Hogs Haven
The Athletic (paywall)
Of course you go for two.
You do it 100 times out of 100, and certainly you do it where the Washington Commanders are, their season tattered and torn.
Washington went for the win. It took a great play from Denver’s great linebacker, Nik Bonitto — who batted Marcus Mariota’s potential game-winning two-point conversion pass to a wide-open Jeremy McNichols — to preserve the Broncos’ victory. Yes, it was Washington’s seventh straight loss. Yes, Jayden Daniels probably would have made Bonitto miss, spun around and hit the still wide-open McNichols for the game-winner. But, Daniels is rehabbing. And while Mariota was a gamer Sunday night, throwing for 294 yards and two touchdowns, he couldn’t get that last pass over Bonitto’s head.
It was still the right thing to do.
It was, if not a winning decision, at least a reminder of who the Commanders were last season, and who they’d like to be again next season. They went for it all the time last season, and while their success rate on fourth down was unsustainable, the attitude shouldn’t be tamed. The only way for Washington to get its swagger back in 2026 is to be that team all the time, even when it doesn’t work out.
Going for it was just one of the many reminders of 2024 all over Northwest Stadium Sunday. There was linebacker Frankie Luvu, causing havoc again and coming up with a sack on Broncos quarterback Bo Nix. There was Bobby Wagner, coming up with a second-half interception off of Nix. It was Washington’s first defensive turnover created in nearly a month. (The Commanders have just seven takeaways all season. They had five turnovers alone in the divisional playoff game in Detroit last January.) There was cornerback Mike Sainristil, looking again like the sure tackler Washington drafted in the second round last year.
And there was McLaurin, back again after missing three games with a re-aggravated quad injury, pulling down seven catches for 96 yards, including that 3-yard slant from Mariota on fourth-and-goal from the Denver 3. You can re-litigate last spring and summer, and McLaurin’s contract holdout and then hold-in, and how that may have factored into the first injury-plagued season of his career. What is inarguable is that McLaurin is still a difference-maker, and someone who needs to be here next season.
Sunday night was for Quinn, and his team, remembering who they were, and how they reached such lofty heights last season. The loss, in a lost season, stung. But if the Commanders are ever going to get their swagger back, it will come from an attitude like their coach displayed in OT. It was better to lose a game after midnight by going for the win, rather than tying one a few minutes later by playing it safe.
Washington Post (paywall)
###...
