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Commanders Projected To Take Step Back Next Season

Bonisiwe Shabane
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commanders projected to take step back next season

The Washington Commanders were one of the best teams in the NFL this past season, but that doesn't mean things are guaranteed to stay that way. ESPN analyst Aaron Schatz listed the Commanders as the team most likely to take a step back for the 2025 season. READ MORE: Super Bowl in D.C.? Mayor says it’s possible with a new Commanders stadium "When a team pulls off a magical run to the conference championship despite not being one of the two or three best teams in the conference, you usually see a step back the following... And when quarterbacks are as good as Jayden Daniels was as a rookie, they usually don't take the step forward that fans expect because they're already very good and there's not much room to...

The Commanders set a high bar in Daniels' first year that will make it far to reach again in 2025. However, they have the culture set in place and the quarterback geared up for the future, and that's always the hard part. The Washington Commanders hit the jackpot by selecting Jayden Daniels with the second overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. The quarterback completely changed the franchise and took them to their first NFC Championship Game in 33 years, raising the fanbase’s expectations significantly for the 2025 NFL season. But they may be up for yet another same-old disappointing season in 2025, and one analyst predicts that Washington will fail to win 10 games after their 12-win 2024 campaign. Daniels and the Commanders won 12 games this past season and pulled off a huge upset in the Divisional Round against the Detroit Lions.

The NFC East team’s quarterback is already viewed as one of the best players at his position (2024 QB+ grade: 85.3, ninth in the NFL), and the future looks bright in Washington. However, PFSN’s Kyle Soppe boldly predicted that their 2025 season will not be as bright as their last and that they will fail to win 10 games. While the Commanders ranked an impressive sixth in PFSN’s Offense+ metric, they led for less than 57.5% of their offensive snaps; per Soppe, it’s not a good sign for their next campaign. “Washington was the ninth team in the 17-game regular season era to win 11+ games despite holding the lead for under 57.5% of its offensive snaps, and unless Jayden Daniels is ready to be... Last season, the Washington Commanders saw an eight-game win increase from their 2023 total, going from 4-13 to 12-5. However, could Dan Quinn and his team suffer a setback in 2025 and be a squad that misses the playoffs?

On Friday's edition of "Pro Football Talk," NBC Sports NFL analyst Chris Simms sees Washington taking a step back this upcoming season and being one of the NFC teams that fails to get back... "I am expecting a little bit of a drop-off from the Commanders," Simms said. "One, their schedule is hard. They're not going to catch everybody by surprise. People are just going to study in the offseason how to defend Jayden Daniels in this offense a little bit. The first-year energy of a new coach is gone."

Daniels made the transition from college to the pros look seamless as the Commanders felt the impact of their young signal caller. While many expect the 24-year-old to take another step in his growth, he could be without his No. 1 target from last season, Terry McLaurin, to start the campaign. MORE: Terry McLaurin activated, but tension remains in Washington What will Jayden Daniels do for an encore after winning the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year Award in 2024? After leading the Washington Commanders to the 2024 NFC title game, can the star quarterback take the team one step further in 2025?

The last time Washington appeared in a Super Bowl was 1992. The Commanders face a daunting 2025 schedule — the eighth-toughest in the league based on opponents' winning percentage last year — that includes five prime-time games, a trip to Madrid and a Christmas Day... Washington's road slate includes the Packers, Chargers, Chiefs and Vikings — all playoff teams last season. And in the final three weeks of the regular season, the Commanders play four straight games against NFC East rivals, including the Super Bowl-champion Eagles twice. Bottom line: Daniels & Co. have an uphill climb to duplicate the success of last year.

Let's break down their season week by week. Head coach Dan Quinn gets his first look at a New York offense led by Russell Wilson, with whom he teamed up to win a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks. Daniels will have to contend with talented edge rusher Abdul Carter, the No. 3 overall pick in the draft. But the Commanders swept the season series with their NFC East rivals last year and have won four of the past six games. They'll continue to have the Giants’ number here.

Washington’s first prime-time game of the season is in Green Bay, where the Commanders have a 5-13-1 all-time record. The last time Washington won in Green Bay was 1986. Packers QB Jordan Love has a new weapon in the passing game with speedy first-round receiver Matthew Golden. The Commanders do get the benefit of playing in Green Bay in late summer, avoiding cold weather, but they still take a loss. Now that we know the entirety of the 2025 NFL regular season schedule, we can start breaking down the games and each team's chances of success this season. We already know the Commanders' schedule is more difficult than it was last year when they played a fourth-place schedule.

As the NFC runner-up, their schedule changes as well. We also have to remember that it's Jayden Daniels' second season, and many expect a 'sophomore slump' from the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year. It happens with many players every year, but not necessarily every player. And Daniels is aware that this is the perception and will work hard not to let that happen. Still, it's in the back of everyone's heads, which is probably why Bleacher Report predicts that the Commanders will only win 10 games in 2025. The Washington Commanders made the biggest leap between 2023 and 2024, considering their playoff run to the NFC Championship Game.

Quarterback Jayden Daniels won the 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year award in a season of spectacular plays and late-game heroics. With a stronger supporting cast, Daniels will continue to ascend as one of the league's top young quarterbacks. Washington strengthened its pass protection, acquiring five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil from the Houston Texans and taking offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr. in the first round of the draft, though the latter has to transition from the left to the right side of the line. Pro Football and Sports Network covers all the major professional sports, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, Tennis, WNBA, NASCAR, and more. The Washington Commanders hit the jackpot by selecting Jayden Daniels with the second overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft .

The quarterback completely changed the franchise and took them to their first NFC Championship Game in 33 years, raising the fanbase’s expectations significantly for the 2025 NFL season. But they may be up for yet another same-old disappointing season in 2025, and one analyst predicts that Washington will fail to win 10 games after their 12-win 2024 campaign. Daniels and the Commanders won 12 games this past season and pulled off a huge upset in the Divisional Round against the Detroit Lions. The NFC East team’s quarterback is already viewed as one of the best players at his position (2024 QB+ grade : 85.3, ninth in the NFL), and the future looks bright in Washington. However, PFSN’s Kyle Soppe boldly predicted that their 2025 season will not be as bright as their last and that they will fail to win 10 games. While the Commanders ranked an impressive sixth in PFSN’s Offense+ metric , they led for less than 57.5% of their offensive snaps; per Soppe, it’s not a good sign for their next campaign.

The Commanders were a team on the rise entering the 2025 season, but nearly everything has gone wrong. Perry Knotts / Getty Images ASHBURN, Va. — It’s never just one thing. Never just one decision or one play. It’s never just one game, even.

It’s always a collection of smaller things that decide an NFL season. The 2024 Washington Commanders seemed to find all the right things — on the field and off. They found their quarterback of the future in Jayden Daniels, found two other new starters in the draft, found veterans eager to lead and prove they still had it, and quickly found their identity... There was some luck, no doubt. Had six plays — six — ended differently, the Commanders might have finished last season 6-11 and watched the playoffs from home. A couple of injuries alone could have easily caused that.

But Washington didn’t finish 12-5 and a win away from the Super Bowl purely by happenstance. Too many concrete steps had to be reached for it to achieve that success after overhauling its staff and roster months prior.

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