Jayden Daniels and Commanders offense look suspect as ever as scary narrative grows more during Cowboys loss
The Washington Commanders (7-5) came into its Week 12 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys (4-7) looking to get things back on track, especially on offense, where Jayden Daniels and co. just hadn't looked like themselves over the last few games.That didn't happen, however, as the offense easily had its worst game of the year, even […]
The Washington Commanders (7-5) came into its Week 12 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys (4-7) looking to get things back on track, especially on offense, where Jayden Daniels and co. just hadn't looked like themselves over the last few games.
That didn't happen, however, as the offense easily had its worst game of the year, even if it scored 26 points. Many speculated Daniels' rib injury was a big cause, but Dan Quinn adamantly shot that down last Monday. That, along with how Daniels was used against the Cowboys, pretty much ended that narrative.
But there was another thought percolating as the game drew closer and closer: Kliff Kingsbury is hitting another back-half-of-the-season wall where opposing defenses simply figure out what he's doing and he can't adjust or evolve to offset the situation.
The Commanders offense easily had its worst game of the year and the narrative surrounding the decline of Kliff Kingsbury-ran offenses looks as real as ever after one of the NFL's worst defenses had answers pretty much all game long. The eventual box score made things a lot prettier than they really were, especially when taking the full-game context into account.
Regardless, what makes it even more painful was the Commanders' inability to produce points despite excellent field position throughout the game. Daniels and co. started drives at the Dallas 40, 42, 47, and 39 as well as their own 32, 42, and 45 and came away with just three points and Daniels threw an interception over the course of those seven drives.
That's simply inexcusable, especially for an offense that led the NFL in points per game at one point during the year.
The offense managed just 36 or fewer net yards on 10 of its 14 drives, excluding the final possession of the first half when it received the ball with just :03 seconds left and the final drive of the game when Daniels attempted the second Hail Mary of the season. Five of those drives went three-and-out, including three-straight 3 and outs in the second half.
At one point, Daniels was 0-for-5 when throwing on third down. Overall, the offense finished 4-of-12 on third down, which is the fourth time in five weeks it's finished with a conversion rate of 35.7% or below. For context, if that were the Commanders' season-long rate, they'd rank 25th out of the 32 teams on the money down.
By the time Daniels and the offense could put anything together, it was too late. And Kingsbury knows this isn't sustainable, at all. He's experienced it way too many times as an NFL coach, but the unfortunate part is he's never been able to figure it out.
We'll see if anything changes, but history says it won't. And it might just ruin what's been a special season for the Commanders.
Commanders special teams are just as much to blame in the loss
I mean, what else can you say? It goes so much deeper than Austin Seibert's missed PAT that prevented the Commanders from tying up the game and sending it into overtime.
There was also KaVontae Turpin's insane kick return right after Daniels made it a three-point game. He also missed a field goal earlier in the game, which could've made a big difference in the final outcome.
At the same time, though, the Cowboys made plenty of special teams mistakes on its own that if they went differently, they would've made a big difference, themselves. Both teams struggled in the third phase of the game, but ultimately, the Commanders made the mistake that put the final nail in the coffin.
