The Commanders had their shot. They just couldn’t cash it in.
Washington was tied with the Rams heading into the fourth quarter Sunday at Northwest Stadium, but Los Angeles made the first decisive play of the final period and the Commanders never answered in a 20-13 loss. That left Washington at 2-5-1, and with the Giants beating Philadelphia to move to 5-2-1, the division talk is basically gone. A Thursday night loss to New York would make the season feel all but finished.
For a team that came in needing wins in the worst way, this was the kind of game that had to turn into a statement. Instead, it turned into another near miss.
The fourth quarter told the story. Puka Nakua hauled in a leaping touchdown catch to give the Rams their biggest lead of the day, and Washington had to respond right there.
It couldn’t. The Commanders came up short on third down, passed on a 58-yard field goal try, and punted instead.
That opened the door for Los Angeles to start bleeding the clock. Washington did not have the momentum. It had scored 10 points on its first two drives, then managed only three the rest of the way until the final stretch.
Jayden Daniels did get Washington moving again and pushed the ball into Rams territory, but Myles Garrett wrecked the drive with a huge sack and a 12-yard loss. Garrett finished with three sacks, and rookie center Matt Gulbin had no answer for him on that snap. Daniels then tried to convert on fourth down, but his deep pass was short and former Washington first-round pick Emmanuel Forbes knocked it away.
The defense gave Washington one more chance. After forcing a three-and-out, the Commanders got the ball back with about a minute left.
Antonio Williams’ fair catch inside the 10 left a long climb ahead, though Stefon Diggs trimmed the burden with a 41-yard gain. That was as far as it went.
Washington couldn’t finish the final drive.
There were chances to swing the game earlier, too, and the Commanders didn’t make enough of them. Washington’s defense, which has been good at creating takeaways, came through again with two turnovers.
K’Lavon Chaisson punched the ball loose at the end of the first half, and Nick Cross recovered it. Cross then came up with another one in the third quarter, dropping into zone coverage and intercepting Matthew Stafford.
The problem was what came after. Washington managed only three points off those two takeaways, and that kept the game close instead of turning it in the Commanders’ favor.
There was at least one encouraging stretch early. Washington has struggled badly to open games, including the 49ers loss when it posted its worst first half of the season and the slow start against the Eagles that led Quinn to talk about getting off to faster starts and putting together the team’s first complete game. Sunday began better.
Daniels had a perfect passer rating into the second quarter while leading two scoring drives. The first ended in a field goal, but the second featured a big screen pass to Rachaad White and finished with Van Jefferson punching it in against his former team to put Washington ahead.
Even then, the Commanders left points on the field. After Chaisson forced the fumble and Cross recovered, a Daniels fumble on a zone read two plays later wiped out a chance to build a two-score lead. Washington settled for another field goal to close the half, which wasn’t ideal, but it still went into halftime ahead 10-6.
That cushion didn’t hold. And by the end, neither did Washington’s margin for error.
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