The Commanders head into Sunday’s match-up against the Panthers in an unusual position.
Washington (4-2) is a 9.5-point home favorite to take care of Carolina in the 4:05 pm contest.
Why is this unusual? The Commanders haven’t often been the favorites. Just last season (2023), they were favored in only four games of a 17-game regular season.
Further, Ron Rivera’s 2023 Commanders were so bad that they did not cover a single time in those four games. They opened up a 6-point favorite over the Cardinals but won only 20-16.
What serious fan doesn’t recall that Thursday night against the Bears, when Washington was a 6-point favorite? They were so ill-prepared and lackadaisical that they were down 27-3 and lost 40-20! It was D-Day for Ron Rivera. He had to finish out the season, but the decisive defeat had occurred, and there was no way he could recover.
Two weeks later, the Commanders, favored by 3, went to play the woeful Giants and managed to be even worse, losing 14-7. This resulted in the unforgettable (and understandable) postgame Jonathan Allen outburst, as he erupted on the clown show that was the 2023 season.
Finally, in Week 11, that same pitiful Giants team came to Landover. The Commanders were favored by 7.5 points, so they would surely win this time. But no, they embarrassed themselves, losing 31-19.
However, 2024 is a new generation, a new era. After losing in Tampa, the Commanders covered four of the next five games, and last week was a push when they were a 7-point underdog to last year’s AFC runner-up Baltimore Ravens. In addition, they have already matched the 2023 season win total (4).
So, the Commanders find themselves a 9.5-point favorite, Sunday. Do you realize you have to go all the way back to when Kirk Cousins was the quarterback to find Washington favored by this much?
Washington’s last winning seasons were 2015 and 2016, led by Cousins. The last time they were favored by at least 9.5 points was a home contest in 2017 against the 49ers when Washington was favored by 12.
No, they didn’t cover that day, winning only 26-24. That team finished only 7-9, Cousins departed, and the losing had begun again.
But now Jayden Daniels is the quarterback, and Dan Quinn is the new sheriff in town. If Daniels remains healthy, look for the Commanders to have that first winning season since 2016.
Oh, and look for them to cover Sunday against the Panthers.