A collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders
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Commanders.com
Commanders sign WR Chris Moore to practice squad
Moore, a 2016 fourth-round pick by the Baltimore Ravens in 2016, has played in 111 games with 18 starts. He has caught 138 passes on 215 targets for 1,710 yards and eight touchdowns. In addition to the Ravens, Moore has appeared in games for the Houston Texans, Tennessee Titans and Arizona Cardinals. Moore has appeared in five games this season.
Moore played four seasons at the University of Cincinnati from 2012-15. During that span, Moore, made 119 catches for 2,301 yards and 26 touchdowns, including a career-high of nine in 2013. Moore is sixth in program history in receiving yards and first in receiving touchdowns. He is also tied for the most receiving touchdowns in a single game for Cincinnati — a feat he accomplished with three scores against Ohio State in 2014.
Washington Post (paywall)
The Commanders’ unsung Sheldon Day has fortified the defensive front
The reliable reserve has shown he deserves to play, even as star Jonathan Allen nears a return.
When the season opened in September, Sheldon Day was just a contingency. The veteran defensive tackle signed to the Washington Commanders’ practice squad, providing an experienced option should anything happen to starters Jonathan Allen or Daron Payne.
Now deep into the season with the playoffs in reach, Day, a fourth-round pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2016, has emerged as a key piece of Washington’s defensive line, filling in while Allen recovered from surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle to provide stability and consistency to the Commanders’ defensive front.
“He was a guy that when he did his workout, I was like, ‘Okay, he’s a little small,’” defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. said of the 6-foot-1, 285-pound Day. “And I like big guys. I don’t like a bunch of little guys. But he plays thick and heavy, and he’s right where he needs to be. He’ll throw his hands. … He understands the blocking schemes and what’s coming at him, the lean and the balance of the offensive linemen if it’s run-pass. He gets all that. He’s been a very important part to our defense.”
The Commanders allowed 169 net rushing yards and an average of 6.2 yards per carry before contact to the Eagles in the first half. Saquon Barkley accounted for most of those yards, including a 68-yard touchdown, his second in the first quarter.
“A guy should never run that far without being touched,” Whitt said. “In the second half — actually, after that play — I said, ‘Okay, we’re just going to run pressure.’
Washington called more run blitzes at Philadelphia in the second half, holding it to 42 rushing yards and only 0.6 yards before contact per rush.
Day’s reliability up front was a significant factor.
Sheldon Day in the second half against the Eagles last weekend … pic.twitter.com/mOaLRHhx79
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) December 26, 2024
Commanders.com
Practice notes | Commanders get ready for new wrinkles with Penix under center for Falcons
Penix was one of the quarterbacks who visited the Commanders’ facility during the draft process this offseason. Washington, who held the No. 2 overall pick, wanted to consider all their options before deciding on which signal-caller to take, and Penix had just wrapped up a college career that was worth consideration. After four seasons at Indiana, Penix transferred to the University of Washington and had back-to-back 4,000-yard seasons, including 4,903 yards in 2023 with 36 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
In a rare moved for a team vying for a playoff spot this late in the season, the Falcons benched Cousins in favor of rookie Michael Penix Jr., who was taken with the No. 8 overall pick but not expected to be in a position to play for at least another year. Penix is now in position to help the Falcons take the NFC South crown this season but will likely need to win out to do so.
Even with a small sample size, Penix provides the Commanders with another wrinkle to account for in what will be a pivotal game for them as well.
Audacity
Austin Ekeler gives Danny & Lynnell some insight into Commanders’ comeback win over Philly
Austin Ekeler continues to feel better as he recovers from a major concussion and its associated upper body issues, and feeling really good mentally after watching his Commanders brothers come back from a big deficit to beat the Eagles on Sunday.
“It’s important for really the whole team to keep its composure, and I think it actually tells you a lot about your team if you’re able to go through some adversity and you see your team keeping its composure and people not blaming or yelling or getting discouraged down the sideline,” Ekeler told Danny & Lynnell Tuesday. “It’s not a good feeling, absolutely, and we’re human so we’re emotional. But we feel like, okay, we have to come back, and you see us staying together, everyone picking each other up, words of encouragement. When you see that on the sideline, it’s really encouraging, and means you got a good culture and a good team that you’re part of.”
These Commanders never quit and never say die, no matter the circumstances.
Fighter jets, calls to the Air Force secretary, last minute negotiating with senators from Utah and Montana, a pledge to spruce up Park Service land in D.C., and a lot of praying: How the RFK bill passed (via @Meagan_Flynn, @ErinatThePost and @Sam4TR) https://t.co/XCL9p7WsZ9
— Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) December 25, 2024
Commanders Wire
Commanders DT Jonathan Allen ‘ready to play’ in Week 17 vs. Falcons
Allen met with the media after Thursday’s practice and was asked if the plan was for him to play on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.
“To my knowledge, it is, but I don’t wanna speak for them,” Allen said. “Obviously, we’ll see moving forward, I’m preparing as if I’m playing, so we’ll go from there.”
Allen, who is in his eighth NFL season — all with Washington — has been a part of several losing teams. So, was it hard for to miss this time when the team is actually good?
“Whenever you’re not out there with the team, it’s always tough,” Allen said. “But knowing all the guys in the locker room, it’s exciting for them and I knew there was going to be an opportunity for me to come back.”
Hogs Haven
Commanders Wildcard Watch – Week 17 2024 – Will the Commanders have the 6th or 7th seed in the NFC playoffs?
Commanders now have a 94% chance of making the playoffs
The playoff seeding scenarios are pretty simple now. The Commanders have four mathematically possible outcomes to the regular season:
- They can still miss the playoffs entirely
- They can earn the 7th seed
- They can earn the 6th seed
- They can still win the division and the #2 seed (though it is the least likely of the four outcomes)
Let’s find out what would have to happen for each of these to occur.
Missing the playoffs entirely
The Commanders will get into the playoffs with a win or a tie in either of their two remaining games.
To miss the playoffs entirely, the Commanders would have to lose to both the Falcons at home in Landover this week AND to the Cowboys in Dallas next week, dropping them to 10-7 on the season.
But that’s not all…
The only team that can still displace the Commanders from the 7th seed is the Buccaneers, and the ONLY way that can happen is if the Falcons and Buccaneers BOTH finish 2-0 to end the season with identical 10-7 records. Atlanta would win the division title and the Bucs would be tied with Washington in the wildcard race at 10-7; however, Tampa Bay holds the tie-break advantage because of their Week 1 victory over the Commanders.
Commanders.com
METRO And Washington Commanders Partner to Provide Extended Service After Sunday Night Game Against Falcons
Metro will provide extended service to ensure everyone can effectively plan their travel after the conclusion of Sunday night’s game between the Washington Commanders and the Atlanta Falcons.
After the game, Downtown Largo and Morgan Blvd stations will take fans anywhere they need to go in the rail system. The last trains will be held at transfer stations, allowing customers to make connections to any of Metro’s 98 stations.
- Fans who choose to catch the last Silver Line train at Downtown Largo should arrive to the station before 12:32 a.m.
- Fans who choose to catch the last Silver Line train at Morgan Blvd should arrive to the station before 12:35 a.m.
All customers who arrive at Morgan Boulevard and Downtown Largo by the last train times will be accommodated. During the extended service period, fans can only enter at Downtown Largo and Morgan Boulevard, the stations closest to Northwest Stadium. All other stations will be exit only. Customers should be advised that the walk between Northwest Stadium and the Morgan Boulevard and Downtown Largo stations can take more than 20 minutes, depending on crowds and other factors.
Upcoming opponent
The Falcoholic
Schefter: The leaguewide expectation is that Kirk Cousins expected to be cut this offseason
The veteran quarterback seems unlikely to stick around as a backup.
With sources in other front offices and likely armed with intel from Cousins’ agent, Schefter suggests that…the Falcons will move on from Cousins ahead of March 17, when a $10 million roster bonus guarantees. The widespread expectation across the league, he reports, is that the Falcons will have to cut Cousins and send him into the open market, with a similar situation to Russell Wilson after he was cut by the Broncos.
Cousins [has] rapidly become an albatross for this team’s 2024 season.
Naturally, the Falcons are not willing to call it a day on any scenario, with an unnamed team official telling Schefter they could actually keep Cousins given Penix’s modest cap hit. If Cousins is unhappy and still wants to start—and every indication we have at this point suggests that—then that’s probably not going to happen.
A Falcons official told ESPN on Saturday morning that it was too early to determine whether the organization would release Cousins. The official added that Penix’s relatively low salary cap number for 2025 ($5.2 million) gives the Falcons the financial flexibility to potentially keep Cousins.
This all suggests a potentially messy situation, but we should also remember that unnamed league executives have zero reason to do the Falcons any favors and potentially one big reason to work to create an environment in which Cousins’ release seems inevitable.
The smart money likely is on the Falcons cutting Cousins with a post-June 1 designation to lessen their 2025 cap hit—we’re talking about $40 million potentially offset by the salary a signing team give Cousins versus $65 million for a pre-June 1 cut—but much can happen between now and March to challenge those assumptions. The problem for Atlanta is that there is no inexpensive scenario here, and the fact that Cousins did not even survive a year of his contract makes this the latest in al long line of quarterback-related fiascoes for this football team.
Podcasts & videos
On video with @RealBramW talking more about Jayden Daniels: is he a top 5 qb right now? On the magnitude of Sunday’s game, the atmosphere we expect. Much more. @ESPNRichmond https://t.co/brs5ZCpuML
— John Keim (@john_keim) December 26, 2024
New episode:
* Playoff picture
* Jon Allen is ready to play
* What if Marshon Lattimore is OUT Sunday?
* What happened with Zach Ertz and Tony Sirianni?
* Falcons matchup
* No, Atlanta did not get it right with its QB plan
* McLaurin, Wylie, Dyamihttps://t.co/Lo8zq54eXN— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) December 27, 2024