Did the Commanders start off too hot?

Have we seen this before?

At 9-5, the Washington Football Commanders Team are off to their best start since 1992. That’s so long ago that all but six of their players had yet to be born. But this season is already a success regardless of their record, as Jayden Daniels is the real deal. That’s all that matters for them in 2024.

Did the Commanders start off too hot?

WASTEAM opened the season 4-1, then were 7-2. Then they hit the Kliff Kingsbury cliff. They’ve won two in a row, but last week against the Saints was on the final play.

This is a playoff team and yet they will enter the offseason with a ton of holes. They have no real skill position depth behind Terry McLaurin. This is an old roster, 13 players are 30+. They may need a new offensive coordinator. At the beginning of the season if you told the Commanders they’d win 7 games this year they’d have taken it. They’re going to have double digit wins.

The 2024 Washington Football Team Commanders feel like the 2022 Giants: new front office, new head coach, a bunch of try hard veterans on short term deals to set the culture during the rebuild of a bad roster… and then they unexpectedly made the playoffs. The Giants, specifically their ownership, mistakenly thought they had arrived, which only set the franchise back even further. Oh no. Washington has one crucial advantage over that Giants team in Jayden Daniels, but that could give them even more reason to buy their own hype.

The ingredients are there for Washington to think they’re closer to the prize than they actually are. Let’s hope so.

Sweep stakes

It has been 20 years since the Eagles swept the NFC East. There were some fun games in there.

• Week 1 vs Giants – Terrell Owens catches 3 TDs, 31 -17
• Week 10 at Cowboys – Bizarre MNF intro with TO and Nicollette Sheridan, then TO scores 3 TDs, 49-21
• Week 11 vs Washington – Two Brian Westbrook TDs in two minutes, 28-6
• Week 12 at Giants – Westbrook again scored on back to back possessions, 27-6
• Week 14 at Washington – Eagles 15 possessions and 15 first downs but still won, 17-14
• Week 15 vs Cowboys – Ugly game but it was Dallas so great win, 12-7

I can live with some boring wins the rest of the way.

What a dope

“I am moving on.” Riiiiight. Nitwit.

College Football Playoff Watch List

SMU vs Penn State

SMU is pretty thin on draft prospects, in part because they have an older, transfer portal heavy roster. But they have some interesting prospects. RB Brashard Smith is this year’s Tyrone Tracy: former WR who transferred schools and positions. He’s 6th among P4 players in TDs and 9th in rushing yards. EDGE Elijah Roberts is the biggest name on the Mustangs’ defense, but he might need to add some bulk and move to the inside in the NFL.

PSU – TE Tyler Warren is a pipe dream, right? Maybe not. Howie Roseman has traded up in the 1st or 2nd round in every draft since 2021. No one is out of range for him. With that in mind, EDGE Abdul Carter could be in play too.

Clemson vs Texas

Another game, another good tight end prospect. Actually, this one has two: Clemson’s Jake Briningstool and Texas’ Gunnar Helm. By this point in Zach Ertz’s career the Eagles had drafted Dallas Goedert, this is a good draft to find a succession plan. I’ll take either one.

LB Barrett Carter was excellent last year and entered the season with hype. This year, not so much, though he hasn’t been bad. Perhaps he was a Jeremiah Trotter merchant. Every year there are a handful of players who start the season as mid 1st to early 2nd type of prospects who finish the season dropping down. The Eagles aren’t opposed to drafting them.

CB Jahdae Barron is similar to Cooper DeJean: is he an outside corner? Slot corner? Safety? Does it matter in today’s NFL? Get good football players.

Tennessee vs Ohio State

Ashton Jeanty is grabbing all the RB headlines but this draft will be well stocked with mid round RBs, including Tennessee’s Dylan Sampson. He runs hard, he can block, he can catch a little bit, he’s got size… he could easily be a “riser” in the spring.

EDGE James Pearce is a guy who is and will get mocked to the Eagles, and I get it, but I don’t see it. He lacks the bulk to be an effective run defender.

For Ohio State, RBs Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson are both getting drafted. Between the two, give me Henderson. If CB Denzel Burke had declared last year he probably would have gone in or shortly after CB run in the 2nd round that the Eagles started when they traded up for Cooper DeJean. This year he might have to wait longer. Another potential stock dropped but we still like him Eagles pick.