Broncos at Commanders 5 questions: How much of a shock is this season?

Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders were the surprise team of the season a year ago.

The rookie quarterback took the NFL by storm and led the Commanders to an appearance in the NFC Championship game. That was due to one of the biggest playoff upsets in recent memory when Washington beat the Detroit Lions on the road.

Fast-forward to today, and the Commanders have fallen off. Entering Week 13, Washington is 3-8 and will miss the playoffs. The Commanders have faced injuries, namely to Daniels, and they just haven’t looked like the same team. Now, Washington faces one of the top teams in the NFL in the Denver Broncos (9-2) on Sunday Night Football. FanDuel Sportsbook has the Commanders as +5.5-point home underdogs. The total sits at over/under 43.5 points.

Just how much of a shock has this season been for Washington?

We go “behind enemy lines” to get a feel for the Commanders heading into Sunday Night Football with Andrew York from Hogs Haven to preview Sunday’s game. Here are my answers to Andrew’s 5 questions about the Broncos.

MHR: How are Commanders fans feeling entering Week 13? What has been the biggest surprise at this point?

Andrew: I would say that Commanders fans mostly feel dejected and confused, and are looking towards next year. We also really don’t want to watch the Eagles win another Super Bowl. The biggest surprise has been how everything went right for the Commanders last year, and everything has gone wrong this year. The biggest change has been injury luck, which I’ll talk about in the next answer, but last year the Commanders were one of the healthiest teams in the NFL, only losing one impact player (DT Jonathan Allen) to long-term injury during the season. This year, the Commanders are one of the most injured teams, losing many of their best players to long-term injuries as well as playing a far more difficult schedule.

MHR: What has been the reason for the drop-off this season? Based on last season’s success, how much of a shock is this?

Andrew: As mentioned before, the biggest reason is injuries. On defense, the Commanders have been without their starting QB, WR1, WR3, and RB1 for most of the season. On defense, they have been without their top three defensive ends, their best safety, and have lost their top two cornerbacks to season-ending injuries. What’s more, the injuries have been perfectly placed to expose weaknesses on the rest of the roster. The duo of Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin was really the tent poles that held up the offense, so losing them has caused the entire offense to regress. The injuries at DE have exposed the poor tackling of the secondary and the inability of the LBs to contain runs to the edge.

The second biggest reason has been a much harder schedule. The Commanders played a relatively easy schedule last year, but this year’s schedule has been an absolute gauntlet, and we always...