The Commanders left London with more than a 13-30 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. They also left with the same nagging issues that keep surfacing every week: shaky personnel choices, a ground game going nowhere, and a defense that still can’t quite stop the bleeding when opponents need points.
The most glaring mess came up front. After Nick Allegretti struggled in the first two games, Washington had already been forced to shuffle the interior offensive line when Sam Cosmi was out in Week 3.
Lucas Patrick held up better than expected at center, which made it look like the Commanders might simply stick with that setup against Indianapolis. Instead, the team went even further and replaced Allegretti with sixth-round rookie Matt Gulbin.
Gulbin had played just four snaps the week before, then found himself lined up across from DeForest Buckner to open Sunday’s game. That matchup went exactly how you’d expect, and Gulbin was beaten badly on the play that led to Marcus Mariota’s injury.
After all the summer talk about faith in Allegretti, Washington had benched him four weeks into the season.
The quarterback situation only added to the damage. Adam Peters did not bring in a veteran after Jayden Daniels’ injury, and the Commanders gave backup Athan Kaliakmanis limited work in practice this week while Daniels got reps.
Kaliakmanis, a seventh-round pick, handled the moment well enough considering the circumstances, but it’s fair to wonder whether the game might have unfolded differently with a more experienced arm available. Afterward, Dan Quinn said Allegretti was banged up and would have been limited to start, even though he had been listed as a full participant in Friday’s practice.
The run game, though, is probably the most alarming part of the whole picture. Bill Croskey-Merritt carried the ball nine times for 15 yards, good for 1.7 yards per attempt, and his season average now sits at 2.8 yards per carry, which ranks 82nd among all running backs in the league, according to SumerSports.
Marcus Mariota’s 35-yard scramble outgained the combined rushing work of Croskey-Merritt, Craig Reynolds and Kaytron Allen, who totaled 14 carries. If you strip out quarterback runs altogether, Washington finished with 18 rushing attempts for just 49 yards.
That’s not a recipe for winning.
There’s blame to go around there. Croskey-Merritt hasn’t shown great vision, and Austin Ekeler and Jeremy White have both been more efficient, sitting at 7.3 yards per carry and 4.5 yards per carry, respectively.
But they’ve also been asked to do far less, with their combined carries only about half of Croskey-Merritt’s total. And none of the backs has had much chance to avoid the kind of contact Washington keeps inviting.
Coming into the game, Commanders running backs were being hit at or behind the line of scrimmage on 53% of their runs, the second-highest rate in the league, according to Sharp Football Analysis. That didn’t improve in London.
The much-criticized fourth-and-1 call to Craig Reynolds was doomed almost from the snap, with Brandon Coleman missing a key block.
At the center of it all is an offensive line that doesn’t look built for the zone scheme Washington is trying to run. Chris Paul, Nick Allegretti and Matt Gulbin have taken most of the interior snaps, and the unit keeps changing before it can settle in.
Back in Week 2 of preseason, the Whiteboard pointed to the need for a settled starting five so the line could build familiarity. Since then, Allegretti made his first game appearance in Week 1, Cosmi went out in Week 2, the center and right guard changed in Week 3, and the right guard changed again on Sunday.
Talent matters, sure. But so does cohesion, and this group hasn’t had nearly enough of it.
The defense showed some resistance early, but the final result was familiar: another opponent crossing the 30-point mark. After Seattle scored more than 30 last week, Daniel Jones and the Colts did it again.
Washington held up for much of the first half, then the failed fourth-down try in the second quarter flipped the game. Indianapolis scored on its next drive and never gave the lead back.
As the second half wore on, the offense and special teams didn’t help matters, and Jonathan Taylor eventually powered through the defense for 95 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
There are some encouraging signs on that side of the ball - the run defense, turnovers and pressure numbers are better - but the scoreboard still tells a rough story. According to FoxSports, Washington now ranks 25th in passing defense, 30th in red zone defense and 31st in scoring defense after Sunday’s game. That’s a brutal place to be, and it brings back plenty of memories of last year’s defense under Joe Whitt Jr.
And yes, the officiating belonged in the conversation too. Like many observers, I usually don’t rush to pin a loss on the officials, but this one deserved mention.
Some calls were fair, others were questionable, and a few simply went the other way without drawing flags on Indianapolis. Several moments were affected, and while the officiating may not have decided the game outright, the disparity was impossible to miss.
In Other News...
Commanders Quarterback Crisis May Force A Familiar Fix
Marcus Mariotas MCL injury has pushed the Commanders deeper into a quarterback bind, with Dan Quinn still waiting on further tests to get a clearer read on how long the veteran might be sidelined. Washington is already working through the recovery of Jayden Daniels, who is coming back from a dislocated elbow, leaving the staff to sort through an increasingly thin room at the games most important position.
Jeff Driskel is one familiar name under consideration as the Commanders evaluate temporary options, and his previous stint with the organization gives the idea some practical appeal. For a team trying to keep the season steady while the injuries stack up, the next move at quarterback could be less about upside than it is about survival. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Suddenly Have A Quarterback Question They Didn't Expect
The Commanders went into Week 4 expecting one storyline at quarterback and came out with another. Marcus Mariota is headed for some missed time with a knee injury, while Jayden Daniels is set to return despite an elbow issue, leaving Washington to sort through a depth chart that suddenly looks far less settled than it did a week ago.
Athan Kaliakmanis got the first real crack at the offense in Mariotas place and at least gave the Commanders a glimpse of what he can do, tossing a touchdown pass before the loss. For a team trying to stay afloat in the middle of an unpredictable early season, the bigger question now is not just who starts next, but how the Commanders manage a quarterback room that was supposed to be stable and is anything but. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Fans Have Every Reason To Be Furious After London Loss
The loss in London was made even harder for Commanders fans to stomach because the penalty count told its own story. Washington was flagged 10 times for 84 yards, while Indianapolis drew only one penalty for five yards, and several of the calls against Washington came at moments when the game was hanging in the balance. With the offense already trying to survive with a third-string quarterback, every miscue and every yellow flag seemed to chip away at any chance to find a rhythm.
For a team already dealing with injuries and a brutal stretch of the schedule, the frustration is easy to understand. The Commanders did not just lose on the scoreboard, they also left with a sense that the flow of the game kept tilting away from them at the worst possible times. For fans who have watched the season get harder by the week, a penalty-filled defeat overseas only added to the sense that nothing is coming easy right now. [Read more 🡒]