Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels dislocated his non-throwing elbow late in Sunday night's blowout loss to the Seahawks.
Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels dislocated his non-throwing elbow late in Sunday night's blowout loss to the Seahawks.Stephanie Scarbrough/Associated Press
Let’s start by offering the Washington Commanders an apology.
In September before Week 1, I picked the Commanders to make the Super Bowl.
Instant kiss of death.
Flash forward nine weeks, and the Commanders are a disaster. They are the NFL’s biggest disappointment at 3-6, Jayden Daniels will be out indefinitely with a separated (non-throwing) elbow, and coach Dan Quinn is under fire for leaving his star quarterback in a blowout loss far too long, then evading accountability.
“Gut-wrenching,” offensive lineman Sam Cosmi said after the 38-14 loss to the Seahawks on Sunday night.
The collapsing Commanders are where we begin the Week 9 review:
⋅ The Commanders had a lot of hype in August, what with Daniels’s incredible rookie season, the NFC Championship game berth, offseason acquisitions Laremy Tunsil and Deebo Samuel, and Quinn’s history of taking a team to the Super Bowl in his second season.
But the Commanders had a rough training camp headlined by Terry McLaurin’s holdout, and it has carried into the season. The Commanders have lost four in a row, and are the first team since the 2020 Jaguars to lose three straight by 21-plus points. The Commanders were barely competitive against the Seahawks, allowing Sam Darnold to complete 21 of 24 passes for 340 yards, four touchdowns, and an interception in an embarrassing home loss.
“We missed it by a mile,” Quinn said.
Worse than the defense, though, has been Daniels’s durability. He missed two games in September with a sprained knee, then an October loss to the Chiefs with a bad hamstring. Now he will be out indefinitely with a sprained left elbow suffered while trailing, 38-7, with less than eight minutes remaining. The biggest concern for Daniels has always been his injury risk because of a thin frame, and the Commanders’ worst fears are coming to fruition.
The Commanders seemed eager to spread the word Monday morning that Daniels’s injury wasn’t as bad as feared. Quinn also opened his news conference by saying leaving Daniels in for too long was “100 percent on me.” Because it became obvious that Quinn whiffed on Sunday night — in not protecting the franchise’s top asset, and for not taking accountability. Quinn initially blamed Daniels for scrambling on a play that “if we run it 50 times, it’s either a handoff or throw 50 times.”
Quinn probably has some fences to mend with his players this week. And the Commanders, who expected to be competing for the Super Bowl, will probably look to deal veterans such as Tunsil or Von Miller before Tuesday’s deadline.
⋅ The Commanders’ opponent Sunday night is decidedly not dysfunctional. The Seahawks improved to 6-2 to keep pace with the 6-2 Rams and 6-3 49ers in the toughest division in the NFL.
Seattle ranks No. 5 in points scored and points allowed, and Darnold is playing like an MVP, joining Tom Brady (2007), Peyton Manning (2009), and Drew Brees (2018) as the only quarterbacks to complete 70 percent of passes, throw for 2,000 yards and at least 15 touchdowns, and take fewer than 10 sacks through eight games of a season.
Darnold is clearly not just a product of the Vikings.
“Sam’s execution right now, he’s just ridiculous,” coach Mike Macdonald said.
⋅ The first sign of Daniel Jones being Daniel Jones came Sunday in Pittsburgh. The Colts’ 27-20 loss to the Steelers snapped their four-game winning streak, and the Colts turned the ball over six times, with Jones throwing three picks and losing two fumbles. The Colts had lost just four turnovers in eight games leading up to Sunday.
At 7-2, they remain the AFC’s No. 1 seed because of their 6-1 conference record. But they’re in a three-way tie with the Patriots and Broncos, have one of the league’s toughest remaining schedules, and Jones might be turning into a pumpkin.
Colts quarterback Daniel Jones threw three interceptions and lost two fumbles in the loss to the Steelers.
Colts quarterback Daniel Jones threw three interceptions and lost two fumbles in the loss to the Steelers.Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press
⋅ The Chiefs have reached their Week 10 bye with a 5-4 record, and are currently out of the playoff bracket in the No. 8 spot. Statistically, the Chiefs are thriving, especially on offense, but Sunday’s 28-21 loss to the Bills was another inconsistent performance.
Patrick Mahomes was flustered all day, completing just 3 of 16 passes for 61 yards and a pick when pressured. He cost his team at the end with his unnecessary “punt-erception” on third and 10, and Andy Reid lost his nerve by kicking a 19-yard field goal at the end of the half instead of going for it from the 1.
Mahomes was heard in the tunnel telling his teammates they can’t afford any more slip-ups. He is 100 percent right.
Tracking former Patriots
49ers QB Mac Jones: Improved to 5-2 this year with 235 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-24 win over the Giants. Are the 49ers sure they want to go back to Brock Purdy?
Steelers S Kyle Dugger: Had four tackles and played 77 of 78 defensive snaps (plus four on special teams) in the win over the Colts. Dugger, acquired last Wednesday, won’t have a bye week this year, since the Steelers had theirs in Week 5 and the Patriots’ is in Week 14.
Former Patriot Kyle Dugger played 77 of 78 defensive snaps in his first game with the Steelers.
Former Patriot Kyle Dugger played 77 of 78 defensive snaps in his first game with the Steelers.Matt Durisko/Associated Press
Chiefs WR Tyquan Thornton: Had no catches and just one target in the loss to the Bills. Has one catch for 39 yards in his last four games.
Texans GM Nick Caserio and offensive coordinator Nick Caley: Now 3-5 after they couldn’t protect a fourth-quarter lead and fell, 18-15, to the Broncos. The Texans are two games behind the Jaguars for the final playoff spot and have been held to fewer than 20 points five times this season.
UNC coach Bill Belichick: Picked up his first ACC win, 27-10, over Syracuse. The Orange played a freshman walk-on quarterback, but who cares? The Tar Heels (3-5, 1-3) improved to 14th out of 17 in the ACC standings.
Quick hits
⋅ Perhaps Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was right about new rules for the K-balls making it too easy for kickers. This season has already seen an NFL-record seven field goals of 60-plus yards, including a record-breaking 68-yarder by the Jaguars’ Cam Little on Sunday.
⋅ The Bills beat the Chiefs in the regular season — whoop-de-doo, to paraphrase Derrick Coleman. The Bills have won five straight over the Chiefs in the regular season, but lost four in a row in the playoffs.
⋅ The 5-2-1 Packers are still leading the NFC North, but it’s hard to take them seriously when their losses are to the Browns and Panthers.
⋅ Mike Tomlin still can’t believe the Browns just handed Joe Flacco to the Bengals. Flacco’s 470 passing yards were the most ever for a quarterback age 40 or over, breaking Brady’s record of 447.
⋅ Next Gen Stats had the Bengals down for 15 missed tackles for an additional 133 yards in their 47-42 loss to the Bears.
⋅ Raiders coach Pete Carroll made the right call to go for 2 and the win at the end of overtime. He just needs to stop calling slant passes near the goal line.
⋅ The two biggest upsets of the year happened Sunday: Panthers (plus-13) over the Packers and Vikings (plus-9.5) over the Lions. I don’t know about Bryce Young, but the Panthers’ Dave Canales is a heck of a coach.
⋅ The 98-yard kickoff return touchdown by the Bengals’ Charlie Jones was just the second of the season leaguewide (Antonio Gibson, Week 2).
⋅ Guess Matthew Stafford’s back is OK, with 21 touchdown passes and two interceptions through eight games, but the Rams have kicker issues. Josh Karty missed from 39, plus an extra point, and has a league-worst 66.7 field goal percentage, with multiple blocks. “It’s gone on for too long, and we’ve got to be able to fix it,” coach Sean McVay said.
Ben Volin can be reached at ben.volin@globe.com.