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Left: Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin. (Terrance Williams/AP)
Right: Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons  (Stew Milne/AP)

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Geoff Burke

How quickly people forget. It has been weeks since the Washington Commanders had teased their fans with nearly unprecedented early-season success. Weeks since quarterback Jayden Daniels had played as the presumptive winner of the NFL’s offensive rookie of the year award and just about that long since the offense he leads had performed at its fully functioning finest.

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So as the Commanders were blowing out the Tennessee Titans on Sunday afternoon, yet being greedy and wanting more, the fans bundled inside Northwest Stadium at times forgot how to act. They were consumed with doing the wave. They couldn’t help themselves from chanting ‘TER-RY! TER-RY!” And they made all this commotion while Washington’s offense was on the field. So overcome with giddiness, and probably relief, fans needed instructions on the scoreboard to remain silent while the home team’s offense was working. Even long snapper Tyler Ott had to turn and wave his arms down, trying to gently remind fans behind the Commanders’ sideline to chill.

But pardon those fans. It has been a while.

Four long weeks since the Commanders have looked this dynamic. Their <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/12/01/commanders-beat-titans-42-19/" target="_blank">42-19 takedown of the Tennessee Titans</a> served not only as a losing-streak buster but as a much-needed reset before the bye week.

Washington scored touchdowns on each of its opening four possessions. Wide receiver Terry<b> </b>McLaurin was catching passes that either moved the chains or resulted in six points. Running back Brian Robinson Jr., recovering from a sprained right ankle, ran through Titans defenders. And the entire offense, which had regressed in previous weeks, chased perfection in ways that reminded the Commanders, and their fans, just who they can be.

“That felt amazing, honestly,” McLaurin said. “The way we ran the ball at the line of scrimmage. The way we made plays on the perimeter. The way Jayden extended plays with his legs. The way we finished at the end with the ball in our hands. That’s the standard that we have to live up to.”

Some curious moments, however, should also serve caution that Washington (8-5) still has some work to do if it plans on beating better opponents than the NFL’s bottom-feeders.

Last Sunday in Landover, the Commanders <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/11/25/commanders-losing-streak/" target="_blank">allowed the Dallas Cowboys to feel a pulse</a> and possibly resuscitate their season. By losing to their rival and dropping a second NFC East game, they all but assured themselves of having to cling to the seventh and last NFC playoff spot over the final month of the season. A repeat performance against the Titans, who entered the game at 3-8, would have deepened the hole. However, the veterans whom Coach Dan Quinn calls the team’s “lead sled dogs” wouldn’t have it.

During the week, linebacker Bobby Wagner stood up to make a speech about the sacrifices needed for the betterment of the team. Then, 45 minutes before kickoff and just as the Commanders prepared to take the field for warmups, McLaurin addressed his teammates. His head was bobbing. Certainly, colorful words were flowing. The Commanders needed this juice and, mostly, some energy to start the game fast — which McLaurin emphasized following the loss to the Cowboys.

Against the Titans, McLaurin got his wish. The first drive went like this: Daniels to McLaurin for 10 yards, first down. Daniels to another open receiver, Noah Brown, for nine yards, nearly another first down. Then, hand off to Robinson — what bum ankle? — and watch him accelerate 40 yards to the end zone.

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The second drive lasted a bit longer — 11 plays and 80 yards — but ended with a similar result as Daniels skittered in for a three-yard touchdown. The third possession: touchdown pass to McLaurin. And then the fourth drive: Daniels, again, to a diving McLaurin, who still caught the laser while wearing Titans cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr. like a backpack.

Four possessions, four touchdowns. The sweet elixir to wipe away the taste of three consecutive losses.

“Definitely had been, for us, a challenging three weeks,” Quinn said. “We talked about the urgency and what we wanted to see and really dedicating the performance to one another.”

The home team was on its way to a rout. But still, there were those warning signs.

From the closing seconds of the first half through the end of the third quarter, Washington allowed 13 straight points. Although the Commanders’ special teams earned a takeaway when linebacker Mykal Walker recovered a fumble on a Titans kickoff return in the first quarter, the unit was far from perfect, and replacement kicker Zane Gonzalez — the team’s third kicker of the season — would later miss two field goals wide right.

And Daniels, who rarely looks panicked under pressure, created two gaffes in the third quarter by throwing high to Zach Ertz, his leaping, 6-foot-5 target, which ended as an interception, and later fumbling when under pressure. Daniels completed 25 of 30 passes, threw for three scores and ran for another, so the mention of his two mistakes might feel like searching for smudges on a work of art. Also, the reminder that Washington still has just one victory over an opponent with a record at or above .500 — the 6-6 Arizona Cardinals — might seem like a buzz kill.

Still, no one who participated in the wave that carried around Northwest Stadium in the third quarter appeared to care about Daniels’s imperfect moments. Neither did the team’s track record against winning and losing teams seem to matter for the fans who remained bundled up in their seats despite temptations to bail. The ones who stayed wouldn’t shut up, and who could blame them? It has been a while since the Commanders had deserved their cheers.

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Society of Professional Journalists Region 10: second place for column writing, 2013

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Candace Buckner is a sports columnist and critic. She previously covered sports and society from 2020 to 2021, and the Washington Wizards from 2016 until 2020. She joined The Post in August 2016.

Candace Buckner

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