NEW ORLEANS — The tale of two halves against the New Orleans Saints may tell the remainder of the 2024 Washington Commanders’ story.
Those opening 30 minutes were primarily loaded with the good stuff. Jayden Daniels maintained his standard of high-efficiency performances while finding Terry McLaurin for two touchdowns. In Marshon Lattimore’s debut, Washington’s defense stymied the New Orleans attack in all ways possible, helping to create an overall dominant time-of-possession advantage.
Fast forward to the finish line. The 20-19 victory kept the Commanders, now 9-5, in possession of the NFC’s third and final wild-card spot and clinched the franchise’s first winning record since 2016. Like much of this season, don’t sleep on those big-picture aspects. Washington has zoomed past any realistic expectations for this campaign, and the long-term ceiling is much higher thanks to Daniels’ upside.
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As for those focused on the present, the second half offered ample concerns, particularly on offense. Not the kind isolated to a single game. Well, outside of the chaotic final seconds where, with Washington clinging to a seven-point lead, a game official’s error stopped the clock, leaving the Saints with time to spike the ball, call a play and complete a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Foster Moreau as time expired.
Only an incomplete and potential game-winning two-point conversion attempt by rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler to tight end Juwan Johnson eliminated cries of robbery from the visiting locker room. The mood wasn’t celebratory, either.
“Wild game,” Commanders coach Dan Quinn said following a game where he declared a mixed bag of winning-time moments. “Good and bad. Solid, but not to the level we need to be.”
The issues, some visible in the opening half before multiplying over the third and fourth quarters, might prevent Washington from joining the list of conference contenders. These concerns, including nine penalties and eight sacks allowed, can’t be ignored heading into next week’s rematch and pivotal game against the Philadelphia Eagles, an NFC East rival, and the closing stretch.
In his return to Louisiana, where he starred for LSU, Daniels completed 25 of 31 passes for 226 yards and two touchdown passes without an interception. The rookie didn’t see open receivers often. When he did, the passes were completed. When he threw to the unstoppable McLaurin, they normally turned into touchdowns.
Lined up on the right side from the Saints’ 16, McLaurin ran a quick out, only to recognize that the play had turned into a scramble drill with Daniels headed toward the left sideline. Epitomizing the passing game mantra, “the ball finds energy,” McLaurin raced to an opening in the middle of the end zone. “(I) threw my hand up, and he threw a missile,” McLaurin said.
THAT’S 10 TDs FOR @TheTerry_25 #ProBowlVote
📺 #WASvsNO FOX pic.twitter.com/ehNbHChUrT
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) December 15, 2024
Tack on a 3-yard touchdown with 5:38 remaining in the first half, and McLaurin extended his career high in touchdown receptions to 11 with his fourth two-touchdown game of the season and second in as many games. He snagged all six targets during the 14-0 first half as Daniels completed 17-of-19 for 140 yards and had a 132.5 QB rating.
“My first-ever game at LSU was here on a Sunday, and we lost by one point,” Daniels said, referencing LSU’s 24-23 loss to Florida State in September 2022. “So it felt good to win by one point (Sunday).”
McLaurin finished with seven receptions on 10 targets for 73 yards and those two scores. Crown Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase or another tandem as the league’s top quarterback-receiver combination. Beyond fair. What Daniels and McLaurin have cooked up this season requires a spot on Emeril Lagasse’s menu.
Washington held possession for 40:50 of game time and McLaurin repeatedly burned defenders. Of the pair’s three incompletions, Daniels overthrew two in the second half to the wide-open receiver that were likely touchdowns. McLaurin had a chance at the third, but Daniels threw it late and the receiver could not bring in the contested deep ball.
The Saints’ imposing pass rush wrecked other attempts. Taking advantage of an offensive line without center Tyler Biadasz, who was a late scratch due to an illness, New Orleans repeatedly harrassed Daniels. Two of those eight takedowns were by former Washington edge rusher Chase Young. Some were on Daniels.
Whether waiting on the non-McLaurin receivers to create space or not recognizing the danger surrounding him, Daniels ran into traffic as often as he shed or ran away from tacklers. He finished with 66 rushing yards on 11 carries, but Washington lost 37 yards on those eight sacks. Quinn said he wanted to watch the film before explaining what went wrong. Daniels didn’t need more time.
“I put that on me, not the O-line,” Daniels said.
It’s also reasonable to question whether Daniels will find open targets with regularity against stingier defenses. Washington began the game without wide receiver Noah Brown and running back Austin Ekeler, both on injured reserve. Then the Commanders lost tight Zach Ertz to a concussion on the back end of a brilliant 19-yard, one-handed catch at the Saints’ 3-yard line in the second quarter, setting up Daniels’ second touchdown pass.
Those three pass catchers represent Washington’s leaders in receptions after McLaurin. Teams push back against the injury excuse, but the next-man-up mantra only goes so far.
“It sucks having guys down, but that’s part of the game,” said tight end John Bates. “We have great guys on the team and no one is going to flinch.”
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Maybe feeding leading rusher Brian Robinson Jr., a logical approach against the league’s worst rush defense entering Week 15, would have given the Saints’ pass rushers pause before blasting across the line. Then again, Robinson finished with 65 yards on 21 carries — only seven rushes in the first half. That 3.1 yards per carry average against a defense that allowed an average of 5.0 over 13 games — and with Michael Deiter replacing Biadasz — perhaps explains why offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury called for passes or Daniels rushes.
Robinson was denied an attempt on third-and-1 from the Saints’ 1-yard line midway through the second quarter. Instead, Daniels bounced outside and was dropped for a sack on the designed play, leading to new kicker Greg Joseph’s first of two made field goals. Joseph, added to the roster this week and replacing the injured Zane Gonzalez, made a 41-yard field goal on the opening play of the fourth quarter after a miss ending the third didn’t count because time expired.
As the second half tension increased, Daniels remained poised. Immediately following the last missed connection with McLaurin, the quarterback delivered a chain-moving 6-yard pass to Bates. Two plays later, Daniels completed a 13-yard pass to Olamide Zaccheaus over the middle on second-and-12. Then came a 23-yarder to Dyami Brown at the Saints’ 10. Scratch that — left guard Nick Allegretti was called for holding. Three plays later, Quinn preferred the odds of Joseph attempting a 54-yard field goal rather than punting from the 36. The kick missed, setting up the crazy conclusion.
Defensively, cornerback Mike Sainristil’s second-quarter interception at midfield accounted for the game’s only turnover and led to McLaurin’s 3-yard touchdown. On the opposite side, New Orleans rarely looked Lattimore’s way in his first game since the Nov. 5 trade that sent the ex-Saint to the Commanders.
“I didn’t get too much action, but happy to be out there,” the four-time Pro Bowler said after Washington’s second consecutive win. “It was a great feeling.”
The Commanders rotated defenders frequently. Whatever the group did worked early, but they were shakier in the second half once the Saints replaced the overmatched Jake Haener with Rattler. After generating 38 net yards and two first downs before halftime, New Orleans outgained Washington 207-161 and scored on all four of its second-half possessions. Safety Jeremy Chinn had one of the team’s three sacks before exiting with a possible concussion. He wasn’t on the field for the nearly controversial finish.
With 17 seconds remaining, Rattler completed a 7-yard pass to Moreau on fourth-and-3 from Washington’s 8-yard line. As the Saints began hustling to the 1-yard line, the official closest to the play signaled for a clock stoppage. The scoreboard operator obliged but restarted the clock after several seconds had elapsed. Rattler’s spike may not have happened otherwise. Daniels was among several players unaware of the clock issue until meeting with reporters.
Speaking to a pool reporter, referee Shawn Hochuli acknowledged that “the clock should not have stopped” but added that the situation was not reviewable. Though frustrated with the scenario, Quinn skipped sharing his thoughts since he had not heard from the officials by the time of his postgame news conference. “I am taking the high road on that,” he said before channeling his inner Bill Belichick. “On to (facing) Philadelphia.”
Pool report on the brief clock stoppage with nine seconds remaining. (H/T @ByLukeJohnson).
Non reviewable… pic.twitter.com/ccMM1vQWTa
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) December 15, 2024
Credit the Saints, now 5-9, for causing obstructions, but the Commanders had ample chances to blow the home team out. They cannot expect those opportunities to remain bountiful against conference heavyweights. But as McLaurin watched New Orleans try to steal a win, he thought of the persistent in-house conversation about big moments.
“I know I have confidence in those moments for us to come through. That’s what we talk about all the time, those winning-time moments,” McLaurin said.
The final scoreboard showed the Commanders made enough of those. However, they might not be so fortunate if they make a similar effort in the coming weeks.
(Photo: Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)
