Commanders Face Lions On Way To Super Bowl Destiny?

By Peter Mann

Just how far, really, can Daniel Quinn and the Washington Commanders go this season? Or is the upcoming, divisional match-up, with Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions, one step too far?

Well, history is on the side of the Commanders going into this one, at the Lions’ Ford Field, Michigan, on 18 January; the Commanders, then known as the Washington Redskins, have faced the Lions on just three occasions in the post-season dances, winning all, with the last coming back in 1999, courtesy of a 27-13 success in Washington.

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This season, finishing second in the NFC East to the 14-3 Philadelphia Eagles, the Commanders, posting a reasonably impressive 12-5 record, locked themselves into Wild Card weekend where, last time out, they dismissed the hosting Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 23-20, at the Raymond James Stadium.

It was a contest that would see the hosts go into the final quarter with a 17-13 lead, overall Jayden Daniels’ arm, and Zane Gonzalez’s boot, responsible for the majority of the points, the latter with three field goals, and two conversions to his name – the first of those FGs coming from 52-yards.

Victory for the Commanders, it was their first in the play-offs for near twenty years, the last, a 17-10 success, on 7 January 2006, against the Buccaneers, before losing the divisional match-up with Seattle Seahawks, they being a scourge of Washington in the ensuing years, losing to them again in 2007, and in 2012.

The other two, post-season defeats, they would come at the hands of Green Bay Packers (2015), and the Buccaneers themselves, five years on (2020), now though, the Commanders, they are a-dreaming, dreaming of a deep play-off run, and perhaps, who knows, a first Super Bowl appearance, success, since those heady Redskins days of the 1980s and early 1990s.

Way back in 1991, over three decades ago now, the Redskins went all the way, for the third time in a decade, and, under then Head Coach, the legendary Joe Gibbs, and MVP quarterback, Mark Rypien, the Redskins saw off, 37-24, the challenge of Buffalo Bills, at the Hubery Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The Redskins went 14-2 in the regular season, taking the NFC East, and, with eight of their roster named in the Pro Bowl, would brush aside Atlanta Falcons 24-7 in the divisional play-offs, and Detroit Lions, 41-10, to claim the NFC Championship.

Rypien would find himself ably assisted that season by wide receiver Gary Clark, running back Earnest Byner, and had a certain other WR in Art Monk, in the latter stages of his Redskins career, ready and willing to answer the call.

Following a scoreless opening quarter in Minneapolis, the damage was done in a devastating, second quarter, one which would see the Redskins post seventeen, unanswered points, the boot of Chip Lohmiller opening the scoring.

Rypien then tossed a 10-yard TD pass for Byner then, following an intercepted pass from Jim Kelly, by Green on the 45-yard line, the ball ended in the hands of Rypien, who fired a 34-yard toss for Gary Clark to hit the Bills 15; running back Ricky Evans then set up Gerald Riggs for a close-range score to move the Redskins 17-0 in front.

The third quarter was just as hectic, the two franchises sharing twenty-four points, the Redskins extending their lead to 31-10, a Scott Norwood FG and Thurman Thomas rushing score did afford the Bills some light, but scores either side of those, from Riggs and Clark, ensured the Redskins stayed in the box-seat.

Lohmiller’s boot further extended the Redskins’ lead in the fourth, firing home from 25, then 39 yeads, before a late surge from the Bills made the game interesting, Kelly hitting first Pete Metzelaars, the Don Beebe, Norwood converting both.

That was as close as the Bills got, and despite a resurgence in recent years, are still to win the big one, losing four straight finals in the early nineties (1990-93), the only franchise to achieve the feat.

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For the Redskins however, a lot has changed since their last visit to the big one, both on-field, and off-field, the most noticeable of which being, over the past few years, a double name change.

No longer the Redskins, Washington were known, for a brief period, as the Washington Football Team for two seasons, before becoming Washington Commanders in 2022; Dan Quinn is also the twelfth head coach for the franchise since Gibbs departed back in 1992, and of those dozen gentlemen Gibbs even returned between 2004 and 2007.

Norv Turner was at the helm for the entire of the second half of the nineties (1994-2000), Mike Shanahan (2010-13), Jay Gruden (2014-19), and most recently, Ron Rivera (2020-23), all having the honour of leading Washington.

Even the quarterback position in Maryland has been a tough one to hold down since those heady days of the eighties and nineties – long gone are the like of Joe Theismann (1974-1985), Jay Schroeder (1984-1987), and Mark Rypien (186-1993), between 1974 and 1993.

Numerous QBs have tried, and ultimately not succeeded, although Robert Griffin III (2012-2015) and Kirk Cousins (2012-2017) tried their hardest between 2012 and 2017, since which the position has continued to be a hard one to fill – mind, Sam Howell’s (2022-2023) most recent tenure saw him, just last season (2023) saw him become the first QB to not miss a start in a season since cousins in 2017.

The arrival of Jayden Daniels however, it may just have sparked a resurgence in the new-look Commanders as he, alongside wide receiver Terry McLaurin, and linebackers Frankie Luvu and Bobby Wagner, have dragged the Commanders through that 12-5 season.

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Collecting numerous, individual accolades during his college football career with first the Arizona State Sun Devils, then with the LSU Tigers, Daniels would finish 2023 as the recipient of the much sought after, Heisman Memorial Trophy, an award given to the top player throughout college football.

Daniels was the second overall pick by the Commanders in the 2024 NFL Draft, going on to excel in his debut season in the NFL, making the Pro Bowl, whilst also registering both the most rushing yards, and highest pass completion rate, from a rookie quarterback, in the games history.

The son of college cornerback, Javon ‘Jay’ Daniels, who turned out for Washington Huskies and Iowa State Cyclones during the 1990s, and Regina Jackson, and NFLPA (NFL Players Association) certified agent, Daniels, you could say, has excelled at the Northwest Stadium.

Named their starting quarterback at the end of pre-season training camp, Daniels, his debut season saw him bag two TDs in the season opener, a loss to the Buccaneers, before picking up his first win a week later against New York Giants.

Success over the Giants saw the Commanders quickly go from 0-1 to 4-1, with wins over Cincinnati Bengals, Arizona Cardinals, and Cleveland Browns, before a loss to Baltimore Ravens had them 4-2 going into the game with Carolina Panthers, one which saw him pick up a rib cartilage injury in the opening drive and sitting out the remainder of the win.

The following week though, the Commanders pushed their record to 6-2 with a ‘Hail Maryland’ game-winning score, on 27 October, against the visiting Chicago Bears; leading 13-7 going into the final quarter, and having shut-out the Bears throughout the entire first half, the final quarter was one of those occasions that would go down in NFL history, and the first, successful Hail Mary, since 2020, with Daniels being the first rookie since 2006 to achieve the feat.

As the fourth quarter moved through the gears, the closing stages would see Bears running back, Roschen Johnson, cross from close range with 23 seconds remaining, whilst the conversion from Cole Kmet meant the visitors had the lead, 15-12, for the first time in the game.

Daniels though, he went for it, and with ESPN affording the Bears a 97.9% chance of winning the game after their score, and with seconds remaining, what happened next was just beautiful, well for Commanders fans at least.

Avoiding the Bears defence for some thirteen seconds, Daniels scrambled to make space for what was a 52-yard, Hail Mary pass, through a crowd of players, which was tipped by visiting cornerback Tyrese Stevenson, into the grateful, waiting hands of Commanders wide receiver, Noah Brown, in the end zone, to give the Commanders a stunning, 18-15 success.

It was a moment that Stevenson will not want to see again, but something that Daniels, Brown, and the Commanders, will hope affords them a date with destiny come the season end.

A second success over the Giants pushed the Commanders to 7-2 before three straight losses, to Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles, and Dallas Cowboys, at 7-5, had the Commanders season suddenly in the balance going into the home straight.

A late season rally soon followed though, and Quinn-Daniels oversaw the Commanders close the regular season at 12-5 following victories over Tennessee Titans, New Orleans Saints, revenge on the Eagles, Atlanta Falcons, and finishing with another revenge score, this time over the Cowboys.

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Facing the Buccaneers on Wild Card weekend would see the Commanders squeeze out a 23-20 victory, Daniel throwing two TD passes, to Brown and McLaurin, and Gonzalez kicking three FGs and a conversion, to set up a date with the highly-fancied Detroit Lions.

Dan Campbell’s franchise, the big-hitting Lions, have been enjoying a resurgence of their own in recent seasons, winning back-to-back NFC North in the last two years (2023 and 2024), making the NFC Championship game (losing, agonisingly, 34-31, to San Franciso 49ers) last season.

If the Lions have learned from their deep run last time around, it could be a tough afternoon in the trenches for the Commanders, but, Quinn, Daniels et al, could well use that which served the Lions well, to push their own agenda, and set up a date in the NFC Championship game with either LA Rams, or Philadelphia Eagles, who face off on Sunday 19 January in Philly.

On the other side of the bracket meanwhile, in the AFC, its Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs (18 January), followed by Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills (19 January).

Could we really push for a year of the underdog, the Washington Commanders would like to think so, that’s for sure, but for now, it’s all eyes on Ford Field.

PETER MANN

NFL ANALYST

PETER IS A LIFELONG SPORTS FAN, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR BASED IN COUNTY DURHAM. HE HAS FOLLOWED THE NFL AND THE RAIDERS SINCE THE 1980s, AND LOVES BOTH SPORTS AND FAMILY HISTORY. PETER HAS A DEGREE IN SPORT & EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY, AND CAN BE FOUND ON TWITTER @petermannwriter

 
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