Endgame Viable

Unlike week 5, where nobody in the NFC East won, in week 6, everybody in the NFC East lost.

I enjoyed watching the Philadelphia Eagles lose their fourth straight to the Carolina Panthers in the early game on Sunday. But it sucks about the Jalen Hurts blood clot. I had a blood clot scare myself. It’s no joke.

At the same time on another channel, the New Orleans Saints defeated the New York Giants, despite late game heroics from newly traded J.J. McCarthy of all people.

On Sunday night, the Dallas Cowboys traveled to Green Bay to play the Packers. It was a right thrashing and the Cowboys lost decisively.

It was the second week in a row where the NFC East was served on a platter to the Commanders. Monday was a day full of hope. All they had to do was beat the 49ers. The odds were slim, microscopic even, but that “any given Sunday” saying is real, right? After all, the hapless Cardinals actually beat the Rams on Sunday, and the Titans even won their first game of the season.

So, on Monday night, the Washington Commanders had the unenviable task of traveling all the way across the country to play the 5-0 San Francisco 49ers, the team most everyone ranks #1 in their power rankings, for the final NFC East game.

Pregame, I allowed myself to hope. I listened to sports radio analysis (which is on YouTube now) during the week that suggested that it was actually possible for Washington to pull off an upset. In the hours prior to the game I felt that giddy feeling of one possible future: The upset of a lifetime, the underdog knocking out the heavyweight, the craziest, most unbelievable win of week 6.

And then the game started. The 49ers marched down the field and scored with ease on the first possession. The Commanders were barely even in the first half. They looked like little children playing against the massive grown man bodies of the 49ers, like one set of players was twice as big and hitting twice as hard as the other, like the two teams belonged in completely different leagues. Every time a 49er caught a ball, there were no Commanders even on the screen, they were so wide open. Superstar Jayden Daniels was caught easily every time he tried to run. It was 20-3 at the half and the game wasn’t as close as the score might indicate.

Then there was the second half. It started much the same as the first, and it looked like the entire rest of the game would be garbage time, but then at the end of the third quarter, the Commanders decided to start playing tough and clawed their way tooth and nail to score two touchdowns. They had two chances to score a go-ahead touchdown at the end of the game, but failed both times.

Typical Washington. Chances galore. Dumb luck going their way. Penalties going their way. Can’t capitalize.

Also typical: Shooting themselves in the foot. They actually scored a game-changing touchdown on a first down run, but it was called back because of a facemask penalty.

Ah well. Final score 23-17. Two weeks in a row, nobody in the NFC East won a game. The only team going to the playoffs is going to be the division winner.

Next up for the Commanders is a bye week, then Philadelphia at home, then the Rams at home, then a road game at the Giants. The way those teams are playing this year, those are all winnable games on paper, and two chances for the Commanders to claw their way from the cellar of a terrible division.

P.S. Man, Commanders fans are rabid for Dan Quinn to get fired. I just can’t get into that kind of sports fandom. Can you even imagine being so deep into confirmation bias that you’re convinced the head coach of a professional football team didn’t know it was fourth down? The dude’s not going to get fired in the middle of the season and why would you want that kind of chaos for your team anyway. They’ve got too much to deal with already.

P.P.S. The big stars in the national sports commentary media are big time snarky trolly provocateurs. Watching anything sports-opinion-related on ESPN during the week, for example, is complete toxic brain rot. Even the normally sane, but aging old school Sportscenter guys are on the “did he actually not know it was fourth down” train.