Commanders Midseason Report Card: Washington Is Wasting a Plus-Seven Turnover Margin

This past Thursday's 24-21 win over the New York Giants gave the Washington Commanders their third victory in an up-and-down year in which they’re plus-seven in turnover margin but haven't been able to string together consecutive wins. In most seasons, we'd already be talking about the draft, but since the NFC East is still up for grabs, the eight games remaining on Washington's schedule still matter. The following grades are from the first nine games.

Quarterbacks: B

Jayden Daniels has thrown for 1,499 yards with 10 touchdowns, two interceptions, and a 97.1 passer rating in seven games, and has 280 rushing yards and two TDs in 42 rushing attempts. Both picks came against New York, which is precisely why his winning drive mattered: the offense had needed him to make up for possessions he had just given away.

The elbow injury cost him two full games. Marcus Mariota threw four touchdown passes without an interception and looked good in relief before he reinjured his knee. Rookie Athan Kaliakmanis played in that game and went 15-of-33 for 186 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in London.

Jayden Daniels had an up and down night but came through late against the Giants.

23/33, 249 passing yards, 3 TD, 2 INT, 28 rushing yards.

His late touchdown to Stefon Diggs completed the comeback for Washington. pic.twitter.com/NQZgUbb2Vr
— Football Performances (@NFLPerformances) November 13, 2026

Running backs: C−

Washington has 1,051 rushing yards. Daniels has 280 of them.

Rachaad White leads the actual running backs with 275 yards on 65 carries. Jacory "Bill" Croskey-Merritt had 239 on 67 before his current trip to injured reserve, and Austin Ekeler has 109 on 33 since returning. White and Ekeler have helped as receivers, but the rushing attack hasn't provided a dependable answer when the offense needs a few extra yards. Blocking and play calls share in that result; the group grade reflects the overall production, not a claim that every short run is the back's fault.

Wide receivers: B−

Stefon Diggs has six of Washington's 15 passing touchdowns. His 36 catches for 386 yards lead the receivers, and the 32-yard winner against the Giants was his biggest play yet in the Burgundy and Gold.

Rookie Antonio Williams has 28 catches for 326 yards and two touchdowns. He played 59 of 69 offensive snaps Thursday, more than any other Washington receiver, and has made a case for a starting role beyond this season. Treylon Burks has made 14 catches for 260 yards. Those contributions became more important when Terry McLaurin tore his patellar tendon and was lost for the season. The group has found answers, though it has not made the passing game consistently dangerous.

Tight ends: C

Chig Okonkwo has 27 catches for 263 yards but no touchdowns. John Bates contributes in the blocking game, where his five receptions don't tell much of the story.

Ben Sinnott had one catch this season before Thursday. He caught four passes for 42 yards and a touchdown against the Giants, giving Daniels another option when the offense needed one. It was the tight ends' most encouraging recent development. One game does not rewrite what the group did over the previous eight.

Offensive line: C−

The center situation has supplied the clearest snapshot of the season. Lucas Patrick left the Rams game with a concussion. Rookie Matt Gulbin finished it, and Nick Allegretti started against the Giants after playing just two offensive snaps since Week 3. Washington allowed four sacks against Los Angeles.

Allegretti played all 69 offensive snaps Thursday. The line gave Daniels much better protection in the rematch, allowing one sack and four pressures, although Brandon Coleman added another false start. Washington has allowed 21 sacks over nine games, with three players taking snaps at center. Sam Cosmi has played above the group’s C− grade. He has allowed just five pressures on 297 pass-blocking snaps. At Washington’s nine-game mark, PFF ranked him fifth among guards in pass-blocking grade—All-Pro-caliber work in that part of the game. The Giants' performance is the standard to build on, but it's not enough by itself to erase the earlier questions about the center plan.

Defensive front: B−

Odafe Oweh has five sacks, and K'Lavon Chaisson has 3½. Chaisson has also forced three fumbles. The team has 18 sacks and has allowed 934 rushing yards, roughly 104 per game.

The run defense gives this grade some weight. Washington held Dallas to 66 rushing yards in Week 2 and Seattle to 44 the following week. Oweh had a sack, forced fumble, and recovery against Indianapolis. Daron Payne added a sack and forced fumble in the first meeting with the Giants. Chaisson has made that kind of play in three different games. The front has given the Commanders more than its sack total alone shows.

The interior has changed since those early games. Payne and Javon Kinlaw went on injured reserve after Week 8, putting more on Shy Tuttle and Tim Settle as Jer’Zhan Newton returned from a torn pectoral muscle. Tuttle has two sacks, including one in the five-sack win over Philadelphia. Dorance Armstrong forced a fumble in that game that Charles Omenihu recovered. Five of Washington’s 18 sacks came against the Eagles; the other eight games produced 13 combined. The work against the run and the turnover plays earn the B−. The uneven sack production keeps it from going higher.

Linebackers: B

Sonny Styles leads Washington with 80 tackles. Frankie Luvu has 55 and two sacks. Styles’ 13 tackles against the Giants included a crucial third-down stop after Daniels’ second interception. He recognized the play before the snap, dropped McCarthy for a two-yard loss and forced a punt. Without it, there might not have been a final winning drive.

Leo Chenal's season-ending neck injury removed an expected piece of the rotation. When Chenal went down against Seattle, Kain Medrano returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown in a 33-31 win, on a play Styles called out at the line. Styles and Luvu have carried substantial work since. They have been among Washington's best answers on defense.

Sonny Styles’ INSANE play recognition led to his game-saving tackle against the Giants.

The Commanders rookie LB is one of the SMARTEST apex predators in the NFL 😳🧠 pic.twitter.com/JCqOTPBNTc
— Rookie Watch (@RookieWatxh) November 14, 2026

Secondary: D

Opponents have thrown for 2,341 yards in nine games. Isaiah Likely caught 11 passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns in the first Giants meeting. Puka Nacua caught 14 passes for 150 yards against Washington. Four days later, Likely went for nine catches and 127 yards, with 66 coming on a third-and-seven touchdown.

Nick Cross has played better than the group grade suggests. Defensive coordinator Daronte Jones has moved him between deep safety, the box, and nickel, and Dan Quinn praised his nickel work after the Eagles win. Cross played all 75 defensive snaps against the Rams, finishing with eight tackles, three passes defensed, an interception, and a fumble recovery. He added six tackles and a quarterback hit while playing all 65 defensive snaps against the Giants.

Rasul Douglas has three interceptions, and Trey Amos has returned to a significant role. Coverage, rush, and calls all affect a passing total. The repeated large games by opposing targets still make this the lowest grade among Washington’s position groups.

Special teams: C+

Drew Stevens has been successful on 17 of 20 field goals and connected from 57 yards. He is 15-for-18 on extra points, with one of the failed attempts recorded as blocked. Those PATs have to be part of the grade, with the operation on each miss considered before assigning individual blame.

Tress Way is averaging 48.7 yards on 40 punts. Luke McCaffrey has given the return game some life, including a 44-yard kickoff return against Philadelphia. The unit has produced field position. Its placekicking has been less even than the field-goal number alone suggests.

Coaching: D+

The numbers Dan Quinn and David Blough can't talk around are the 40 conversions in 120 third-down attempts. Washington also ran out of time in its first meeting against the Giants in overtime and finished the Rams game by throwing short of the end zone from the Los Angeles 31.

There has been a response. Washington has held four consecutive opponents to 23 points or fewer, and the defense gave the offense one more chance after each interception Thursday. Daniels and Diggs used the second one. The recent response keeps the staff from an F (which they had earned). It does not turn nine games of inconsistent execution into a good grade.

Overall: D+

A plus-seven turnover margin should buy a team more than three wins and a tie through nine games. Washington has scored 196 points and allowed 223, a minus-27 scoring margin despite that turnover edge. Washington has several groups capable of better football in the second half and has just shown it can win the kind of close game it kept letting get away. To make that Thursday finish mean more, the Commanders have to stay on the field on third down and stop giving opponents so much through the air.

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