Commanders betrayed their own identity in bad loss to Eagles and it cost them a trip to the Super Bowl
Dan Quinn talked all year long about how fundamentals and the ball "are life" when it comes to succeeding in the NFL and for the most part, the Washington Commanders did a very good job at executing the fundamentals and protecting the football through the regular season and two playoff wins.He even talked about it […]
Dan Quinn talked all year long about how fundamentals and the ball "are life" when it comes to succeeding in the NFL and for the most part, the Washington Commanders did a very good job at executing the fundamentals and protecting the football through the regular season and two playoff wins.
He even talked about it as recently as Friday when he spoke with reporters ahead of Sunday's NFC Championship matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles. It
"Fundamentals for us, [Commanders QB coach] Tavita [Pritchard] said it, it's not something that we restart, like, that's just how we get down," said Quinn. "Sticking to the fundamentals, is what he told us the other day, it's literally what we do, you know, like all the time. That is part of how we do things, because we talk about the ball and tackling on every Wednesday and Thursday.
"So it's not a return to those, it's literally a continuation of that. I thought that was a great message by him to remind the players we're not sticking to it, like this, is how we get down."
Well, it's safe to say the Commanders betrayed all of that in Sunday's loss to the Eagles. The Commanders turned the ball over three times -all fumbles- and displayed some awful tackling from the start when Saquon Barkley broke through Jeremy Chinn's and Quan Martin's tackles en route to a 60-yard touchdown run on the Eagles' first offensive play of the game.
On the very next drive, Dyami Brown committed one of the three fumbles by trying too hard to gain a few extra yards on a 1st and 10 pass. Then, it was Jeremy McNichols' second quarter fumble on a kickoff return that followed an Eagles touchdown. Lastly, it was Austin Ekeler's third quarter fumble, arguably the most impactful of them all, that allowed the Eagles to fully take control of the game.
All three turnovers resulted in touchdowns, giving the Eagles 21-points that they may not have scored if it weren't for the mistakes. They were easily the difference in the game and it's impossible to argue otherwise.
It's also quite the contrast from the Divisional Round win over the Detroit Lions, where the Commanders committed zero turnovers and forced five takeaways. That was the difference, then, and Washington got a bit of a taste of its own medicine on Sunday.
Either way, it doesn't take away from a very successful -and fun- season, but it does end things on a very sour note. If the Commanders play to their identity, there's a great chance this game goes any direction.
But that didn't happen and now, we'll have to wait until September to see what's next for Jayden Daniels and Co.
