Tyler Owens has found a way to keep making noise in Washington.
The Commanders safety, now in his third NFL season, was undrafted in 2024 before Washington signed him after the draft. He’s been in burgundy and gold ever since, and this week he was back in the spotlight after another viral moment on special teams.
It happened on a punt against the Eagles. Owens came flying downfield, worked through two Philadelphia defenders who had their hands on his jersey, and finished the play by tackling the return man.
The sequence was violent, relentless stuff, the kind of snap that jumps off the screen immediately. It also caught the attention of Good Morning Football’s Kyle Brandt, who awarded the Angry Runs scepter to a safety.
Earlier this week, Owens talked with Marshall Kramsky about the play and the reaction that followed. He said he was trying to get the refs’ attention because the Eagles’ jammers were holding him. The video backs that up: both defenders latch onto his jersey, and Owens keeps driving anyway.
When asked what it was like to go viral again, Owens kept it simple.
“I mean, it’s cool, you know,” Owens said. “It's good to get some recognition around here, but it ain’t nothing, bro. We still got work to do.”
The attention didn’t stop there. Around the league, people put together different edits of the run, swapping Owens into all kinds of characters.
His favorite? The Hulk.
Owens said Iron Man is his favorite overall, but if he were an Avenger, he’d probably be the Hulk or Thanos, and he’d bring “villain energy.”
He also made it clear he doesn’t spend much time living on the hype. “I don’t really let it get to me,” Owens says.
“They gonna love you for one reason and they gonna hate you for the next. So I don’t really ride the wave like that much.”
He added that he wants to keep putting together dominant performances so the hate doesn’t come.
And yes, the conversation circled back to the combine comments that made him a viral name in the first place. Owens had said in 2024 that he doesn’t believe in space, that we are in a dome, and hinted that there could be some truth to the flat Earth theory. With a NASA location about 30 minutes from the Commanders, Kramsky asked him about it again.
“NASA fake,” Owens replied, standing by what he said last year.
Undrafted or not, Owens has carved out a real role for himself on Washington’s special teams. And if this week was any indication, he’s not going anywhere quietly.
In Other News...
Jayden Daniels Scare Became The Commanders Story Everyone Was Talking About
The replay of Jayden Daniels injury during FOXs broadcast of the Cowboys-Commanders game turned into the kind of moment that stopped everything for a second, even in the booth. Tom Bradys live reaction included a curse word as the network showed the severity of the hit on Washingtons quarterback, and he quickly apologized on air, saying he was caught off guard by how bad it looked.
For Washington, the bigger story was still the scare around Daniels, whose health instantly became the focus as the broadcast moved on. The broadcast moment also raised a separate layer of attention, since a journalism professor said the expletive could potentially run afoul of FCC indecency rules, even if enforcement in situations like that is far from clear. [Read more 🡒]
Daron Payne Is Becoming A Real Problem For Washingtons Defense
Daron Paynes latest outing against the Cowboys did little to quiet the concern around one of Washingtons most important interior defenders. The disappointment was less about a single bad play than the larger lack of disruption, with Payne drawing criticism for not making enough of an impact against the run or when the Commanders tried to generate pressure up front.
Javon Kinlaw ended up looking more disruptive before leaving the game with an injury, which only sharpened the contrast inside Washingtons defensive line. When Payne is not winning his share of snaps, it puts more strain on the rest of the front, including edge rushers Odafe Oweh and KLavon Chaisson, and that is the kind of ripple effect Washington cannot afford for long. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Gave Fans A New Discipline Debate After Week 2 Win
The Cowboys Week 2 win brought more than a step forward in the standings, it also kept the conversation going about where the line sits in todays NFL between playing with edge and giving officials a reason to intervene. After the league reviewed Dallas season opener, three players were hit with fines for actions that drew attention well beyond the final score, with Donovan Ezeiruaku flagged for unnecessary roughness on a facemask penalty, DeMarvion Overshown punished for a late hit and Javonte Williams fined for unsportsmanlike conduct tied to taunting.
For Commanders fans, it is the kind of detail worth tracking because it speaks to the tone of a division rival and the sort of discipline battle that can swing games over the course of a season. The money collected from those fines goes to charitable foundations that support athletes and football communities, but the bigger takeaway for Washington is simpler: Dallas is already under the microscope, and how it handles that scrutiny could matter again the next time these teams cross paths. [Read more 🡒]
