Not only did the Washington Commanders look helpless against Sam Darnold, but they also lost their franchise quarterback to a gruesome elbow injury. And here are the Commanders most to blame for the embarrassing loss to the Seahawks.
Darnold fired four first-half touchdown passes as the Seahawks laughed their way to a 38-14 win over the Commanders, who must have signed a contract with a non-compete clause before this game.
Washington offered no resistance on defense, and the offense lacked any spark. But who is really to blame for this mess?
Commanders GM Adam Peters failed at roster construction
Basically, the Commanders had little to no shot against the Seahawks from the get-go. They had limited personnel available. And the only hope was for Daniels to be Superman.
But let’s dig into why the Commanders got to this place with their roster. Peters came to the decision that the best path to the playoffs and possibly the Super Bowl would be to surround Jayden Daniels with a bunch of old guys.
And when the 53-man roster was settled, here’s what Peters apparently thought would be wise: Let’s field the oldest team in the league. By far, according to PhillyVoice.com.
“The Washington Commanders have the oldest roster in the NFL this year, and by a wide margin at 28.1 years of age,” Jimmy Kempski wrote. “In fact, I've been calculating the average age of every team in the NFL at final cutdowns every year since 2012. And the two oldest teams previously were the 2023 Saints and 2018 Raiders, both at 27.4 years of age.
“A common ‘rebuttal’ by fans who don't want their team to be super old is usually something to the effect of, ‘Well, if you take out this guy or that guy, then their average age is lower.’ Of course, that premise can be applied to every other team, too. But in the case of the Commanders, they're old across the entire roster, with a staggering 25 players who are 29 years of age or older.”
Now, let’s consider what that means in NFL terms. Everybody, including Peters, should know that the NFL is a young man’s game. It should be obvious because of the way Jayden Daniels took the league by storm in 2024.
And it should be common sense that old in NFL terms means two things: slower, and banged up. Nobody gets through an NFL career without injuries. Sure, it’s good to have a veteran or two to stabilize things. But when you cram a roster full of veterans, you’re asking for what the Commanders have gotten this year. Injuries and poor play.
Let’s look at these things individually. The Commanders signed Deatrich Wise Jr., who had played eight NFL seasons without missing hardly any games. But at age 31 and his body wearing down, he played two games, and then his season ended because of injury. Shocking, right? No.
Washington brought in Dorance Armstrong Jr. in 2024. He had six years without missing many games. And he lasted 16 games for the Commanders. But this year, at age 28, he made it through only six games and a handful of snaps before his season ended.
Another “gem” from Peters was the long-term contract handed to Terry McLaurin. The 30-year-old receiver was, at best, in the final stages of his prime. To give him $97 million over three years is mind-boggling at that age. Let’s see what rate of return Peters and the Commanders get out of that. So far, it’s four games, 13 catches, and 203 yards. And McLaurin will likely be out until at least Week 12 because of his nearly season-long quad injury.
Noah Brown (29 years old) can’t get on the field. Austin Ekeler (30) is out for the season. Will Harris (29) has played in just three games because of injury.
Yes, younger guys get hurt, too. Daniels is a case in point. But Peters banked on an old roster, and now he simply looks silly.
QB Jayden Daniels showed no confidence in his receivers
In 2024, the Commanders could have lined up with a group of JUCO transfers at wide receiver. Daniels would have zipped passes to them like nobody’s business.
Remember the game against the Eagles at the end of the 2024 regular season? Daniels threw five touchdown passes, two each to Jamison Crowder and Olamide Zaccheaus. For the season, Crowder finished with two touchdowns. For the season, Zacchaeus totaled three touchdowns. It didn’t matter who Daniels had at the receiver position. He gunned it in there and made it work.
In Sunday night’s game, Daniels repeatedly took off running. That included an instance where he had rookie Jaylin Lane wide open for a touchdown. But Daniels didn’t see him, apparently because he was too busy looking for room to run instead of keeping his eyes down the field. Daniels finished with 10 carries on the night before the ugly-looking injury sent him to the locker room.
With a completion percentage of 62.5, Daniels hasn’t looked the same as he did in 2025. And part of that seems to be because he's afraid of throwing the football down the field.
Head coach Dan Quinn deserves blame
It would be wrong to let Quinn off the hook. The Commanders looked disheveled from the beginning against the Seahawks. Quinn looked helpless on the sideline. And a head coach simply can’t look that way.
Yes, Quinn tried to play the part of Mr. Positive when the Commanders fell behind 21-0 in the blink of an eye. But it’s obvious he has no answers.
Still, it’s the NFL. And coaches don’t get free passes just because of injuries. Teams have to be competitive no matter who they put on the field. And Quinn has to share some of the blame for the roster construction.
