The Washington Commanders came up short by inches on a 4th and 9 pass to Zach Ertz that would have set Jayden Daniels and his offense up at the Steelers’ 41-yard line with a first down. From there, the Commanders were a long field goal from winning. In the end, it was all for naught in a 28-27 loss.
The refs were emphatic that Ertz was short of the line to gain, and the Commanders turned over the ball on downs to the Steelers, and never got the ball back. There were other mistakes in the game, and one very costly turnover.
Some were convinced that Ertz had forward progress on that 4th and 9. That is a judgment call by the refs, and they let the play stand with saying Ertz went untouched and moved backwards with his own momentum, and was down where he was touched. Again, questionable and the refs made their call.
Usually close wins and losses have one key play that changes a game, and several more that contribute to the outcome. Olamide Zaccheaus muffed the first two punts in the game, and one was recovered by Washington and the other turned into a Steelers’ TD. That was the key play on the Commanders’ ledger on the negative side. But trust me, there were many other blunders.
“The team is absolutely still all-in for one another, and I love that about them, how tough we are. It should sting. These are the ones that, you look back, you learn. I also said, we’ve got to turn quickly”.
— head coach Dan Quinn said following the loss to the Steelers
Marshon Lattimore, who was acquired on Tuesday in a deadline trade, was unavailable for the game with a hamstring injury. That meant that the Steelers’ newly acquired Mike Williams, who was also a Tuesday trade acquisition, would be matched up against cornerback Benjamin St-Juste and not Lattimore. That seemed like fictional writing — but it happened in fact that Williams caught the game-winning touchdown catch.
It took a good throw and catch to beat St-Juste on 3rd and 9 for the winning score with 2:27 remaining on the clock in regulation. Washington was winning by a score of 27-21 before that throw/catch/extra point. The TD catch by Williams made it 28-27 which was the final score.
“We got something special and we want to protect it,” said St-Juste. “That’s why it hurts me a lot that I give up that play.”
That kind of accountability will help St-Juste and his teammates learn from the loss and the mistakes. Some might look at the last play before the victory formation was an offsides penalty by rookie Johnny Newton on a 4th and 1 hard count by Russell Wilson that sealed it for the Steelers. That was the Commanders’ final mistake.
How many mistakes did you count? Hard to win with that many mistakes. And we never found out why Daniels only ran the ball three times, and why he looked slow in the process. That is something to keep an eye on in the coming days.
This was not the sharpest game by Daniels who threw a ball behind Noah Brown, a ball too far ahead of Luke McCaffrey, and missed some other passes too. Ertz and Dyami Brown had key drops, although Austin Ekeler picked up Brown’s drop and turned in his second TD of the game. Good teams cover up mistakes, but Washington had far too many. But what happened to Daniels’ legs? He only attempted three running plays for a total of 5-yards. His legs looked slow. Has fatigue set in? There is no rest for the weary as Washington has a game in three days on Thursday night against the Eagles.
