After a tiring, long playoff drought Commanders fans have had the right to be disappointed with their franchise. When new owner Josh Harris bought the team in July 2023, he was ready to turn the team around. The Commanders finished the 2023-2024 season with a 4-13 record, and only 12 hours after the final game head coach Ron Rivera parted ways with the organization. Harris went right to work hiring GM Adam Peters, the former assistant general manager for the San Francisco 49ers. Soon after Rivera, most of the coaching staff was fired, leaving room for new head coach Dan Quinn, offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr.
On March 13, 2024, NFL free agency opened and the Commanders used that to their advantage. With over 90 million dollars in cap space, Washington signed many notable players such as LB Frankie Luvu, LB Bobby Wagner, and RB Austin Ekeler. Once the Commanders picked up everyone they wanted to, their eyes were locked on the NFL draft where they had plenty of quarterbacks to choose from with the number two pick. With Caleb Williams gone, The Commanders made a franchise-altering decision, drafting Jayden Daniels.
The season began with a trip to Tampa to play the Buccaneers, where the Commanders were destroyed 37-20. Jayden Daniels had a difficult debut in the passing game, but carried the offense on his legs, with 88 rushing yards and 2 rushing touchdowns. In the next game against the Giants, the Commanders were hindered by penalties and kicked seven field goals instead of converting for touchdowns, commanders barely won 21-18. The next game was a primetime battle against the playoff favorites the Cincinnati Bengals. Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin both had their breakout games for the year, where Daniels finally got comfortable with passing, throwing two bombs to Terry McLaurin with one of them being a game-sealing touchdown. The next couple of games against the Cardinals and Browns were both blowouts, and the Commanders were rising to be one of the main powerhouses of the NFC. Even with the Commanders’s 23-30 loss to Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens, Commanders fans around the country were optimistic about the future. In week 7 the Commanders played the Panthers, but unfortunately, Jayden Daniels only played part of the first quarter before injuring his rib giving backup quarterback Marcus Mariota a chance. The Commanders still handled the Panthers 40-7 advancing them to a 5-2 record going into an important game against the Bears.
In week eight, Jayden Daniels returned from his injury where he went up against a fellow rookie drafted before him at number one overall, Caleb Williams and the Bears. Most of the game was very low scoring with the Commanders leading 12-7 with a few minutes left in the fourth quarter. Last minute, the Bears scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion with only 25 seconds left on the clock, leaving the Commanders in a last-second situation. With two seconds left, Jayden scrambled left and right until he found his receiver in the endzone and chucked it. The ball landed at the two-yard line, bounced off a defender, and into wide receiver Noah Brown’s hands for the win.
With more momentum after the hail mary, the Commanders were ready to face off with the Giants for the second time in which they swept them 27-22 keeping them ahead of Philadelphia in the race for the division. Both Philly and Washington had the same record, but Washington had more division wins than Philly keeping them on top. With that race so thin, the Commanders desperately needed to keep winning to continue having the edge on the Eagles, which soon fell apart.
In week 10 the Commanders went up against the strong 6-2 Pittsburgh Steelers. This game proved whether the Commanders were true contenders or not. In the first half, the Commanders kept a steady lead, 17-14 going into the third quarter. With only a few minutes left in the final quarter, the Commanders led the Steelers 27-21, but Pittsburgh got the ball back. Washington’s defense could not keep up with Russell Wilson and Mike Tomlin as they marched down the field to get a last-second touchdown, winning Pittsburgh the game 28-27. With this loss, Philadelphia took the number one spot in the NFC East.
Following the loss to the Steelers, the Commanders had another tough opponent to face on Thursday night the Philadelphia Eagles. This was by far the most important game of the season thus far for the Commanders because the team that won the game had a higher chance of winning the division than the other. The game was very low-scoring on both sides until the end when Eagles running back Saquon Barkley broke loose for 2 touchdowns in the fourth quarter, making the game nearly out of reach for Washington to win. They fought the good fight getting a touchdown and a two-point conversion, but eventually, time caught up to them losing the game 26-18.
After two losses against two good teams, the Commanders had to play another divisional opponent, the Dallas Cowboys. This game was also very low-scoring until the final quarter where Cowboys QB Cooper Rush threw a touchdown making the score 20–9 with 5:16 left on the clock. Two minutes later, the Commanders responded with a touchdown and a two-point conversion making the game 20-17. Washington punted the ball to the 99-yard line where kick returner KaVontae Turpin fumbled, recovered it, and ran down the field for a touchdown. Now in hot water, the Commanders needed to get some points. After a short drive, the Commanders were forced to kick a 51-yard field goal instead of getting a touchdown. Dallas got the ball back and ended up going three and out turning the ball right back to Washington. With only 21 seconds remaining, the Commanders needed a touchdown to send the game to overtime. It was winding up to be another hail mary situation, and it was. Jayden Daniels threw an 86-yard dot to Terry McLaurin for six. Now, all that needed to be done was for kicker Austin Seibert to make the extra point. What should have been a tie game, fell apart as the kick went wide left, torching the chances of the Commanders winning. As if it couldn’t have gotten any worse, Austin Seibert’s onside kick was recovered for a touchdown to end the game 34-26. Now on a three-game losing streak, fans started to lose hope. They were afraid if they stayed on the downward spiral they were in now they wouldn’t make the playoffs. At that point winning the division was the least of their worries, they now had to hope they could secure a playoff spot.
“Not only was I worried about the rest of the season and the playoffs, but I was also worried about our kicking game from that point forward, I didn’t know who would start for us,” Sean Osborne, sophomore said “We also lost to the Cowboys which shouldn’t have happened.”
Thankfully that downward spiral didn’t last long because the Commanders stomped the Titans 42-19 in week 13. The next week Jayden Daniels threw two touchdown passes to Terry McLaurin for a win against the Saints 20-19.
With the Commanders now standing comfortably at a 9-5 record, they had to play the Philadelphia Eagles again, and this time with a vengeance. In the first quarter, Eagles QB Jalen Hurts got a concussion, bringing in backup QB Kenny Pickett to play the rest of the game. After the Commanders being down 27-14 going into the fourth quarter, they caught their stride scoring 22 points to finish off the game including a game-winning drive to split with the Eagles 36-33.
Now the Commanders were at a 10-5 record, about to play the most important game of the regular season against the Falcons. The game had massive playoff implications for both teams. The game was pretty tight in scoring until the Falcons had a chance to win the game with a field goal. The kick was straight on, but the kicker didn’t have the leg strength to get it through the goalpost, which forced overtime. Washington got the coin toss to get first possession in overtime. They cashed in with that opportunity and scored a touchdown winning the game 30-24. The last game of the season was against the Cowboys again where Jayden Daniels didn’t play most of the game because the Commanders had clinched a playoff spot already. They still beat the Cowboys 23-19 to end the regular season.
Jayden Daniels had immense playoff success in his rookie season, beating the Buccaneers 23-20 and the Lions 45-31. Their story came to a close with a 23-55 loss to the Eagles in the NFC Championship, but the future is bright for Washington.
