Once more for those in the back; Commanders don’t care about draft position and will play to win on Sunday

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Commanders.com

Practice notes | Commanders are playing to win season finale vs. Eagles

Aside from the 31-0 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, the Commanders stayed competitive in the second half of the season. They forced overtime in back-to-back weeks against the Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos, the latter of which was in contention for the No. 1 seed in the AFC. They also held a 10-7 halftime lead in their first matchup with Philadelphia.

Last week’s game against the Cowboys presented bigger challenges, as the Commanders were down to third-string quarterback Josh Johnson without starters Laremy Tunsil and Sam Cosmi. Still, the Commanders fought back from a 21-3 deficit and had two opportunities to tie the score in the fourth quarter. Quinn made the point after the game and on Monday that he wanted to see better execution, but he did like how the team fought for the entire game.

“We know we’re gonna fight,” McLaurin said. “It’s just fighting isn’t enough. We’ve gotta execute at a higher level.”

Washington Post (paywall)

Why won’t the Commanders aggressively tank? It’s not in their DNA.

Washington has major needs on both sides of the ball. While the Commanders are set to have ample salary cap space, their 2026 draft capital is limited after they traded for Tunsil this past offseason. A higher selection in the first round could be used to add an impactful player or be traded to bolster their collection of picks.

But the idea of tanking just doesn’t jibe with the Commanders, even if a playoff spot has long been out of reach.

“It’s just not part of our philosophy,” Quinn said Monday.

This is a lost season, but allowing effort to slip isn’t something the Commanders view as acceptable.

“We hold each other accountable to that,” wide receiver Terry McLaurin said earlier in December. “We get 17 games for a reason. And if you are in the position to continue to fight, you need to do that. We don’t have anybody in that locker room that’s going to lay down.”

“I never want a season like this — never again — but I also know that I don’t want to waste it,” Quinn said last week. “There’s lessons that I want now that are going to carry over into next season. I don’t want to apply them then — talking about a play style and turnover margins and penalties and things like that. I want these lessons now. I want them learned now. I do think pain and adversity and dealing with those things are good. That’s resilience, and you show you have that. But on the field, man, I’m looking to see these lessons getting corrected and changed. And if we can improve upon that, then I think we’re not wasting the moments.”

The Athletic (paywall)

Eagles to rest key starters in Week 18 vs. Commanders

The Philadelphia Eagles will rest key starters in their Week 18 game against the Washington Commanders on Sunday, even though their playoff seeding could still be improved. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni informed the players of his decision during a meeting on Wednesday.

The Eagles didn’t specify which starters will not play, but expect Tanner McKee to start at quarterback in place of Jalen Hurts. Some starters will be inactive, a few will be limited and others will be in uniform but not playing. As a reference point, the Eagles took this approach in Week 18 last season, with 34 players active, 10 in uniform who did not enter the game and 11 inactive.

Sirianni had been leaning in this direction and sided with rest while understanding the Eagles could still secure the No. 2 seed. It will require the Eagles to beat the Commanders and the Chicago Bears to lose to the Detroit Lions. Both games will be played concurrently at 4:25 p.m. (ET).

If the Eagles win and the Bears lose, Philadelphia would host the Green Bay Packers in the opening round. If the Eagles remain the No. 3 seed, they would host either the Los Angeles Rams or the San Francisco 49ers.

Commanders.com

3 takeaways from Josh Johnson’s media scrum

Get into a rhythm.

Johnson looked drastically different in his first start since the 2021 season compared to when he was thrust into the lineup in the Commanders’ first matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles. Thanks to getting most of the starting reps that week, he looked more comfortable in the pocket, which in turn allowed the offense to run more smoothly with him in the backfield. Despite running just 41 plays, the Commanders put up 328 yards, marking one of the unit’s better outings since the bye week.

That wasn’t a surprise to Johnson, who has seen the offense show flashes of the 2024 iteration this season. That has been difficult to maintain because of all the injuries the team has dealt with, but Johnson knows what the unit is capable of when it gets rolling.

“Once we get into a rhythm, man, this offense has been explosive all year. And it was good to just see that happen when I go in there. You see it with Jayden [Daniels], you see it with Marcus [Mariota] going in there and then for me, once we got into a rhythm with each other, we were able to really move the ball well, we had to have a balanced attack.”

A to Z Sports

Several players have a big opportunity against the Eagles to impress the coaches and front office

EDGE Drake Jackson

It’s only been two games for Drake Jackson, but he’s been quietly playing fine as he continues to knock off the rust from not playing since 2023. His first game back was against the Eagles, and he registered three pressures in just seven pass-rushing snaps.

Next week, he played 26 snaps, but only registered one tackle and zero pass-rushing stats on 16 pass-rush snaps. Jackson was always going to be a wild-card player when they signed him, but becoming another younger depth piece is still a win for this roster. Hopefully, he can end the season on a high note and get a full offseason with the team.

Heavy.com

Daron Payne : Practicing fully

Payne (back) was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice. Payne missed the Christmas Day matchup with the Cowboys but appears ready to return following the one-game absence. The veteran defensive tackle has appeared in 14 contest this season, logging 42 tackles (17 solo), including 2.0 sacks, and five pass breakups on 61 percent of the defensive snaps.

Riggo’s Rag

Commanders may have to face Sam Howell at some stage in Week 18

Amazingly, it’s been only two years since Sam Howell was the Commanders’ starting quarterback for all 17 games of the 2023 season. There was a point in time when he looked like he could be Washington’s future. Some fans even wanted to give him another year under a new coaching staff.

Instead, he’s been traded three times since then. Howell is now a member of the Eagles, where he is the third-string quarterback behind Hurts and 2023 sixth-round pick Tanner McKee. He hasn’t played a snap all season, but that could change this weekend.

When the Commanders last faced the Eagles two weeks ago, things got testy. Philadelphia went for a late two-point conversion that Washington challenged, and the result was an all-out brawl that led to multiple players being ejected. Dan Quinn vowed revenge, but his words mean nothing when his team is outmatched.

This time, the game is in Philadelphia, and the Eagles will be facing Josh Johnson for the entire contest. Sirianni has decided that rest for his difference-makers is more crucial than a potential surge up the playoff standings. This is where Howell comes in.

Don’t be surprised to see Sirianni rub salt in Washington’s wound by giving Howell some playing time in Week 18. There’s a world where he gets garbage time snaps in a blowout win, and another one where he and the rest of Philly’s backups lead a dogfight victory over his former team. Both scenarios would be sub-optimal for the Commanders.

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LEGENDARY: Washington Commanders’ Bobby Wagner CLOSES in on NFL History, Jordan Magee’s Rise Begins

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Pro Football Talk

Eagles OC Kevin Patullo looking for solution to “the first down thing” to get offense going

The main topic of Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo’s press conference on Tuesday was the second half of the team’s Week 17 win over the Bills.

The offense gained 17 yards, picked up one first down and did not complete a pass while running 17 plays over five possessions that all ended with punts. That helped the Bills get back into a game that they trailed 13-0 at halftime and the offensive blackout remains an issue despite the Eagles escaping with a 13-12 win.

On Tuesday, Patullo said that offensive slumps “never come down to one thing” and that he doesn’t believe the offense got too conservative while playing with a lead. He did identify one area that was a particular issue against Buffalo.

“When you look at it, is the amount of drives we had and plays and some of the starting positions, it was the first down thing again,” Patullo said, via a transcript from the team. “We had four drives where we had inefficient first downs, put us in four second-and-longs, and then from that, we were in three third-and-longs. When you’re doing that, when that’s happening, it’s going to be very hard to move the ball. . . . When you look at those drives, it gets frustrating. We need one play. All we need is one spark, one thing to get those things going and we’re out of it.”

The lack of production against Buffalo was extreme, but it’s hardly been a one-time event for the Eagles offense over their 16 games so far this season. Patullo was asked if that means this is what the offense is going to be or if they’ll be able to switch into a higher gear in the postseason.

Blogging the Boys

Former Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs claimed by Packers

Diggs will now reunite with All-Pro edge rusher and best friend Micah Parsons in Green Bay. Not long after Diggs was released, he hired agent David Mulugheta as his agent, which is the same man that represents Parsons.

The Packers will be in the playoffs next week. It’ll be interesting to see if Diggs can contribute.

Big Blue View

Looking back at 6 keys to the NY Giants season, and how things went wrong

When the season began, we listed six things that had to go right for the Giants in 2025. Let’s see how many of them did.

The Giants, basically, threw last season’s 3-13 mess at the feet of Daniel Jones and screamed “his fault.” Drew Lock and Tommy DeVito, too.

They insisted that better quarterback play would elevate a team that lost eight one-score games and a 10-point game in 2024 where a play or two from the quarterback might have changed the outcome.

GM Joe Schoen was desperate enough to prove that that he spent the offseason changing future Hall of Famers. There were discussions about Matthew Stafford and Aaron Rodgers before the Giants landed on Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston as a veteran duo, then drafted Jaxson Dart as the future.

Just about the only thing Schoen didn’t consider was calling Philip Rivers.

There was hope that Wilson had enough left to stabilize the position until the Giants were ready to turn the keys over to Dart.

All the Giants got for the $10 million they spent on Wilson was three losses. Even in Wilson’ 450-yard game against the Dallas Cowboys, mistakes in overtime by the quarterback contributed to the loss.

So, Wilson was a bad gamble by Schoen.

Dart more or less proved the point that better quarterback play could lead to better results as he helped the Giants defeat the Los Angeles Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles, both playoff teams, in his first three weeks as the starter.

Dart, though, could not in the end overcome all of the other issues the Giants had — injuries to offensive playmakers, disastrous defense, placekicking woes and other special teams nightmares.

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Pro Football Talk

Punts are at an all-time low, with NFL teams averaging 3.5 punts per game

NFL teams are averaging 3.5 punts per game. As noted by the Associated Press, that’s the lowest average in NFL history.

There are a couple big reasons for that. One is that NFL coaches have learned the analytics and are going for it on fourth down far more often than they used to. In situations when coaches used to send in the punter, they now keep the offense on the field.

The new kickoff rules have also increased the average starting field position, which means teams move into field goal range more easily — and kickers are getting better, which means field goal range now starts soon after crossing the 50-yard line. Coaches would rather try a long field goal than a coffin-corner punt.

Punts in the NFL have been decreasing for decades, but that decrease has accelerated recently. Punts per team per game have gone from 4.2 in 2023 to 3.8 in 2024 to 3.5 in 2025.

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USA Today

NFL hot seat rankings: Which coaches are in most trouble ahead of Week 18?

2. Raheem Morris, Atlanta Falcons

A three-game win streak could help build the case that Morris knows how to guide this group. But the late-season surge also underscores how badly Atlanta has underachieved on the whole. Things aren’t as simple as merely running it back for the Falcons, with quarterback Michael Penix Jr.’s trajectory even more uncertain following his third torn anterior cruciate ligament since the start of his college career. Atlanta has also been dogged by repeated special teams errors, a distinctly bad look for a franchise with minimal margin for error. Arthur Blank has rare patience in the NFL ownership class, but an eighth consecutive losing season – and a postseason drought only exceeded by that of the Jets – could test even the most even-tempered decision-maker.

8. Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins

In following the biggest opening-week embarrassment with Tua Tagovailoa airing out his frustrations with teammates and subsequently apologizing for the finger-pointing, Miami managed to frontload many of its most persistent problems this season. That’s overall a credit to McDaniel, who at least steadied a ship that looked liable to capsize around midseason. Since parting ways with general manager Chris Grier and trading away one of its best players in Jaelan Phillips, the Dolphins have gone 5-2. McDaniel arrived at this point by already laying the groundwork for a post-Tagovailoa transition year in 2026 with a robust run game. Owner Stephen Ross could opt for a fresh start, but McDaniel has made the most of his opportunity to see out the season.