How the Commanders drew up the ideal unconventional blueprint to become elite

Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

The Commanders are 6-2, and playing as well as any team in the NFL. As we approach the midpoint of the season it’s time to stop looking at Washington as a curiosity, or a fun underdog story and take them seriously as a threat to the vast majority of the NFC, with the potential to go all the way.

Beating the Bears with a Hail Mary on Sunday might not be anything to write home about In isolation, but that’s the thing about what the Commanders are doing. You can’t simple look at anything this organization has done in isolation. Rather we have a tapestry of decisions, roster moves, and hires — all of which come together to make this team infinitely more than a sum of its parts.

It’s not that the Commanders are a perfect team, but more that they are consistently finding ways to stay in games when behind, step on the gas when they’re up, and most-critically, believe in themselves. A play like that which ended the game on Sunday isn’t something that comes from any Washington team over the last three decades, at least not in this way.

Washington dominated, despite what the box score shows. It was a game where scoring stats really don’t tell the story, as indicated by the Commanders’ 481 yards of offense, and 6.7 yards-per-play. Defensively they contained Caleb Williams from making any big plays, and outside of uncharacteristically giving up 129 rushing yards to D’Andre Swift it was an otherwise really solid game. Winning the battle of the trenches on both sides, letting Jayden Daniels cook, and using a three-prong running attack of Brian Robinson Jr., Austin Ekeler, and Daniels himself — all of whom had over 50 yards rushing.

Settling for short fields goals is something this team can work on, but at some point you need to credit the Bears’ bend-don’t-break defense for standing tough and making the game difficult. However, between the Red Zones this game really wasn’t very close.

You have to go back to the year 2000 to find the last time the Commanders started 6-2 on a season. Sure, that team ended up collapsing and finishing 8-8 on the year — but this team is miles apart. Most importantly the 2000 team had a quarterback nightmare, with Brad Johnson and Jeff George combining for one of the worst seasons in team history and tanking whatever hope one existed. Now it couldn’t be more different, with rookie Jayden Daniels having a vice grip on this team in all the right ways.

It’s here we start on the Commanders transformation with Daniels as the nexus of the offense — because it’s absolutely wild how ballsy the decision to draft him at No. 2 was. There’s a tendency to heap revisionist history on the NFL Draft when a pick is good or bad, without accepting there were objective truths being held prior to the first round.

Caleb Williams was the quarterback with the highest ceiling
Drake Maye needed time, but unquestionably had the highest floor
Jayden Daniels really needed scheme help to overcome his deficiencies

It’s for these reasons Williams was the lock to go No. 1, why Maye was regarded as the 2nd best QB in the class, and Daniels slotted in somewhere behind — largely being placed in the 10-to-18 range until it became clear the Commanders were zeroing in on him.

Washington defied all conventional logic by taking a QB exclusively for an offensive coordinator. Not just any offensive coordinator, but a new guy without the greatest track record. However, what the front office knew was that Daniels with Kliff Kingsbury had the potential to be special, and special has been in short supply for this franchise.

So the Commanders took Daniels, and were prepared to take their lumps for it if they were wrong. The dust isn’t close to settling on the 2024 draft class. Caleb Williams could very well become the most exciting player in the league, and Drake Maye could become the best quarterback of the three — but it’s exceptionally clear that neither Williams nor Maye could achieve what Daniels is with Kingsbury. His rare combination of athleticism, accuracy, and spread offense processing is unlike anyone else in the 2024 class and it’s why this team is cooking.

Kingsbury knew he could get the best out of Daniels the same way he did with Kyler Murray in Arizona, but the difference is that Daniels seems to have this competitive edge to him that Murray hasn’t really shown. That doesn’t mean Murray doesn’t like winning, but Daniels has that dawg in him — and it’s allowing the Commanders to soar.

New GM Adam Peters has exhibited an unnatural understanding of building a team to his coaches’ strengths. This meant being willing to jettison pieces, and allowing coaches the freedom for players to be traded or benched depending on potential. Jahan Dotson was out via trade, 2022 1st round pick Emmanuel Forbes is relegated to second string. Even Austin Ekeler is a backup running back, rather than being handed the starting job based on reputation or seniority. Every position on this team had to be earned, not given — and that builds a culture of respect and hard work.

If you can sum up the Commanders’ approach to rebuilding this team in one word it would be “empowerment.” Dan Quinn, hardly the most exciting or heralded coach of the coach of the cycle had complete faith to shape the defense. Kingsbury, a shaky offensive mind when he was hired, was allowed to build the offense he wanted independently of whether it meshed with Quinn’s sensibilities or not. Joe Whitt Jr, largely overlooked in all this, has been allowed to manage the secondary and contain opposing QBs without too much interference.

It might seem simple, but this isn’t how most teams build. There’s no ego in the room, with everyone pulling in the same direction as a result. Sunday’s game may have been settled with a Hail Mary, but this whole season has been a Hail Mary to bring quick success to the Commanders — and damn if it hasn’t worked.

Winner: The Cleveland Browns

YOU MEAN TO TELL ME DESHAUN WATSON WAS THE PROBLEM THE WHOLE TIME?! IF ONLY SOMEBODY HAD BEEN SAYING THIS FOR THE LAST SEVEN WEEKS!

Brass tacks, the Browns are one of the best teams in the NFL when they don’t have a total pumpkin at quarterback. Jameis Winston showed even after Amari Cooper was traded away that Cleveland can be a damn good offense.

Nick Chubb hardly went off in Cleveland’s win over the Ravens, which underscored how much this was about the quarterback play. Cedric Tillman, Elijah Moore, Jerry Jeudy and David Njoku all shined with the change at QB — with Winston spreading the ball around taking what the defense gave him.

The greatest shame in seeing the Browns play like they did against Baltimore is knowing they could have been so much better all season long. Time will tell whether Cleveland has the gas to try and make an improbable playoff push from 2-6, but make no mistake: This could and should be a 6-2 team right now based on the number of one-score losses caused by total incompetency from Watson at QB.

Loser: The Jets’ decision making

Two weeks since firing Robert Saleh, two losses. With Davante Adams in the mix it’s clear that Aaron Rodgers can play better football with more weapons in the passing game, but the defense has gone to crap without Saleh.

New York allowed one of the worst offensive teams in the NFL to body them. Averaging 14.1 points scored this year, the Pats scored 25 on Sunday. If Drake Maye wasn’t forced out this total would have been even higher.

This was an absolute must-win game for the Jets to try and stay in the hunt, and they blew another easy W on their schedule. Now they have four weeks against the Texans, Cardinals, Colts, and Seahawks — four games which are all more difficult than the likes of the Patriots who they just lost to.

The experiment is turning sour, and I don’t know if this team can steer out of their swerve.

Winner: Bryce Young

Was this a perfect game from Young in his return as Panthers starter? Absolutely not, but it was a damn sight better than it had any right to be. Without Diontae Johnson (who was inactive amid trade rumors) and Adam Thielen (on IR), the stage was set against a No. 5 ranked Broncos pass defense to be a nightmare for Young.

Instead he stepped up and finished with 224 passing yards (a season-high for any QB against the Broncos), while also throwing two touchdowns with his two interceptions.

At this point Carolina has to start Young for the rest of this abysmal season. Putting Andy Dalton back in achieves nothing, while it’s time for the Panthers to see if Young can actually do something, or if they need to prepare to take another QB in the 2025 NFL Draft with their Top 5 pick.

Loser: Bears discipline

Seeing Tyrique Stevenson jaw with Commanders fans and have his back turned to the game-sealing Hail Mary play just defies belief.

Nothing went right for Chicago on this play, and while it’s easy to say that some of this was luck — there was also fundamental mismanagement of the play by the defense. Potential receivers weren’t boxed out, it opened up a chance on a tip-ball drill, and clearly Stevenson wasn’t in a position where he was prepared to play football.

Just a mess all around.