The Washington Commanders were off in Week 12, providing sweet relief for fans after a catastrophic start to the season.
In the meantime, the rest of the NFL was in action. This represented a prime opportunity for Commanders fans to wallow even further in self-pity over their flourishing rejects. This was especially apparent in a Sunday Night Football matchup in which the Los Angeles Rams dominated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Kamren Curl, who the Commanders never should have let walk, and Emmanuel Forbes Jr., who has been an improbable redemption story, have been key contributors for a Los Angeles team that's 9-2 and might be the Super Bowl favorite. But the biggest one that got away remains their head coach.
For all of the bad decisions that have infamously haunted Washington's NFL franchise in the past 25 years — the Albert Haynesworth contract, letting Kirk Cousins walk, drafting Forbes over Christian Gonzalez, to name a few — the most costly blunder of all was one they were never going to get right. But boy, do you wish they could have in hindsight.
Commanders would look a lot different with Sean McVay at the helm, but the stars didn't align
Sean McVay was on Washington's staff from 2010 to 2016, serving as the offensive coordinator for the final three years under Jay Gruden. He was hired away by Los Angeles in 2017, where he has cemented himself as the most untouchable head coach in the NFL.
McVay was, and remains, the youngest head coaching hire in league history when he was given the Rams job at age 30. He's now additionally the youngest head coach to ever reach a Super Bowl and the youngest to win one. If he retired today, he would already be a Pro Football Hall of Fame lock. Depending on how long he sticks around, he might go down as an all-time great.
His offensive scheme is second-to-none. McVay is also a pure sorcerer of player development. Some of the Rams' top contributors, such as wide receiver Puka Nacua, running back Kyren Williams, and cornerback Cobie Durant, were late-round finds turned studs. The NFC West club is always better than the sum of its parts; it's a well-oiled machine where every puzzle piece fits seamlessly.
Obviously, Washington was in an impossible situation with McVay. Top coordinators are almost always poached by another organization. The team wasn't going to fire Gruden after back-to-back winning seasons in 2015 and 2016 to promote someone who would have been seen as an unprecedented risk.
If Washington knew McVay was a future all-time great, things would be different. But then, he was by no means considered a slam-dunk hire. He was a 30-year-old offensive coordinator with blossoming credentials.
That's it.
Still, it doesn't make the regret sting any less. It's like going out with a cute girl in high school, not ready for a serious relationship yet, and then she becomes Miss America.
McVay could have changed the trajectory of the Commanders' franchise for decades. But it just wasn't meant to be.