The Washington Commanders are heading into Monday Night Football against the San Francisco 49ers with pressure building fast. After that baffling tie with the New York Giants, the noise has only gotten louder, and Dan Quinn’s team now finds itself in a spot where hope alone won’t fix anything.
This isn’t a roster that can wait for a couple of stars to drag everyone else along. If the Commanders are going to stop sliding, the fixes have to come from all over the field - from the core players to the special teams group and everybody in between. The margin for error is thin, and the consequences for more flat performances are obvious.
Some of Washington’s problems are tied to bad breaks, including the injury to quarterback Jayden Daniels. A few plays breaking the other way might have changed the feel around this team. But at this point, those what-ifs are just cover for mistakes the Commanders made themselves.
One of the biggest concerns has been Chris Paul on the offensive line.
The Commanders may never have started Paul this season if not for the injury to five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil. Brandon Coleman had been in line to win the left guard job before being pushed to the blindside after a devastating injury blow, and Paul kept his place on the interior. There was optimism that he could build on a strong showing in difficult circumstances last year, but that hasn’t happened through five games.
Washington is stuck riding with him anyway. The depth behind him is shaky, and with Tunsil still hurt, there isn’t much in the way of dependable replacement options. So the Commanders have to live with the mistakes for now, even if they keep adding up.
Paul does have one thing going for him: his hands are strong, and once he gets hold of a defender, it’s hard for them to recover leverage. But his movement and his awareness in key situations have been a problem.
He’s making too many errors for a team that badly needs stability up front. And with a big financial decision looming next spring, Paul will need a much stronger run than the one he’s putting together now to earn another significant commitment from Washington.
The former Tulsa standout would likely be the first to admit his play hasn’t been good enough. His lack of a free-agent market said plenty, and based on what he’s shown so far, that caution looks warranted.
In Other News...
Nick Cross Gives Commanders Defense A Needed Lift At The Right Time
Nick Cross is moving back into the Commanders defensive mix at a timely moment, with Dan Quinn saying the safety is expected to be fully available for the upcoming matchup with the San Francisco 49ers. After missing games because of an internal medical issue, Cross returned to full participation in practice, a step Washington needed after the defense had some trouble filling the void in his absence.
The timing matters even more with Monday night preparation ramping up and the 49ers next on the schedule. Crosss return should give the Commanders a steadier presence on the back end, and it comes after a stretch that included an overnight hospital stay following the Cowboys game, a reminder of just how much has gone into getting him back on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Are Already Facing A Brutal Injury Toll This Early
Through the first five weeks of the 2026 season, Washington has already absorbed a level of injury attrition that few teams can match, and the damage shows up not just in missed games but in the broader value the roster has lost on the field. The league-wide analysis measures that impact in Total Points, a metric built from Expected Points Added, and it paints a rough early picture for a Commanders team that has had to navigate key absences before the schedule has even settled in.
What makes the situation sting is that the loss is not just about bodies, but about high-end talent disappearing from the lineup at the exact moments Washington needed stability. When a team is already near the top of the league in value lost and still has more projected damage ahead, it becomes more than a short-term setback. It turns into a season-defining problem, with the Commanders now forced to piece together answers while waiting to see how much more of the roster they can reasonably get back. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Face A Trade Temptation Adam Peters May Need To Resist
With Washington still digging out of a disappointing season, the temptation to chase an immediate fix is easy to understand. A receiver with a built-in connection to Jayden Daniels would look like the kind of move that could speed up the rebuild, especially when other teams around the league have been aggressive in adding star power through trades.
But for Adam Peters, the smarter path may be patience. The Commanders are better served protecting their draft capital and letting roster upgrades come through the draft or the offseason, not spending heavily for a deal that might make more sense later than it does now. In that sense, the real test is not whether Washington can make a splash, but whether it can resist one until the timing is right. [Read more 🡒]