MADRID — To check whether there are cracks in the foundation of a team that represents the American capital, you have to travel this week across the Atlantic to the Spanish capital. Here, the Washington Commanders assembled Wednesday for their first practice ahead of the first NFL game to be staged in Spain. This was to be a celebration of America’s national sport. The local team arrived in chaos.
MADRID — To check whether there are cracks in the foundation of a team that represents the American capital, you have to travel this week across the Atlantic to the Spanish capital. Here, the Washington Commanders assembled Wednesday for their first practice ahead of the first NFL game to be staged in Spain. This was to be a celebration of America’s national sport. The local team arrived in chaos.
Five straight losses will make the sturdiest franchise wobble. What has happened over the past month — with the past four losses each by at least three touchdowns — can make you wonder whether the franchise was stable in the first place.
“We’re 3-7,” said backup quarterback Marcus Mariota, who will start Sunday against the Miami Dolphins. “And that’s not anywhere near where we want to be.”
It’s where they are, which puts all of the questions on the table. Was last year a fluke? Or is this year the blip?
Think about when Commanders fans considered making this sojourn. When the game was announced in May, Washington was an NFL darling, a surprise NFC finalist with an adult general manager who seemed adept at roster construction, an introspective coach who doubled as a culture-builder and a comet of a young quarterback who made anything possible. Shelling out a few grand to see your exciting, contending team in an exotic destination could have seemed tempting, even logical.
Given all that, it’s almost inconceivable that the Commanders outfit that is practicing this week at the headquarters of Real Madrid, the soccer powerhouse, feels so unsteady. Adam Peters is still the general manager. Dan Quinn is still the coach. Jayden Daniels is still the quarterback — even if he’s on the shelf. This was supposed to be a showcase. Instead, the Commanders are in shambles.
Because of the style of the past three losses in particular — they were outscored 21-0 in the second half at Kansas City, then faced deficits of 28-0 and 22-3 against Seattle and Detroit, respectively — it’s reasonable to question every aspect of the organization. Is the roster merely depleted by injuries — Daniels will miss his fifth game Sunday, and that’s just the start of a never-ending list — or was it flawed to begin with? Is the coaching staff — with a kneecapped defensive coordinator in Joe Whitt Jr., who was just stripped of his play-calling duties by Quinn — suddenly unable to reach its players?
Did a 12-5, skip-through-the-daisies season somehow mask how much work remained to be done if Washington was going to become a perennial contender? Put differently: Do the astonishing struggles of the past month reveal foundational issues that were hidden a year ago, or is it merely about the same coaching staff and a similar roster executing better?
“I really feel it’s execution,” Quinn said Wednesday. “I do feel like it. And the reason why: I’ve seen where it hits good, and I’ve seen where it doesn’t. So had we not seen where we can hit the marks, I’d feel otherwise. So that’s what we’re digging in hard on.”
In some ways, if it’s just execution, the current state of the union is more alarming. A lack of execution would mean a lack of communication either between the staff and the players during the week or the players on the field on Sundays. Or both.
The truth, though, is that there have been flaws in personnel and development along the way. Take wide receiver: Peters swung a bold trade for Deebo Samuel Sr. in the offseason, a move that was supposed to offset the loss of Olamide Zaccheaus and Dyami Brown in free agency.
With Terry McLaurin not practicing during training camp because of a contract dispute and Noah Brown out because of an injury, the receiving ranks looked thin. They have proved so. Zaccheaus and Dyami Brown combined for 75 catches a year ago. The pool of replacements — rookie Jaylin Lane, second-year man Luke McCaffrey and drifters Chris Moore, Treylon Burks and Robbie Chosen — has combined for 43. With McLaurin and Brown out because of injuries (and McCaffrey, now done for the year, joining them), the lack of backup weaponry is painfully apparent.
And that doesn’t even get to the defense, which has been so dreadful that change was mandatory. No team is giving up more than the Commanders’ 6.4 yards per play. Just two teams are allowing more than the Commanders’ 394.6 yards per game. Just three teams cough up more than Washington’s 28 points per game.
Now, the context: Washington lost Deatrich Wise Jr. and Dorance Armstrong, expected to be its top two pass rushers, for the season. Running back Austin Ekeler was done for the year in Week 2. Safety Will Harris hasn’t played since Week 3. McLaurin has played just parts of four games, Noah Brown just two. Cornerback Marshawn Lattimore won’t appear again (and we can debate whether that’s actually helpful), and rookie cornerback Trey Amos also is on injured reserve. Daniels may or may not come back from a dislocated elbow. It’s a lot.
“It’s a different season, and we’ve experienced a lot of challenges along the way with a lot of — unfortunately — a lot of guys going down and trying to [use the] next-man-up mentality type of thing,” said guard Sam Cosmi, who didn’t come back from a knee injury until Week 7. “That’s a difficult part for sure.”
It makes this year hard to assess. Is this a cursed season for a franchise that remains on the ascent? Or is this a team that a year ago jelled in a magical way but is too flawed to repeat it without a true rebuild?
That’s what this week against the Dolphins will help us answer. That’s what the six games after that are for. This week’s stage will be spectacular. But the Commanders could be christening NFL expansion to Mars and the issues would remain the same. They are real. They are extensive. No one is immune from scrutiny. Buenos dias? Not at the moment.
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