Washington Commanders fans are learning each week about their brand new football team and while many questions were answered after their 21-18 win over the New York Giants at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md., it’s not all good.
Both the Giants and Commanders were playing a “game behind the game” of mistake-prone football and at the end of the day, the Giants ended up with more mistakes.
In the first drive of the first half, mistakes served as the underlying game behind the game. A holding penalty on the opening kickoff cost the Commanders a touchdown by Austin Ekeler.
On the opening drive, a defensive holding penalty on third down by the Giants kept the drive alive. Then an illegal procedure penalty by Commanders rookie tight end Ben Sinnott on 4th and 1 at the Giants 3 yard line may have cost the Commanders 4 points because new field goal kicker Austin Seibert gave the Commanders a three-point lead. Still, it could have been 7 points. We would see more of the same as the game continued.
Another subtle but key error in judgement was on the opening kickoff return by Ekeler because not only was the penalty flag clearly holding against the Commanders, but Graham Gano pulled his hamstring unnecessarily chasing Ekeler at full speed during the end of the runback. Gano was never going to catch him and the hamstring pull would severely hurt the Giants team throughout the game.
So while Sinnott had a holding penalty inside the Giants 10 yard line and may have cost the team a touchdown, the Giants defensive holding penalty cost the team 3 points and the mistake of Gano playing hard rather than smart, severely cost the Giants.
Following the Giants first touchdown on their first drive, the punter filling in for Gano missed an extra point making the score, 6-3.
It was 4 points cost vs. 4 points cost in the game behind the game and 6-6 in the middle of the second quarter.
But the Giants exposed an already weak Commanders defensive secondary and more specifically backup cornerback Michael Davis. Davis missed two tackles against rookie receiver Malik Nabers on a drive prior to the end of the first half.
Nabers caught the Giants touchdown with more than two minutes remaining at the end of the first half but having to go for the two point conversion without Gano, the conversion failed and another point cost for the Giants due to Gano’s injury.
One side note to Kliff Kingsbury just prior to the 2 minute warning after Jayden Daniels almost had his ribs broken: there are running backs to run, receivers to catch and a second pick in the draft, a franchise quarterback, to throw the ball without getting knocked out for the seaons.
He should only run in emergency situations.
Back to the game, the Commanders drove down the field before the end of the half and Seibert kicked his third field goal to make the score 12-9 at the half.
It was also 5-4 Commanders in the game behind the game of mistakes. The Giants also only had three offensive series in the first half and two of those series for TD’s.
In the second half, the Giants lost a fumble on their opening drive when the Benjamin St. Juste knocked the ball out of Devin Singletary’s arms and Jeremy Chinn’s recovery gave the Commanders the ball in Giants territory.
The Commanders drove the ball down the filed to the Giants 10 yard line, Austin Seibert tied the game 12-12. The Giants red zone defense again held but it was the previous fumble that served as a catalyst for the Commanders drive for the field goal, giving more mistakes for the Giants over the Commanders..
By the middle of the third quarter, tied at 12, it should have become obvious for fans of both teams, severely beaten in their respective first games, that they are not ready to compete against prime time playoff teams.
Both teams cannot afford mistakes against more talented teams and these two teams would continue to play “the game behind the game” until it turns into a final score.
While Daniels held back from running, Brian Robinson, Jr., who is the official running back for the Commanders, ran for 40 yards, part of his career high for the day, and the Commanders then drove inside the 10-yard line.
However, Washington’s offensive lineman Nick Alegretti, and formerly with the Kansas City Chiefs, committed another illegal procedure penalty. The mistake favored an already strong Giants red zone defense. The Commanders settled for a field goal and a 15-12 lead.
As the third quarter ended, the Giants were driving in Commanders territory and while the Giants did have a turnover, the mental mistake of their kicker injuring his hamstring and a key defensive penalty, the Commanders had a couple of key inopportune penalties in the red zone that may have cost them at least one touchdown.
Without Gano, however, the Giants in the fourth quarter were only playing for touchdowns and the Commanders red zone defense was tested. The defense failed again and following a failed two-point attempt, the score was 18-15.
As the underlying score–the number of mistakes–remained close for both teams, the Commanders had the ball and could show new hope for Commanders fans by driving down the field and scoring a TD against another mediocre team to take the lead.
First, they were given another Giants mistake–a kickoff out of bounds and the ball at the 40-yard line. At that point, Washington had 5 offensive series with 5 field goals. It looked like the Commanders were stopped on fourth down and had to punt to the Giants.
But like so often happens today in the NFL, the refs made their own mistake calling a holding call on third down against the Giants and in favor of the Commanders. Replay showed there was no holding. Still, it gave the Commanders a first down.
Ekeler then caught a pass in the flat and ran to the Giants 5 yard line. Again, inside the 10-yard line, the Commanders committed not one but two illegal procedure penalties and two points in the game behind the game. On the scoreboard, it gave the Commanders another Seibert field goal and an 18-18 tie. Even with a referee mistake, the Commanders could still not score a touchdown.
With 7 minutes remaining, the defense could hold the Giants as the Vikings had held the Giants offense for the entire game in the previous week. They could then take “command” of the game. See how I did that?
But Nabers, who would end the game with 10 receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown, again burned the defense for a first down at the Commanders 28 yard line On 4th and 4, during an extraordinary day for the rookie, an open Nabers trying to keep his feet in bounds dropped the ball. A mistake but a learning experience for the rookie.
Back on offense for the Commanders at their own 24 yard line, Washington needed to do what they had done all day–drive down the field and kick a field goal.
It was a test of character in that winning teams make the plays late in the game that are necessary for the win. Commanders fans have been starved for that. Would the 2024 Commanders execute a drive down field and pull out a game at home or would they go 0-2?
Daniels to Noah Brown and then to Olamide Zaccheaus with 1:05 remaining brought the ball to the edge of Seibert’s field goal range. It was an example of the development of Daniels that Commanders fans had seen twice in two weeks. Robinson then rambled to the 24 yard line. He would end the game with 133 yards on 17 carries.
Daniels ran around right end to the 9 yard line and with 2 seconds remaining, all Seibert had to do was kick the easiest field goal he had in the game. Seibert easily kicked it through for the win and making him the Commanders kicker for the indefinite future.
Are the Commanders a good team at 1-1? As of this day, they’re good enough to win “the game behind the game” and on the scoreboard against a mediocre New York Giants team. Also, a win is a win in the NFL and Commanders fans should enjoy it.
But unlike other teams at 1-1, this team has an extremely narrow margin for error. They’ll need to improve by winning the game within the game–avoiding or eliminating mistakes–not to mention better play in the defensive secondary to remain competitive against the more elite NFL teams in this new 2024 season.
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