released.
In a bizarre twist, the following Sunday, the Redskins went down to Charlotte, defeated the Panthers 29-21, resulting in Ron Rivera being fired by Carolina’s new owner David Tepper.
Washington owner Daniel Snyder hired Rivera as the team’s next head coach one month later. Snyder strangely kicked off the press conference with a mysterious “Happy Thanksgiving, Everybody.”
Next summer, Federal Express owner and Redskins minority owner Fred Smith challenged Snyder that the team needed to change its name from the historic “Redskins.” Nike and Pepsi soon hopped on that bandwagon, pressing Snyder to cave, and the “Redskins” were history.
Rivera then coached the Washington Football Team/Washington Commanders to four consecutive losing seasons and was subsequently fired by new majority owner Josh Harris.
Harris then hired Adam Peters as general manager and Dan Quinn as head coach, who hired his coaching staff. Sam Howell was traded to Seattle, and Peters blew up the roster, signed many free agents, and drafted nine new college players, including LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, who won the Heisman Trophy.
Isn’t that a tremendous amount of water under the bridge since the last time Washington opened an NFL season on the road?