Hail or Fail: Commanders handed out soccer balls at their sad sack party
After struggling in his debut, DeVito handled the Commanders on Sunday, throwing for 246 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers. Maybe it’s time to end the stigma against adults living with their parents. Can you imagine the numbers that some of the more experienced QBs Washington has faced this season would have posted if they didn’t have to worry about laundry and what’s for dinner?
Failed: FedEx Field Plumbing
For the second time in three seasons, FedEx Field experienced an embarrassing water-related outage. In the 2021 home opener against the Los Angeles Chargers, a burst pipe under overhang on the lower level, a number of fans were soaked. (The team claimed the pipe contained rainwater, not sewage.) After Sunday’s game, Commanders and Giants players did not have access to hot water in the locker rooms. “We had an equipment failure in the main water heater that provides hot water to the locker rooms on the field,” a team spokesperson said. said Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. “We cannot resolve the problem without completely shutting off the water to the stadium, which is why it could not be repaired during the match.”
The Commanders entered Sunday with one sack in two games since trading Montez Sweat and Chase Young, but they went after DeVito early and often. Washington had two sacks on New York’s first possession and became the first team in 17 years with five sacks in the first quarter. Defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio’s unit finished with nine sacks, one short of the franchise single-game record of 10, which the team recently achieved in a 41-10 victory against the Jaguars in the second week of the 2014 season. Before Sunday, Washington was 3-0 and had outscored its opponents 82-17 while totaling at least nine sacks.
Washington became the first team to commit six turnovers in a game since the Los Angeles Chargers turned the ball over seven times in December 2019, according to Stathead. The last time Washington had six turnovers was in a 45-14 loss to the Giants on “Thursday Night Football” in 2014. Ball safety concerns are nothing new for Washington. Of the 21 instances where a team has committed five or more turnovers since Ron Rivera was hired before the 2020 season, the Commanders are responsible for four of them.
New York scored 24 points off turnovers Sunday, including linebacker Isaiah Simmons’ interception return for a touchdown. Thanks in part to Washington’s generosity to football, the Giants became only the fourth team to score at least 30 points despite at least nine sacks since sacks became an official statistic in 1982. The Commanders became the first team since 1984 to register at least nine sacks and lose by double digits.
Wow! My Washington commanders turned the ball over six times today and gave the Giants 24 points off turnovers. We lost 31-19.
-Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) November 20, 2023
Washington still has six games to play, but Sunday’s loss, which was arguably the worst of Rivera’s tenure, should end any talk of the Commanders sneaking into the playoffs. There are four teams in front of Washington and away watching the game. The final NFC wild card spot. Additionally, the Commanders are just one game ahead of the Giants and Bears, who both own the tiebreaker against Washington by embarrassing them in their head-to-head meetings this year. The top priority for the remainder of the season should be determining whether Sam Howell is the answer at quarterback in 2024 and beyond, or whether the Commanders should draft another QB with what numbers to be a top 10 choice. If the season ended today, Washington would choose the seventh.
Failure: Washington, big favorite at home
Since 2000, Washington is just 6-5 as a home favorite by 9 or more points, according to Stathead. Washington has now lost its last three such games against the Giants, dating back to 1992, including one 19-10 loss in 2016 regular season finale this cost Burgundy and Gold a playoff spot. New York has won five of its last six games at FedEx Field and three in a row against Washington overall.
After the game, the Giants’ second-year edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux told reporters he thanked Washington left tackle Charles Leno before halftime. When Leno asked him why, Thibodeaux replied, “For the 10 bags I’m going to get today.” » Thibodeaux had a sack in the final minute of the first half to give him 9 1/2 this season and eclipsed both figures with another sack on Washington’s fourth-quarter touchdown drive. Credit where it’s due: This is quality trash talk, and Thibodeaux backed it up.
I asked Kayvon Thibodeaux what it feels like when he dominates his match.
He said he approached Washington LT Charles Leno just before halftime and said “thank you.”
Leno said, “For what?”
Thibodeaux said, “For the 10 bags I’m going to get today.”
Solid trash talk. Giants… pic.twitter.com/xokiprSE9z
– Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) November 19, 2023
The Commanders fell to 1-4 all-time in their all-black alternate uniforms, which they last wore in their 40-20 primetime loss to the Bears in Week 5. Owner Josh Harris has bigger matters to attend to this offseason, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing if Washington’s Pittsburgh Steelers knockoffs somehow ended up in the laundry room of DeVito’s parents’ house and were never seen again.
