Washington Commanders Never Threaten, Trail Drake Maye-Led Patriots at Halftime

Our halftime look in to the Washington Commanders' preseason finale against the New England Patriots.

David Harrison | Aug 25, 2024

Aug 25, 2024; Landover, Maryland, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) throws a pass during the first quarter against the Washington Commanders during a preseason game at Commanders Field. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports / Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

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LANDOVER, Md -- The Washington Commanders and New England Patriots got together to wrap up the NFL preseason for themselves, but also for the entire league as the last game played before the regular season ramp-up truly begins.

Of course, we knew beforehand that starters like Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels wouldn't be playing, and before the game we got a more comprehensive list from the team itself.

Washington announced pregame the following players would not appear in the team's final preseason game:

Quarterbacks Jayden Daniels, Marcus Mariota, and Sam Hartman

Wide Receivers Dyami Brown, Luke McCaffrey, Terry McLaurin, and Jamison Crowder

Cornerbacks Mike Sainristil, Emmanuel Forbes Jr., Michael Davis, and Benjamin St-Juste

Linebackers Frankie Luvu, Dante Fowler Jr., Bobby Wagner, and Jordan Magee

Running Backs Brian Robinson Jr. and Austin Ekeler

Safeties Jeremy Chinn, Quan Martin, and Percy Butler

Center Tyler Biadasz

Guard Nick Allegretti, and Sam Cosmi

Offensive Tackles Andrew Wylie, Trent Scott, Brandon Coleman, and Cornelius Lucas

Tight Ends Ben Sinnott, Zach Ertz, and John Bates

Defensive Ends Dorance Armstrong and Clelin Ferrell

Defensive Tackles Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, and Jer'Zhan Newton

Those 35 players are presumed to be landing on the active roster by the time 4 p.m. ET rolls around on Tuesday, but that also left several spots open for one final competition.

Among those battling for what might be the last roster spot are defensive ends KJ Henry and Javontae Jean-Baptiste, both of whom who had pressures early in the first half. Henry was able to turn his pressure into a sack that appeared to have knocked Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett out of the game.

Coming in second, rookie quarterback Drake Maye orchestrated a touchdown drive that gave New England an early 7-0 lead, but also featured two fumbled snaps.

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye vs. the Washington Commanders.

Cornerback Noah Igbinoghene was in coverage on the play and had a chance to tackle running back Kevin Harris but came up empty handed after diving for his feet and the ball-carrier took it the rest of the way for the opening score of the game.

The score stayed there and wasn't threatened with a change until midway through the second quarter when Commanders quarterback Jeff Driskel threw a pass intended for receiver Mitchell Tinsley at the Washington 45-yard line that was intercepted by Patriots linebacker Joe Giles-Harris. An illegal blindside block during the return moved the ball back to the New England 44-yard line however, and a holding penalty two plays later moved it even further back.

That drive ended in a punt, and the score remained intact with Washington trailing by one score. It wasn't all good news for the defensive unit however, as safety Jeremy Reaves had a fighting chance to bring in an interception of his own but ultimately was unable to come up with the takeaway - something that defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. surely wasn't happy about.

The subsequent Commanders drive was their best of the half moving down to the New England 42 yard line at the two minute warning. Unfortunately the drive stalled, and once again the Commanders punted the ball away.

As we enter halftime with a 7-0 score it wasn't from lack of trying. With two seconds left in the half the Patriots trotted out former Washington kicker Joey Slye for a 64-yard attempt that fell short and went wide left anyway.

It was a relatively uneventful first half, and even worse new Washington kicker Cade York got no opportunities to show he's the right man for the job. So we move into the second half hoping for a little more action, and maybe the chance to get a look at some deciding moments for guys fighting to stay on the roster Tuesday afternoon.

Stick with CommanderGameday and the Locked On Commanders podcast for more FREE coverage of the Washington Commanders throughout the 2024 season.

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Published Aug 25, 2024

DAVID HARRISON

David Harrison has covered the NFL since 2015 as a digital content creator in both written and audio media. He is the host of Locked On Commanders and a graduate of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University. His previous career was as a Military Working Dog Handler for the United States Army. Contact David via email at david.w.harrison82@gmail.com or on Twitter @DHarrison82.