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Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota.
If you would have told a Washington Commanders fan before the season there was a world in which they’d be eliminated from the playoffs one month before the end of the regular season … those might have been considered fighting words.
Headed into Week 14 of the regular season, the the idea of being eliminated from the playoffs now probably seems more like sweet relief than anything else.
According to Bleacher Report, there are multiple scenarios in which the Commanders can be eliminated as they travel to face the Minnesota Vikings.
From B/R: “The 2025 season for the Commanders has been a huge disappointment, with injuries to key players largely at the center of their struggles. After reaching the NFC Championship Game last season, the Commanders could be eliminated from playoff contention as soon as Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings. Even if they manage to win that game, the Philadelphia Eagles not losing on Monday Night Football against the Los Angeles Chargers will knock them out.”
The Commanders are 3-9 overall and losers of 7 consecutive games, including a 27-26 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos at home in Week 13.
Injuries to 2 Best Players Derailed Commanders
The Commanders went 12-5 in the regular season in 2024 and advanced to the NFC Championship Game, where they lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
It was the best season for the Commanders since their last Super Bowl win following the 1991 season and stoked the fires for a possible Super Bowl run in 2025.
If we are getting down to the bare bones of it, injuries to the 2 most important players on the roster derailed the season for the Commanders.
Washington left 2024 thinking it had perhaps the NFL’s best quarterback-wide receiver duo in Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin. They’ll end 2025 being in the conversation for the NFL’s most disappointing quarterback-wide receiver duo.
One year after a virtuoso season that was among the best rookie years in NFL history, Daniels is out for the third time with injuries this season as he recovers from a dislocated left elbow in a Week 9 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. This injury follows a knee sprain suffered in a Week 2 loss to the Green Bay Packers and a hamstring injury in a Week 7 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Headed into Week 14, Daniels has missed 6 games in which the Commanders have gone 1-5 with Marcus Mariota as the starter.
Before 2024, McLaurin had only missed 3 games in 6 NFL seasons and hadn’t missed a game since 2020. Coming off arguably the best season of his career in 2024 with 83 receptions for 1,096 yards and a franchise record 13 touchdowns, McLaurin earned NFL All-Pro honors for the first time then found himself engaged in a nasty contract dispute.
While the saga ended with McLaurin getting his way in the form of a 3-year, $97 million contract extension, it forced him to miss the entire offseason and almost all of training camp.
That rust showed when McLaurin took the field. While he seemed close to 100 percent with 7 receptions for 96 yards and 1 touchdown against the Broncos, he’s missed a career high 7 games this season.
“The Commanders put up a valiant effort in their overtime loss to Denver,” Washington Times columnist Thom Leverro wrote on X. “But valiant losses often measure losing franchises. The Commanders need to leave those standards behind.”
Tony Adame covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame
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