Washington Commanders: What Can Be Gained in Final Four Games in 'The Lost Season'?
The Washington Commanders started the season winning back-to-back games against the Arizona Cardinals and the Denver Broncos - but have won just twice since.
After such a promising start to the season, as the new ownership group gave the organization an injection of hope, belief, and enthusiasm for what is to come, that feeling quickly dissipated.
With Sam Howell charged with leading the offense, one can safely say that through 13 weeks, that decision has proved to be the right one.
While there are still ups and downs, Howell, for the most part, has shown that while he isn't an upper-echelon quarterback, he can be the face of the franchise for the foreseeable future.
Even defensive end Jonathan Allen said he sees Howell as the franchise quarterback for the next five to 10 years. So that's a feather in Washington's cap.
But while there has been some good to come from Washington's season, there has also been some bad as the team traded away defensive ends Chase Young and Montez Sweat as the team clearly has one eye on the future.
The Commanders defense is, statistically, the worst in the NFL for allowing points (30.4/g) and, in back-to-back games, has given up 45 points to the Dallas Cowboys and the Miami Dolphins.
The Commanders have four games left in the season to try and salvage something from a disappointing year.
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After defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio and defensive backs coach Brent Vieselmeyer were fired after the blowout loss to Dallas, it was a sign that things were changing in Washington.
With the season all but over, as Washington sits at 4-9, there is still plenty to gain from the last four games...if you want to look for it.
There will no doubt be an evaluation process of the players on the roster in the final four games so the organization can get a feel for who they want to take on the next phase of their journey and who they don't.
With the Los Angeles Rams, New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers, and the Dallas Cowboys, the Commanders can play the role of party pooper as both the 49ers and Cowboys are in the race for the NFC.
While this year hasn't been an overall success, the Commanders have four games to salvage something from the season.
It's not much to hang your hat on, but at least it's something.
