BALTIMORE — Last week’s headlines had it wrong.
Not the basics, of course. The Washington Commanders did travel a short distance to face a geographic rival, the Baltimore Ravens, on Sunday afternoon. Quarterbacks garner massive attention, and this contest at M&T Bank Stadium, featuring dynamic rookie Jayden Daniels and two-time MVP Lamar Jackson, was no different.
But the more accurate description for this matchup was: Recalibrating franchise vs. fine-tuned team. That’s how the Commanders’ 30-23 loss in Baltimore really played out.
Anyone outside Washington’s organization with a toe down in reality understood the Commanders’ situation entering this season. Following a dismal 4-13 campaign, they began a massive — and massively needed — roster and organizational overhaul. First-year head coach Dan Quinn tried softening the rebuild by using the term “recalibration” at his opening news conference.
That Washington, now 4-2, won four consecutive games before traveling from one Beltway to another, and that they were powered by Daniels’ poised and electric play in getting there, raised hopes. Nothing about Sunday’s result changes that. But these first six weeks didn’t camouflage the fixer-upper reality.
Jayden Daniels on if this game felt like him against Lamar Jackson pic.twitter.com/Jo33qRnxgE
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) October 13, 2024
The Ravens are an organization heralded for contending annually since 2000, the year Daniels was born. Baltimore has two Super Bowl titles and 15 playoff appearances this century. Washington’s last winning season came in 2016, their last playoff victory in 2005 and their most recent Super Bowl championship in 1991.
“They are a great team as well,” Washington rookie cornerback Mike Sainristil said. “Tough to beat at home. There is a strong brotherhood over there.”
To be clear, there are no moral victories in the NFL. There is no hiding that Baltimore kept Washington’s defense off-balance all game, or that the Commanders’ balanced attack disintegrated. Daniels kept the Commanders going with two touchdown passes to wide receiver Terry McLaurin, but the absence of injured running back Brian Robinson (knee) made the offense one-dimensional.
“Losing sucks,” said Daniels, proving he’s efficient on the field and behind the mic, “but we’re moving on to the next.”
The Commanders didn’t fold despite the Ravens dominating in net yards (484 to 305) and first downs (28 to 18). Baltimore held the ball for more than 36 minutes and consistently moved the chains (6 of 10 on third down). Washington is allowing 5.04 yards per carry this season and has not kept any opponent under 100 rushing yards; on Sunday, the Ravens had a significant edge in yards per carry (4.8 on 37 attempts to 2.9 on 18), as the Commanders offense didn’t quite click like it had during the winning streak. Those who remember the message from managing partner Josh Harris last November understand the plan.
“You want to be (8-8-1), I can get you there quickly,” Harris said. “You want to be great? There are no shortcuts.”
Quinn took Daniels and his new team through the offseason step by step. A surprisingly successful start followed. Alas, now, so has a loss to one of the NFL’s best teams.
“It certainly was a tough game, that’s what we talked about in the locker room,” Quinn said. “As lopsided as it felt, (we were) still in the fight at the end. We do have a tough crew with an attitude to battle. There is going to be a lot to learn from this game.”
If Washington is fortunate, this loss will help it better understand where this team stands, and what’s required to take the next step. General manager Adam Peters’ roster retooling sparked the turnaround. The rub is that a front office can only accomplish so much during the season, though the Week 8 trade deadline may offer potential help. The coaching staff has delivered some tactical wins to date. More are required because talent limitations remain.
On Sunday, the Commanders focused initially on slowing down power-packed running back Derrick Henry, and they did — for a quarter. Meanwhile, Jackson had no issues firing passes to wide receiver Zay Flowers.
Benjamin St-Juste is a gamer with the size and length to battle NFL receivers, but he should not be Washington’s top cornerback, and opponents know it. The fourth-year defender entered the week as the league’s fourth-most targeted cornerback. On Sunday, officials flagged St-Juste twice for pass interference, once while covering Flowers. Both came on third downs during touchdown drives.
Flowers, the latest No.1 receiver to torch Washington, set career-highs with nine receptions — on nine targets — and 132 receiving yards. When multiple defenders went toward Flowers, Jackson (20-of-26, 323 yards, one touchdown pass and one interception) found tight end Mark Andrews and receiver Rashod Bateman. That is, if he didn’t run (40 rush yards) or keep feeding Henry (132 yards and two TDs), whose physical style wore the Commanders down over four quarters.
“It’s tough,” linebacker Bobby Wagner said of the pick-your-poison challenge. “When you get the run game going, it kind of opens up everything for them. We need to do a better job taking away the run and finally getting some pressure.”
There isn’t much else the defensive coaches can do. Sainristil’s first-quarter interception was Washington’s first of the season. Drafted last spring with slot duties in mind, the 5-foot-9 rookie has had to play outside, where his limited size is exposed. Baltimore’s potent attack put a spotlight on the positional weakness. The Commanders’ pass rush was weakened by injuries to two starting defensive linemen — ribs for Dorance Armstrong and pectoral for Jonathan Allen. Reserve edge rusher Javonte Jean-Baptise was limping postgame with an apparent right foot injury.
The cornerback the previous staff envisioned working on the outside, Emmanuel Forbes, was a healthy scratch after playing only four snaps last week. No Forbes also meant zero first-round picks selected from 2019 to ’23 were on the active roster on Sunday.
Offensively, Washington’s lack of a run game meant the Ravens’ pass rush smelled blood, finishing with three sacks, eight quarterback hits, and four tackles for loss. Despite the hits, Daniels kept coming. The 7-yard touchdown pass to McLaurin in the second quarter tied it 10-10 after Henry’s first touchdown run. After Andrews caught a 13-yard touchdown with 53 seconds left in the half, Daniels moved the ball into field-goal range only for kicker Austin Seibert’s 52-yard attempt to get tipped at the line, his first miss of the season.
“I love answers,” Quinn said about Daniels’ counterpunches.
Trailing 27-13 going into the fourth quarter, Washington put up two scoring drives, highlighted by a pinpoint Daniels to McLaurin 6-yard, fourth-and-goal connection in the front left corner of the end zone. The rookie finished 24 of 35 for 269 yards and two touchdown passes with a team-high 22 rushing yards, all while maintaining focus on his game, as opposed to the persistent comparisons to Jackson.
THERE IT IS
📺 #WASvsBAL CBS pic.twitter.com/BuUz7h6zfY
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) October 13, 2024
“(Lamar) had a great game,” Daniels said. “You go out there, and obviously, you keep that in the back of your head like, ‘Man, we got to score, because they have a quarterback on the other side who can put up points too.’”
The admiration ran both ways.
“I believe (Daniels) deserves all the hype he’s getting,” said Jackson, Daniels’ fellow Heisman Trophy winner. “He played a tremendous game out there. They just came up short. He’s been proving it.”
That’s very true, and it’s why Sunday’s loss shouldn’t feel like a setback. Washington remains in first place in the standings following Dallas’s lopsided loss to Detroit. As for Baltimore, while the Ravens also entered this season 0-0, they were miles ahead in terms of talent and cohesion. Washington won’t match them this year, but they have 11 more games to narrow the gap.
“We did not fulfill what we wanted to get done because we wanted to come away with a win,” McLaurin said. “There are no moral victories in this, but this is definitely something that we are going to be able to learn from going forward.”
(Top photo: Rob Carr / Getty Images)
