On Monday evening, the Washington Commanders will hit the road to take on the Kansas City Chiefs in front of a nationally-televised audience in what will be the lone NFL game of the day. The Commanders have struggled so far this season, currently sitting at 3-4 ahead of the matchup against Kansas City, who also has not looked great.
Recently, the Commanders have been dealing with several injuries to key players, and that trend continued with the latest update ahead of Monday's tilt with the Chiefs.
“The #Commanders signed K Matthew Wright to the practice squad and elevated him for tonight’s game. K Matt Gay (back) has been downgraded to out,” reported NFL insider Ian Rapoport on X, formerly Twitter.
Gay has been one of the more reliable kickers in the league throughout his career, so not having him on Monday could play a big role for the Commanders, as well as potentially affecting head coach Dan Quinn's strategy about potentially going for it or not going for it on fourth downs (although Quinn is already one of the most aggressive coaches in the league in that department).
A frustrating season for the Commanders
Heading into the 2025 NFL season, many expected that the Washington Commanders would take at least a small step back due to the laws of variance working themselves out–last year, the Commanders won an inordinate amount of tightly-contested games that were likely not going to all go the same way this year.
However, few could have predicted the team being under the .500 mark almost halfway through the season. Of course, injuries have been a big part of the reason why, as everyone from quarterback Jayden Daniels to wide receiver Terry McLaurin has missed team so far this year.
Things won't get any easier for Washington on Monday as they take on a Chiefs team that looked awfully impressive in their last two wins over the Detroit Lions and Las Vegas Raiders.
The Raiders and Chiefs are slated to kick things off at 8:15 PM ET.
