Commanders vs. Saints – Studs and Duds

Most people would think that a team would come out of a week off rested and prepared. That certainly wasn’t the case with Dan Quinn’s Commanders. Washington was sloppy from start to finish and almost gave this game up to a wounded New Orleans team. Luckily, the two-point conversion missed by just a few inches, securing the win for a Washington team now having its first winning season since 2016.

Despite the one-point win, it didn’t feel like a victory. Washington fought against the Saints, the referees and themselves throughout the game. They missed opportunities, made costly mistakes and looked anything but a playoff team. One thing I can say with confidence is that if they play like that against the Eagles, the result won’t be that favorable.

Below are my studs and duds of the game, followed by some notes.

Stollen:

Jayden Daniels – I know some may disagree since Daniels missed a few easy touchdowns against McLaurin that “should have been,” but we are not winning this game without #5 under center. He made some amazing plays to avoid pressure and either complete an important pass or get a big gain or first down. If he and Terry had been on the same page the entire game and the referees had called a fair game, he probably would have racked up well over 300 yards and four touchdowns.

Terry McLaurin – Even with the drop that would have made for an easy touchdown, I still give Terry stud status for the game. The contested catch he had in the end zone was something wonderful, and he led all receivers with seven catches for 73 yards and two scores.

Mike Sainristil – The rookie defender played a really good game. He was intercepted and narrowly missed another one. He had five tackles, two passes defensed and one interception on the afternoon.

Jeremy Chinn – Chinn had a solid game defensively, leading the team with seven tackles (five solo), while recording two tackles for a loss, one sack and three pressures.

Duds:

Shawn Hochuli and his island of misfit toys – This was one of the worst officiated games I have seen all season and I have no doubt that “someone” invested a lot of money in this competition. The fake-out passer calls, the blatantly missed intentional grounding by Spencer Rattler, the no-call due to obvious pass interference on the deep ball to Terry, and the egregious mismanagement of the clock at the end of the game that gave the Saints an extra four seconds! Absolutely pathetic – and this “crew” needs to be investigated by the league for this!

Michael Deiter – It’s hard to tell how much a good center will be missed until he’s out of the game. Tyler Biadasz is a very good center and his presence yesterday was sorely missed. Michael Deiter was absolutely terrible and shouldn’t be on an NFL roster.

Nick Allegretti – Although not as bad as Deiter, Allegretti was still bad. He blasted several blocks, allowed two sacks and was called to a holding pattern.

Tyler Ott -He had another worm burner on Joseph’s 54-yard miss. Someone on this coaching staff needs to notify him.

Cliff Kingsbury – I know many of you will “pass” Kliff because we got the win and because we had some chances that we simply squandered or missed – but after coming off a bye week, I liked the game plan not. You can argue with your uncle!

Notes:

• Marshon Lattimore didn’t record any stats in the game – but that’s because he wasn’t targeted once!
• Brandon Coleman is still a work in progress. He’s athletic, but his hands don’t fit his feet. I think he would be a better right tackle or left guard.

• I think we can all understand why Darrick Forest is not starting and has been inactive for a number of games this season.

• Bobby Wagner didn’t enter this game in the stats, but the pressure he put on the Saints’ quarterbacks was tremendous.
• Daron Payne only recorded two tackles, but one was a sack and the other was a tackle for a loss. He also had a batted down pass.

• Fowler’s two rough tackles on the passer were very costly, but the second was a terrible call by the referees.

• Benjamin St-Juste had a limited number of snaps but caused himself to be called for an illegal hands-to-the-face penalty.
• Frankie Luvu’s lack of tackles was as surprising to me as it was to those reading this, but he was just a hair’s breadth away from having a monster game. He had two quarterback hits, three hurries, a batted down pass and narrowly missed a sack and a simple interception. He’s so good that he can disrupt a game even if he doesn’t show up on the stat sheet.

• Cornelius Lucas should play over Andrew Wylie.
• Greg Joseph was 2/3 on his field goal attempts. The only reason he isn’t on the duds list is Ott’s poor snapping.