Commanders Clips
Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin had to be carted off the field with an air cast on his left knee on Monday night and the image didn’t do much to conjure up hopes of a quick return to the field this season.
Head coach Dan Quinn confirmed that the team feared a “significant” injury after the game and that McLaurin would go for tests on Tuesday to determine just how significant it is. Those tests are pending, but Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the team is bracing to learn that McLaurin will miss the rest of the season.
McLaurin missed Week 4 with a hamstring injury and has 15 catches for 230 yards and a touchdown on the season.
McLaurin has two more years left on his contract and is set to have a $34 million cap number in 2027, but there’s no guaranteed money left on the deal should the Commanders opt to move in a different direction.
The Commanders fell to 1-4-1 when the clock ran out on Monday night, but wide receiver Stefon Diggs chose to accentuate the positive in the locker room after the game.
Diggs’s third quarter touchdown catch was part of a 14-point run that pared down a 20-point 49ers lead and gave the Commanders a chance to move ahead late in the fourth quarter. A long drive ended on fourth down in the red zone and the 49ers moved to 6-0 with a 23-17 lead, but Diggs said that the effort the Commanders showed and the fact that the 49ers are an outlier when it comes to their record are reasons to hold onto hope heading into their bye week.
“It’s still wide open,” Diggs said, via Marshall Kramsky of WUSA. “Where we are and where the league is, it’s kinda interesting. A weird spot right now. Nobody’s kinda made it clear — that team we just played is a helluva football team. That’s one of those guys that’s gonna be in the running. . . . We played a decent game, we could’ve played a lot better. We were still in it, just like all these games we’ve been in the past couple weeks. We’ve been in it, we just gotta find a way to pull ‘em out.”
Diggs isn’t wrong about things being open in the NFC East. No team in the division has won a game since Week 4 and two of the other three teams in the division have lost their starting quarterbacks for the season, so the prospect of someone running away with things feels remote. That said, the Commanders have consistently fallen short in the biggest moments of games and that provides little reason to think they’re going to suddenly go on a run of their own.
The door is open for Diggs and company to prove otherwise, however, and that’s about all you can ask for after winning once in six weeks.
The first half of Monday night’s game included a failed fourth-and-two play by the Commanders from the San Francisco 13. After the pass to the end zone landed incomplete and the Commanders were called for an illegal shift, ESPN’s cameras caught Commanders coach Dan Quinn seemingly surprised to learn it was fourth down.
When he met with reporters nearly an hour after the game ended, Quinn was ready for the question regarding the viral lip-reading moment.
“I definitely knew it was fourth down,” Quinn said. “We were going for it, and I was — I think what you’re referring to, I was probably saying, like, with the illegal shift, there’s not a penalty to go for a field goal. Like, it doesn’t go, like, it’s the turn on downs. Like, I think somebody asked me, ‘Can we kick a field goal?’ So, now we were going for it. We knew we had to go for some fourth downs to be bold in the game. I didn’t think it was gonna be a 17-14 game. I probably thought it was gonna need 28, 30 to score, you know, to go win it. And so it was by design that we were gonna go, but I knew what happened. I think, I probably was just commenting that I remember, at least on the headset, somebody asked me, after an illegal shift, like it was turnover on downs, and [quarterback] Jayden [Daniels] saw the foul, too. He also came out and saw the penalty.”
You can watch the clip and come to your own conclusion. Again, he seemed to be surprised, not stating a fact. And he clearly had his story ready when he arrived for his press conference — along with plenty of time after the game to craft it.
Obviously, after what happened last week, Quinn couldn’t afford to admit he didn’t know it was fourth down. Even if he didn’t know it was fourth down.
With the Eagles slipping to 2-4 and the Commanders sliding to 1-4-1, the two teams have a Week 8 prime-time date looming. And if the league is considering a flex (as it reportedly was out of last week), the clock is ticking.
By rule, Tuesday, October 20, is the deadline for moving the Sunday night game.
The problem is the absence of clear options. Ravens-Bills makes the most sense, but the Ravens play the following Thursday night. Vikings-Lions is a possibility, if the NFL is willing to commit now to flexing Lions-Vikings in Week 15 out of Sunday night.
Colts-Jaguars wouldn’t have as much sizzle as Eagles-Commanders, given the wide-open nature of the NFC East. The Jaguars are off this week, so they’re guaranteed to enter the game at 4-2. The Colts, who face the Vikings on Sunday and who have fired their G.M., could be 2-5 by Week 8.
Browns-Steelers and Chiefs-Broncos are presumably off the table because the first game between the rivals was televised in prime time. (By rule, at least one game of a home-and-home division rivalry must be televised on Sunday afternoon.)
It’s ultimately the league’s decision. By tomorrow night, everyone should know what it is.
At the end of the first half of Monday night’s game, with the Commanders down 20-3 and coach Dan Quinn going viral based on a lip-reading clip that was being widely interpreted as him not realizing it was fourth down (after a failed fourth-down play), it looked like Quinn was on track to get fired after the game.
Then came the second half, and an effort by the Commanders that made the final score (23-17) far more respectable.
So now owner Josh Harris has a decision to make. One week removed from the humiliating clock debacle and entering the bye week, will Harris make a change?
Even with the six-point margin, the Commanders remain 1-4-1. Working in Quinn’s favor is the fact that the division is still there to be had, if they can turn it around.
The other consideration is that the bump from making an interim hire could also give the team the kind of wakeup call that could carry them to an NFC East title. (At that point, however, it would be difficult to not reward the interim coach by giving him the permanent job.)
There’s a mini-bye looming, between the Week 10 Thursday night game against the Giants and the Week 11 Monday night game against the Bengals. Maybe Harris will decide to kick the can, giving the Commanders three more games (Eagles, Rams, at Giants) before making a final decision.
The Commanders dug a hole in the first half, and the 49ers were throwing dirt on top of them in the third quarter.
San Francisco led 20-3 at halftime and 23-3 with 18 seconds left in the third quarter. It came down to the last play.
The 49ers held on for a 23-17 victory that was too close for comfort for the home fans. The 49ers are 6-0, and the Commanders are 1-4-1.
The Commanders had 17 plays, two first downs and 90 yards in the first half. The 49ers had 41 plays, 17 first downs and 303 yards in the first half.
The second half was all Washington, with Jayden Daniels throwing two touchdown passes and giving the Commanders a chance to win.
The Commanders outgained the 49ers 224 to 72 in the second half.
On Washington’s next-to-last possession, the 49ers had the Commanders stopped on Romello Height’s sack of Daniels with 2:55 left. But Ashtyn Davis was called for illegal contact. It was one of four defensive penalties the 49ers had resulted in Commanders’ first downs.
The Commanders faced a fourth down at the San Francisco 17, and Daniels gave Treylon Burks a chance to catch a touchdown pass. Burks had it briefly before Malik Mustapha forced it out as Burks hit the ground in the end zone with 1:54 remaining.
The 49ers’ last three drives were three-and-outs, gaining a total of 7 yards. That gave Washington a second chance for a miracle comeback.
49ers gunner Siran Neal was called for fair catch interference on the punt, and the 15-yard penalty gave Washington the ball at their own 46. The Commanders reached the San Francisco 28 before Daniels was called for grounding, and on the final snap, Ogbo Okoronkwo and Height combined for a sack of Daniels. It was one of four sacks for the 49ers.
Brock Purdy was 21-of-29 for 264 yards and a touchdown. He lost his star wide receiver, Mike Evans, before the end of the first half. Evans aggravated his Achilles soreness and missed the second half after making three catches for 94 yards in the first half.
Christian McCaffrey rushed for 64 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries and caught nine passes for 53 yards. George Kittle made five catches for 69 yards and a touchdown.
Daniels was 29-of-40 for 300 yards and two touchdowns. He lost his star wide receiver, Terry McLaurin, to a knee injury in the first quarter, and nine different Commanders receivers caught at least one pass.
The Commanders aren’t dead yet.
Despite being down 20-3 at halftime and 23-3 in the third quarter, the Commanders have pulled within 23-17 of the 49ers.
Jayden Daniels threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs with 15 seconds left in the third quarter and a 9-yard touchdown pass to Rachaad White with 9:22 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Commanders’ 10-play, 80-yard drive that drew them within one score benefited from an illegal contact penalty on Renardo Green on a third-and-4 incompletion and a roughing the passer penalty on Osa Odighizuwa.
The Commanders had 17 plays and 90 yards in the first half. They have 25 plays and 145 yards in the second half.
Daniels is 22-of-27 for 217 yards and two touchdowns.
49ers wide receiver Mike Evans has three catches for 94 yards, but his night might be over.
Evans entered the game with Achilles soreness, and he aggravated the injury late in the first half. The 49ers list him as questionable for the second half.
His return seems unlikely given the 49ers are in full control, up 20-3 at halftime.
Evans stayed on the ground after going low to catch a 16-yard pass from Brock Purdy with 1:10 remaining in the first half. Evans walked directly to the training room for treatment, and he has not returned to the sideline for the start of the second half.
Evans entered the game with 24 catches for 326 yards and three touchdowns.
UPDATE 10:04 P.M. ET: The 49ers have ruled out Evans.
The 49ers were far from perfect in the first half.
The Commanders had drives to the San Francisco 33 and 13; kicker Eddy Piñeiro missed his third extra point of the season; running back Christian McCaffrey lost his first fumble since Week 12 of 2024; safety Malik Mustapha had his second helmet-to-helmet hit of the season, though he wasn’t penalized; and tight end Luke Farrell had two penalties for 25 yards.
The 49ers, though, were good enough, taking a 20-3 lead into the locker room at halftime.
San Francisco gained 303 yards, with Brock Purdy going 17-of-22 for 214 yards and a touchdown. Mike Evans caught three passes for 94 yards. McCaffrey had 16 touches for 82 yards and two touchdowns. Kittle had four catches for 34 yards and a touchdown.
Evans has been battling Achilles soreness and appeared to aggravate the injury on a 16-yard catch with 1:10 remaining in the first half. He walked directly to the training room for treatment after the play.
The Commanders had two first downs, 17 plays and 90 yards. Jayden Daniels was 7-of-10 for 88 yards, and for the second consecutive week, he made a poor decision. Daniels threw away a fourth-and-2 pass with the Commanders on the San Francisco 13.
The Commanders lost star wide receiver Terry McLaurin with a knee injury. He was carted off the field in the first quarter and almost immediately ruled out. Wide receiver Stefon Diggs appeared to injure a finger on Mustapha’s illegal hit, but he returned to the game. Defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw limped off the field after McCaffrey’s touchdown run with 13 seconds left in the half.
Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin was carted off the field with a left knee injury.
49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir was tightly covering McLaurin on a third-down play with 2:16 remaining in the first half when McLaurin’s left leg gave out. He went to the ground, grabbing at his left knee and appeared to be in significant pain.
The team’s medical staff placed a vacuum splint on McLaurin’s leg before helping him onto the cart.
Players from both teams wished him well before he left.
The Commanders’ other star wide receiver, Stefon Diggs, took an illegal hit from safety Malik Mustapha that wasn’t penalized. Diggs’ right hand hit Mustapha’s helmet, and he appeared to injure his ring finger.
Diggs has returned to the game after getting treatment.
