Fast forward to Week 17, and the Commanders have certainly become a team with a winning football culture and defied all pundits’ expectations. For the first time since 2020, Washington clinched a playoff berth with the defeat of the Atlanta Falcons, 30-24, in a thrilling overtime win.
“We knew it was going to be a big game,” Armstrong said postgame. “All week we knew what we had to come here and do. We got the job done and we’re happy. We still have work to do but we’re going to use that as momentum for sure.”
After the win, the locker room was abuzz with music blasting and players embracing one another. It was hard for punter Tress Way to put into words just how special a post-season appearance is to him. Having been on the team since 2014, Way is the longest-tenured player on the roster and is embracing the moment, as well as the fans’ buy-in to the Commanders’ new winning culture.
“I think the coolest part, and the thing the fans have really gotten behind, is that we just win,” Way said in the locker room after the game. “We have 11 wins, like, what? I love the way D.Q. talks to us. Every week is not going to be cookie cutter, it’s not always going to be the same, we’re going to need a play here, we’re going to need a play there, offense, defense, special teams. It does help when you have No. 5 [quarterback Jayden Daniels] on your team, that dude’s pretty frickin’ good, so it is just this attitude.
“Like he came in and talked to us and he said, ‘What I love about you guys is that you’re never out of the fight.’ We were all pissed off at halftime. We didn’t see it going this way, let’s get it going. And everybody just fights, it’s so fun and we’re frickin’ going to the postseason. We’ve got Dallas again, but it’s just such a special room to be a part of, a special organization to be a part of, and that environment out there with the fans tonight — that was so cool. I’m getting chills thinking about it. It was loud, crazy, so I’m very thankful.”