The Washington Commanders improved to 8-5 on the season after Sunday’s 42-19 win over the Tennessee Titans. Washington’s eight wins through 13 weeks is the most since the 1996 season.
However, Sunday’s win also ended two other streaks for the Commanders.
According to the Commanders’ PR team, Sunday’s win over Tennessee was Washington’s first December victory since defeating the Las Vegas Raiders in December 2021. If that stat isn’t depressing enough, Sunday’s victory was the team’s first December win at home since 2017.
Jonathan Allen and Tress Way are the only players on Washington’s current roster who were with the franchise in 2017. Allen was a rookie in 2017.
The current team has been busy ending streaks this season. Under new head coach Dan Quinn and GM Adam Peters, the Commanders have changed almost everything. The early returns are good, as Washington sits in a prime position to earn one of the NFC’s three Wild Card berths.
Jay Gruden was in his fourth season as head coach in 2017, while Ron Rivera was in his second season in 2021. There have been a lot of football games played at Northwest Stadium since the home team last won a December game there.
Good teams usually play their best football in November and December. It’s not surprising that Commanders haven’t been good for years. They’re never competitive in December, and there for a few years, always seemingly welcoming a new regime destined to repeat the same futility.
Times have changed.
