Washington’s 17-Point London Loss Looks Stranger the Deeper You Go — Commanders Daily

Washington won several of the statistical battles that usually point toward success. The numbers that mattered most told a very different story in London.

Oct 4, 2026; Tottenham, ENG; Washington Commanders wide receiver Antonio Williams (14) celebrates a touchdown that would be called back with fans during the third quarter against the Indianapolis Colts at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Washington outgained Indianapolis and won the turnover battle, yet lost by 17. Third downs, red-zone failures and penalties explain how it happened. | Philip Hughes | HTTR4LIFE LLC

The Washington Commanders outgained the Indianapolis Colts 317-257, averaging 5.2 yards per play, gaining 88 more passing yards and finishing the game plus-one in turnover differential (two takeaways). Now, if you stopped right there and didn't read a single thing further, you'd think Washington won, not lost by 17 points, as those numbers are not something normally associated with losing a game.

To understand the loss, you have to go back over the painful ordeal, starting with Odafe Oweh forcing and recovering Daniel Jones' fumble on the Colts' opening possession. Washington took over on the Colts' 21-yard line and gained just eight yards before sending Drew Stevens out for a 31-yard field goal. On the very next Commanders possession, they drove 70 yards to the Indianapolis 5-yard line before Mariota was sacked, and the drive ended on another Stevens FG. Literally, the first quarter closed with Indy having only 20 yards in total offense. Commanders head coach Dan Quinn said, "I loved the way the defense started, creating some takeaways, but to only get field goals out of those, I thought those were ones that we needed to nail."

Three categories tell the tale of the tape in this game: third downs, fourth downs, and red zone efficiency. Washington was 2-of-15 on third downs (13.3%), while the Colts were 5-of-16 (31.3%). On fourth downs, the Commanders were 1-of-4, and the Colts were 1-of-1; in the red zone, Washington was 0-for-2, and Indianapolis was 3-of-3. One of the day's oddest numbers: Washington had only 12 first downs despite gaining 317 yards; in short, they generated chunks of offense without sustaining enough drives to finish them.

The penalty situation told an odd story in this game: Washington had 10 accepted penalties for 84 yards, while Indianapolis had only one for five yards. Amik Robertson's penalty was ticky-tacky at best, and allowed a drive that produced a Jonathan Taylor touchdown to continue. Quinn after the game: "I thought between the penalties and not converting on some touchdowns on the takeaways, those were two big parts of the game."

If one play wrapped the whole afternoon into a nice little package, it came late in the third quarter. Trailing 20-13 and facing third-and-11 from their own 13-yard line, Athan Kaliakmanis connected with Antonio Williams for what appeared to be an 87-yard touchdown that would have put Washington an extra point away from tying the game. Instead, an illegal shift wiped the play off the board. An offensive holding penalty was declined; Washington backed up to third-and-16, Kaliakmanis scrambled for eight yards, and Tress Way came out to punt. Now, no one is saying here that, by rule, this may be an infraction; the timing of both flags coming out was odd if you follow the refs, and this doesn't get called every time it's done in the league (the holding was a complete phantom call, it never happened).

Here’s the play where #Commanders WR Antonio Williams’ 87 yard TD was nullified by two penalties: Illegal shift & Offensive Holding on Dyami Brown pic.twitter.com/LRYOfqokcP

— brandon (@JayDanielsMVP) October 5, 2026

That's how you end up looking at a box score Monday morning, wondering how any of this adds up. The Commanders created explosive plays, moved the ball better than Indianapolis in stretches, and did enough defensively to give the offense extra opportunities. What they couldn't do was stay out of their own way long enough for any of it to matter. The staff didn't help much, as the team seemed unprepared at times and also decimated by injuries at other times.

Indianapolis didn't need to dominate Washington between the 20s. They simply won when the field got shorter, and the downs became more important. The Colts scored touchdowns on all three red-zone possessions, while the Commanders failed to score a touchdown on either of theirs, failed on three of four fourth-down attempts, and spent too much of the afternoon trying to overcome their own mistakes.

Washington gained 317 yards Sunday, but yards were never really the problem. Turning them into points was, and that’s how a game the Commanders statistically had every reason to win ended with a 17-point difference on the scoreboard.

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