Most people would think that a team would come off a bye week well-rested and prepared. That certainly was not the case for Dan Quinn’s Commanders. Washington was sloppy from start to finish and nearly gave this game away to a wounded New Orleans team. Thankfully, the two-point conversion went just inches wide, preserving the victory for a Washington team who now has their first winning season since 2016.

Despite the one-point victory, this didn’t feel like a win. Washington battled the Saints, the refs and themselves all game. They missed opportunities, committed costly mistakes and looked far from a playoff team. One thing I can say with confidence – if they play like this against the Eagles, the outcome will not be as favorable.

Below are my Studs and Duds of the game followed by some notes.

Studs:

Jayden Daniels – I know some may disagree with this, as Daniels missed a few “should-have-been” easy touchdowns to McLaurin, but we don’t win this game without #5 under center. He made some amazing plays to avoid pressure and either complete a key pass or run for a big gain or first down. Had he and Terry been on the same page all game, and had the refs called a fair game, he’d likely have well over 300 passing yards and four touchdowns.

Terry McLaurin – Even with the drop that would have went for an easy touchdown, I am still giving Terry stud status for the game. That contested catch he had in the endzone was a thing of beauty, and he did lead all receivers with seven catches for 73 yards and two scores.

Mike Sainristil – The rookie defensive back played a really nice game. He had an interception and just missed another one. He had five tackles, two passed defended and an interception on the afternoon.

Jeremy Chinn – Chinn had a solid game defensively, leading the team with seven tackles (five solo), while posting two tackles for a loss, a sack, and three pressures.

Duds:

Shawn Hochuli and his Island of Misfit Toys – This was one of the worst officiated games I have seen all season, and there is zero doubt in my mind that “someone” had some big money riding on this contest. The bogus roughing the passer calls, the blatantly missed intentional grounding on Spencer Rattler, the non-call on the obvious pass interference on the deep ball to Terry, and the egregious clock mismanagement at the end of the game that gave the Saints an extra four seconds! Purely pathetic – and this “crew” needs to be investigated by the league for this!

From the pool report on the clock being stopped:

Referee Shawn Hochuli said, “The covering official mistakenly stopped that clock. The clock should not have stopped.”

Hochuli said “it is not a situation that is reviewable.”

— John Keim (@john_keim) December 15, 2024

Michael Deiter – It’s hard to tell just how much a good center is missed until he’s not in the game. Tyler Biadasz is a very good center, and his presence yesterday was very sorely missed. Michael Deiter was absolutely awful and shouldn’t be on an NFL roster.

Nick Allegretti – Although not as bad as Deiter, Allegretti was nonetheless bad. He blew multiple blocks, allowed two sacks and was called for a hold.

Tyler Ott – He had another worm-burner on the 54yd miss by Joseph. Someone on this coaching staff needs to put him on notice.

Kliff Kingsbury – I know many of you will give Kliff a “pass” because we did get the win, and because we had some opportunities that were just fumbled away or missed – however, coming off a bye week, I did not like the game plan. You can go argue with your uncle!

Notes:

Marshon Lattimore didn’t record a stat in the game – but that’s because he was not targeted once!
Brandon Coleman remains a work in progress. He has the athleticism, but his hands don’t match his feet. I think he’d be a better right tackle or left guard.

I think we can all see why Darrick Forest doesn’t start and was inactive for a bunch of games this season.

Bobby Wagner didn’t stuff the stat sheet this game, but the pressures he had on the Saints’ quarterbacks were huge.
Daron Payne only recorded two tackles, but one was a sack and the other a tackle for a loss. He also had a batted down pass.

Fowler’s two roughing the passer calls were very costly, however the second one was a horrible call by the refs.

Benjamin St-Juste was only in for a limited number of snaps, but he made sure to get called for an illegal hands to the face penalty.
Frankie Luvu having no tackles was as surprising to me as it is to those who are reading this, but he was just a hair away from having a monster game. He had two quarterback hits, three hurries, one batted down pass and just missed a sack and easy interception. He’s so good he can disrupt a game even when he doesn’t stuff the stat sheet.

Cornelius Lucas should be playing over Andrew Wylie.
Greg Joseph was 2/3 on his field goal attempts. The only reason he’s not on the Duds list is because of the bad snap by Ott.