Was 2024 an outlier, or are the Washington Commanders for real?
Thursdays on my “Call Sheet Daily” podcast, we do a “State of the Franchise” episode that profiles one of the 32 NFL teams. Recently, we examined the Washington Commanders, where Will Kramer, from FFSN and Washington Football Weekly, was my guest.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3ArWWfBLjVCSBe0tLKgjKD?si=eZjrrmV-QwqcDzRcG0JE4Q
Will is a lifelong Washington fan. First of the Redskins, then of the Football Team, and now of the Commanders. He said he was just old enough to remember Washington’s 1991 season under Joe Gibbs, which ended in a Super Bowl victory over the Buffalo Bills. Since then, things have been largely miserable. Between 1993-2023, Washington had just eight winning seasons and two playoff victories. Much of that misery coincided with Daniel Snyder’s time as owner of the franchise. As bad as Washington was on the football field during Snyder’s reign, they were worse off of it. Bullying accusations, sexual harassment suits, and petty incidents like charging fans for parking and admission to training camp, dominated Snyder’s tenure. He hired well-known coaches like Marty Schottenheimer, Steve Spurrier and Mike Shanahan, all of whom had had success wherever they’d been, only to see them flop in Washington. He took no accountability for the team’s failures, and turned a once-proud franchise into a laughingstock.
Then, in 2023, Snyder, under pressure from his fellow owners, sold the team to a group headlined by 76ers and Devils owner Josh Harris, as well as NBA legend Magic Johnson. Snyder pocketed billions, then fled to London, where he’s been living ever since. The Commanders started over, facing what most assumed would be a long and difficult rebuild.
After going 4-13 in the first year of the post-Snyder era, the new ownership group moved on from holdover coach Ron Rivera and replaced him with Dan Quinn. They hired innovative offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and traded incumbent quarterback Sam Howell to the Seahawks. In Howell’s place, they spent the second overall pick in the 2024 draft on LSU’s Jayden Daniels. They signed high-character veterans like Bobby Wagner, Austin Ekeler and Zach Ertz to establish a better team culture. In short, they cleared out the old, brought in the new, and did everything they could to rid the organization of Snyder’s lingering stench.
And it worked.
Washington went 12-5 in the regular season last year, qualifying for just their second post-season berth in a decade. They beat the Buccaneers in the Wild Card round, then stunned the football world by upsetting the top-seeded Lions in the divisional playoffs. Philadelphia rolled the Commanders in the NFC title game, but that lopsided defeat did little to dampen enthusiasm among the fan base. After decades of wandering the proverbial football desert, Washington had returned.
I asked Will Kramer if he believed the Commanders’ success in 2024 was a sign of things to come, or merely an outlier. His response surprised me. Normally, when a bad team makes significant improvement, the enthusiasm is irrational. I expected Will to tell me Washington would overtake Philly this coming season and make it to the Super Bowl. But he didn’t. His response was measured, as he indicated the Commanders may not have been as good as their ’24 season suggested. Will believed a successful 2025 for Washington would include a playoff berth, but that the team may not yet be ready to play on the game’s biggest stage.
Despite an aggressive off-season that saw Washington trade for All-Pro lineman Laremy Tunsil and star receiver Deebo Samuel, Washington still has a Philly problem. Meaning, that while they’ve upgraded the offense and given Daniels the tools he needs to build off of his Rookie of the Year campaign, the defense still has holes to fill. Washington was gutted for 55 points and 459 total yards by the Eagles in that championship game loss. While they’ve bolstered their defensive interior, adding size and strength between the tackles in an effort to slow Saquon Barkley, they lack talent on the perimeter. They do not have elite edge rushers, nor do they have a corner who can match up against A.J. Brown. Brown feasted on Washington last season, catching 19 passes for 258 yards and three touchdowns in three games. The offense the Commanders have added suggests they may be able to score more points against Philly. But if they fail to slow the Eagles’ potent offense, it won’t matter.
Washington also faces a tougher schedule than they did a season ago. And, they are unlikely to duplicate some of their miraculous victories from 2024, such as the Hail Mary walk-off against Chicago, and a one-point win in New Orleans after the Saints failed on a two-point try on the game’s final play. So, while it’s possible they’ll catch lightning in a bottle again in 2024, it won’t be surprising if they take a step back.
That won’t discourage Commanders’ fans like Will, however. He believes this ownership group has things headed in the right direction. They have the right coaching staff, the right quarterback and the right mentality. 2024 will be tough to duplicate, but Washington is building a winning culture. That’s something that Will Kramer, and many fans like him, have not been able to say in a long, long time.