Not much went right for the Washington Commanders in their loss to the Detroit Lions. They are now 3-7, having been defeated by at least 20 points for the fourth consecutive game.
The defense was a horror show once again, and head coach Dan Quinn has now taken over defensive play-calling responsibilities from coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. as a result. On the bright side, Kliff Kingsbury's offense did show signs of improvement in comparison to the last two weeks.
The Commanders spent most of the game trailing by several scores, but they still moved the ball well. Veteran quarterback Marcus Mariota spread the football around to a receiving corps that's still missing second-team All-Pro weapon Terry McLaurin. In the fourth quarter, a player who's been all but written off scored his first touchdown of 2025.
Commanders have to see they have in Ben Sinnott over the rest of 2025
At this point in the Commanders' season, the focus has shifted from competing for a playoff run to assessing whether Washington can see growth from its fledgling players with long-term promise. Jayden Daniels aside, Adam Peters' 2024 draft class has not aged particularly well, but there's still time for that to change.
One of the biggest blunders from the group to this point is tight end Ben Sinnott. As the No. 53 overall pick, he caught only five passes as a rookie while being buried behind Zach Ertz and John Bates on the depth chart. His role hasn't changed in Year 2, and the Kansas State product had only two catches entering Washington's contest against the Lions.
That changed late in proceedings, when Mariota found Sinnott wide open in the end zone for a four-yard score. It meant nothing in the grand scheme of the game, but it could provide a much-needed confidence boost for a player who Washington needs to see get more involved.
These next two months will be crucial for determining Sinnott's long-term role in Washington. The same goes for other second-year contributors such as defensive tackle Johnny Newton and linebacker Jordan Magee. It's not too late for them to start emerging into valuable pieces, but it might be now or never.
Sinnott will need to use his late score at Northwest Stadium as a springboard to deliver the consistent production fans have waited for. His development will be an intriguing storyline to monitor moving forward, but it could go either way, given his limited sample size so far.