(Editor’s Note: This story will be updated with quotes from players and coaches)
No Terry McLaurin? No Noah Brown? No problem.
Playing without two of their starting wide receivers, the Washington Commanders turned the clock back to the glory days of the 1980s and rode rookie running back Bill Croskey-Merritt (111 yards rushing, two touchdowns) to a 27-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Commanders improve to 3-2 on the year with a game against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football, October 13th.
Merritt wound up with 150 yards of total offense and asserted himself as the team’s top running back.
Merritt was one of several young players who made big plays. Wide receiver Luke McCaffrey continued his big play-making with a 50-yard reception later in the second quarter that led to the tying field goal, and cornerback Mike Sainristil had an interception on the goal line to preserve a Commanders third-quarter lead.
The game did not start on a promising note. LA drove down the field on the opening possession of the game. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert ended a nine-play, 76-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown pass to Ladd McConkey to give the Chargers a 7-0 first-quarter lead.
LA’s defense held Washington to a three-and-out series, and Herbert threatened to put the Chargers up by two touchdowns, driving to the Commanders’ 31 but was sacked by Von Miller and Jacob Martin. LA settled for a 55-yard field goal to make the score 10-0.
The sack was a foreshadowing of how the rest of the game would play out. Washington took advantage of a beat-up Chargers offensive line, sacking Herbert four times and pressuring him another nine.
Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels (15 of 26, 231 yards, one touchdown) looked rusty in the first quarter in his first game in three weeks after suffering a minor knee injury, but found his game midway through quarter number two.
Daniels led a nine-play 74-yard drive highlighted by a 16-yard throw to Jaylen Lane and Merritt’s first of two touchdown runs to cut the lead to 10-7.
The Commanders took the lead for good in the third quarter when Merritt scored his second touchdown of the game to make the score 17-10. It was the third of four unanswered Washington scores.
Still, it took a big play from the defense to tip the game in Washington’s favor permanently.
Trailing 20-10, LA forced a Merritt fumble deep on the Commanders’ side of the field. Herbert drove the Chargers to the Washington four-yard line, but on third and goal, Herbert had a pass intended for Keenan Allen tipped by Johnny Newton; the ball landed in Sainristil’s hands to preserve the ten-point lead.
Daniels drove the team 99 yards for the clinching touchdown, arching an 8-yard touchdown pass to Deebo Samuel with 1:08 left in the game.
Post-Game Notes:
 The fourth-quarter touchdown drive was Washington’s longest since 2001… Preston Smith made his first appearance since being signed as a free agent three weeks ago. He recorded one solo tackle…This was Washington’s first road win against the Chargers since 1986… Linebacker Von Miller moved into a tie with Lawrence Taylor and Leslie O’Neil for 14th place on the NFL all-time sacks list.
Bob Matthews is a 33 year veteran broadcast journalist, spending the last 29 years of his career in Virginia. Bob has covered both news and sports stories and for the last three seasons, the Washington Commanders. He looks forward to continuing to provide coverage to Sportsjourney.com both on the website and through his podcast, The Bob Matthews Show.
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