For most of the afternoon, the Washington Commanders were good but not great in most areas of the game.
Quarterback Jayden Daniels accounted for 301 yards of total offense but threw behind several receivers, overthrew a couple that could have turned into big gains, and drew an intentional grounding penalty at the end of the first half that cost the team a chance at a field goal.
Several pass catchers dropped passes that should have been caught, and defensive players were flagged for costly penalties that could have been disastrous.
Yet, unlike past seasons, this year, Washington possesses a roster that is superior to most teams in the league, including the New York Giants, resulting in a 21-6 opening-week win for the Commanders.
“All week you heard me talk about play style and identity, and if we get that part right, the other things can come, and that’s what I was looking for first,” head coach Dan Quinn said in his post-game press conference. “There’s plenty to clean up. I thought, prior to the next game, that part, but I wanted to make sure identity, toughness, physicality, that is how we get down and how we play.”
Washington racked up 427 yards of total offense before a sellout crowd at Northwest Stadium. Daniels completed 19 of 30 passes for 233 yards and one touchdown. He also ran for 68 yards. Rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt led the team with 82 yards on the ground and scored his first career touchdown.
“There’s always first game jitters or whatever,” Daniels said. “You know you’re not gonna be at your peak form in Week 1, and you don’t want to, but there’s little stuff that we gotta clean up and be more attentive on. We’ll hit that in film and get ready for the game in a short week.”
The most impressive part of Washington’s effort came from the defensive line. A unit that was one of the worst last year against the run held New York to 74 yards rushing and limited Giants quarterback Russell Wilson to just 157 yards passing. He was also sacked twice and intercepted once.
“Anytime you hold a team to six points is really dope. This is the NFL; it’s hard to stop teams. They did a good job last year moving the ball, and I felt like we did better today,” said linebacker Bobby Wagner, who led the team with 10 tackles. “The D-line did a great job. They were in the backfield, making it easy on us. It really was a testament to them on how much they were just in the backfield causing havoc,” Wagner said.
After both teams punted on their first possessions, the Commanders put together an 8-play, 89-yard drive that ended with a seven-yard touchdown throw from Daniels to Zach Ertz.
The defense made a goal-line stand not once, but twice, on the Giants’ ensuing possession.
On 4th down and goal from the two-yard line, Wilson threw an incompletion in the end zone intended for Malik Nabors, but the Commanders’ Dietrich Wise Jr. was penalized for illegal use of the hands. New York still couldn’t cross the goal line, and after three failed attempts, kicker Graham Gano made a 21-yard field goal to cut the lead to 7-3.
Washington extended the lead to 14-6 when Merritt capped another long drive with a six-yard touchdown run. Who said he made another rookie mistake, but only after he crossed the goal line.
“I forgot the ball again,” Merritt said. “I told myself, when I score, I’m going to make sure I keep my football. I think the excitement just takes over me, and I just end up dropping it. [WR] Terry [McLaurin] ended up finding the ball and giving it to me.”
Washington was in position to kick a short field goal to end the first half, but Daniels was penalized for intentional grounding when he threw the ball out of the end zone to avoid a sack on the Giants’ four-yard line with seven seconds left before halftime. By rule, a ten-second runoff sent the teams to the locker room with the score still 14-6.
With no scoring in the third quarter, Deebo Samuel finally put the game out of reach in the fourth when he took an end-around 19 yards for a touchdown to make the final score 21-9.
Post Game Notes:
Croskey-Merritt became the first Commanders rookie running back to score in his debut since Alfred Morris in 2012.
Washington kept an opponent out of the end zone for the first time since 1999.
The Commanders travel to Green Bay in week two for a Thursday night game against the Packers.
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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