5 Winners, 7 Losers From the Commanders’ 30-13 Loss to the Colts

The Washington Commanders had plenty go wrong in London on Sunday, which is usually pretty obvious when you lose a football game by 17 points.

What makes this one a little harder to explain is that Washington actually outgained the Indianapolis Colts 317-257 and won the turnover battle 2-1. The Commanders had chances to make this a completely different game, especially early, but penalties, missed opportunities, and an offense that couldn't finish drives eventually caught up with them in a 30-13 loss.

There were still a few individual performances worth taking away from it.

Winners

Odafe Oweh

It didn't take long for Oweh to make his presence felt.

On Indianapolis' second offensive play, Oweh got to Daniel Jones for an eight-yard sack, knocked the ball loose, and recovered it himself at the Colts' 21-yard line. That's about as much as you can ask one defensive player to do on a single snap.

Oweh finished with a sack, a tackle for loss, a quarterback hit, a forced fumble and a recovery. Washington only came away with three points after he handed the offense a short field, but that's certainly not on him.

Javon Kinlaw

Kinlaw's final stat line isn't going to jump off the page, but this was another one of those games where watching him told you more than the three tackles did.

The big number here is two passes defended, which isn't something you normally see from an interior defensive lineman. Kinlaw got his hand on Jones' first pass of the afternoon and later broke up another throw intended for Josh Downs in the third quarter.

He was disruptive, and for a defensive front that spent a good portion of the afternoon making Jones uncomfortable, Kinlaw was a big part of it.

Amik Robertson

Robertson wasn't perfect, and his unnecessary roughness penalty in the second quarter was costly, even if it was ticky-tacky and shouldn't have been called. Instead of Indianapolis facing a fourth down, the Colts got a fresh set of downs and eventually scored their first touchdown of the game.

Outside of that, though, Robertson was everywhere. He led Washington with nine tackles and added a pass breakup while once again playing with the type of fight we've seen from him since the season started. He even left briefly after getting banged up and returned to the game.

One thing is becoming pretty clear with Robertson: he's going to keep competing no matter what is happening around him.

Rasul Douglas

Douglas gave Washington its second takeaway of the afternoon when he intercepted Jones in the second quarter with the Commanders still leading 6-0.

He finished with six tackles and a pass breakup to go along with the interception, and once again put the offense in position to do something with an extra possession. Washington went four-and-out instead. Douglas did his part.

Treylon Burks

This one doesn't need much explaining.

Burks caught one pass all afternoon, but it went for 47 yards and Washington's only touchdown. The score came immediately after Indianapolis had stretched its lead to 17-6 and gave the Commanders some life again at 17-13. One catch. One big one.

Former Rutgers Football QB Athan Kaliakmanis first NFL touchdown is a 47-yard bomb to Treylon Burks 🥹

👉 https://t.co/D8itI4EQhX pic.twitter.com/dl75pWLzmb
— Rutgers Scarlet Knights | The Knight Report (@RutgersOn3) October 4, 2026

Losers

Penalties

PENALTIES!!!

Washington finished with 10 of them for 84 yards. Indianapolis had one for five. That alone is ugly enough, but it was when some of Washington's penalties happened that really hurt.

Robertson's unnecessary roughness helped keep a Colts touchdown drive alive. An illegal shift erased what would have been an 87-yard touchdown to Antonio Williams in the third quarter, and Stefon Diggs later had a 21-yard reception wiped away by offensive pass interference.

You aren't going to beat many teams doing that to yourself.

Commanders LT Brandon Coleman on the penalties: "I mean, we say the same thing every week, like, we gotta fix it. But it's just bullshit. There’s stuff that we know we gotta do and there’s stuff that we gotta fix. I hate to say it, but, like, you always say that shit. Like, we…
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) October 4, 2026

Situational Offense

Washington moved the ball enough to make this game interesting. What it couldn't do was finish anything. The Commanders went 2-of-15 on third down, 1-of-4 on fourth down and didn't score a touchdown on either of their two trips into the red zone. Indianapolis, meanwhile, went 3-for-3 once it got inside Washington's 20. That's a pretty simple explanation for how one team can finish with more yards and still lose by 17.

Turning Takeaways Into Points

Washington's defense gave the offense two chances to put Indianapolis in a hole early.

Oweh's forced fumble and recovery gave the Commanders the ball at the Colts' 21. They got three points. Douglas' interception gave them another possession while leading 6-0, and it ended with Washington stuffed on fourth-and-one. Two takeaways. Three points.

Last week against Seattle, Washington showed exactly how much turnovers can change a game when you actually make the other team pay for them. This week was the opposite.

Running Game

Washington officially finished with 100 rushing yards, but that number needs some context. Marcus Mariota had 35 of them on one run before leaving the game, and Kaliakmanis added another 16. Washington's running backs combined for just 49 yards on 18 carries, with Jacory Croskey-Merritt held to 15 yards on nine attempts.

Austin Ekeler had 29 yards on four carries, but outside of him there just wasn't much happening on the ground.

Pass Protection

The Colts only finished with two sacks, which makes this look better on paper than it actually was.

Indianapolis was credited with 11 quarterback hits, and Kaliakmanis took his share of punishment after suddenly being thrown into his first NFL action. Mariota's knee injury also came on a sack in the first quarter. That's far too much heat on any quarterback, much less a rookie who wasn't expecting to play.

Injuries

As if Washington didn't already have enough of these. Mariota left with a knee injury and didn't return. Charles Omenihu was ruled out with a groin injury, and Jaylin Lane had to be carted off after suffering a lower-leg injury on a kickoff return. The Commanders entered the game already without Daniels, McLaurin, Rachaad White, Sam Cosmi, and Nick Cross.

Losing 30-13 was bad enough. What Washington's injury report looks like after returning from London could hurt even more.

Matt Gulbin

Gulbin got the start at right guard with Sam Cosmi out, and this wasn't the kind of opportunity he wanted to put on tape.

It's not fair to pin all of Washington's problems up front on one guy, but the Colts finished with 11 quarterback hits, while the Commanders' running backs managed just 49 yards on 18 carries. Gulbin was part of an offensive line that never let Washington get comfortable, especially after Athan Kaliakmanis was forced into the game.

By the end of the afternoon, Washington still had plenty of questions about how well the offensive line can hold up without Cosmi.

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Dan Quinn on giving Matt Gulbin the start pic.twitter.com/TGgD1MskRD
— Mitchell Tischler (@Mitch_Tischler) October 4, 2026

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