Well, what did you think would happen?
You were opening the season on the road with a Washington Commanders squad led by new coaches with new players in their first NFL game together against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a playoff team.
Something different than a 37-20 beatdown?
New coaches who have had limited success or are untested. Dan Quinn once led the Atlanta Falcons to a Super Bowl. But the last time we saw a Quinn defense, they gave up 48 points and 415 yards to the Green Bay Packers in a Dallas Cowboys playoff loss. Joe Whitt was the pass game coordinator for the secondary of that defense. Now, for the first time in his 24-year coaching career, Whitt is in charge of the defense.
Kliff Kingsbury is considered an offensive guru, credited with helping to develop quarterbacks like Pat Mahomes, Caleb Williams and, of all people, Baker Mayfield, who threw for 289 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions against the Quinn/Whitt Commanders defense.
But in four years as coach of the Arizona Cardinals, Kingsbury never had a top 10 offense.
More than half of the new roster consists of players replacing the washouts that Ron Rivera brought in (remember, he’s expecting his Super Bowl ring to be sent to his forwarding address).
Did you think all those new Commanders came right off the shelves at the Good Players Store?
It was unreasonable to expect a victorious outcome Sunday.
Unreasonable sometimes happens. But typically not when there is so much change. It takes time. Commanders fans, for the most part, understand that. They’ve been waiting for this moment for 25 years. Reasonable people expect a true culture change will take time.
“You need to struggle to see the identity develop,” Quinn told reporters after the loss Sunday. “You don’t want it. But you need it. That happened tonight.”
No one needs to tell Washington football fans about struggle. This isn’t a honeymoon. We are talking about victims here.
Here’s what else those fans don’t need — sales pitches about secret sauces. Accolades about the speed and discipline of the offense in practice. Praise of how close the team is to being ready to compete.
None of that was visible Sunday — just the opposite.
No one should have expected this team general manager Adam Peters assembled with his Costco card to be a playoff team. They came out of training camp with a roster that had a place for last year’s No. 1 pick, cornerback Emmanuel Forbes, who was a one-man wrecking crew Sunday, with a face mask and pass interference call on the same play.
But it was reasonable to expect a sense of order and discipline on the field. A fiery competitive spirit displayed. A reflection of the coaching staff. Talent playing above their level.
That didn’t happen. We saw a defense that missed tackles and assignments. We saw an anemic offense that seemed unable to stretch much beyond the line of scrimmage.
“I honestly thought the preparation was really good,” Quinn said. “So going into it I was expecting us to really see us hit our marks and go. I just didn’t feel the energy, the hitting and the tackling that I was accustomed to seeing.”
We also saw the impact of the X factor in all this – their top draft pick, quarterback Jayden Daniels, and his potential and problems.
Daniels ran for 88 yards and two touchdowns, only the second rookie in NFL history to rush for two scores in his debut. He ran for 56 yards in the first half, the most by a rookie quarterback in franchise history. He showed flashes of the talent the Heisman Trophy winner displayed at LSU. Daniels’ legs are supposed to be a valuable weapon. They are not supposed to be the only weapon.
He completed 17 of 24 passes for 184 yards and zero interceptions. The absence of turnovers for a rookie quarterback making his first NFL start showed veteran poise — unless you count his helmet that kept coming off. Apparently, it’s a look. He admitted wearing his helmet loose but brushed off questions about it. “Your helmet is going to pop off no matter what, if you have it buckled up tight or loose at the end of the day,” Daniels said.
Yes — for nearly all other players, at the end of the day, your helmet is going to pop off when you take it off. Getting popped off from tackles? Not great, especially for a young quarterback who, from what we saw from the offensive line, is going to need all the protection that he can get.
Asked about the lack of a downfield passing game, Daniels said. “That’s what Tampa gave us. They did a good job of dropping to their spots in their zone and forcing us to take the underneath stuff.
“I was patient enough to go out there and take the check-downs, man,” Daniels said. “Then when we had the opportunity to take a shot deep, we have got to hit them.”
While Daniels is patient, Terry McLaurin, who had two catches for 17 yards Sunday, is watching his career —and missed opportunities — go by. Fortunately, the Commanders host the New York Giants next Sunday for their first home game. The Giants play like they are owned by Dan Snyder. Sunday would be a good time for Commanders to start finding their identity.
The secret sauce? If it’s at Duct Tape Field, it’s probably pretty expensive.
• You can hear Thom Loverro on The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
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