Naughty or nice: 2024 Washington Commanders

Nice: Sunday’s game

Poor sportsmanship aside, Washington’s improbable win over Philadelphia was a game that Commanders fans will remember for years. It was the team’s third consecutive win and officially eliminated the rival Dallas Cowboys from playoff contention.

Meanwhile, Washington all but assured a spot in the playoffs where they’re likely to face the Eagles once again, according to ESPN’s “Playoff Machine” feature.

Naughty: Marshon Lattimore

The Commanders traded third, fourth and sixth-round picks to get Lattimore from the New Orleans Saints, but a hamstring injury kept the four-time Pro Bowl cornerback on the sidelines, and Washington lost three of its next four games.

Lattimore debuted against his old team in Week 15 and looked good against Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown on Sunday. However, he had two costly pass interference penalties in the third quarter before leaving the game with another hamstring injury.

The team can release Lattimore in the offseason with no dead money on its salary cap but that’s highly unlikely for a team that gave up a league-worst 262.2 passing yards per game last season. 

Nice: The Hail Mary

Trailing the Bears 15-12 with 25 seconds left in Week 8, Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels completed a trio of short passes before sending a 52-yard prayer toward the end zone as time expired.

While the ball didn’t quite reach the goal line, it bounced off the outstretched hands of Chicago cornerback Tyrique Stevenson and into the arms of Commanders wide receiver Noah Brown, giving Washington an 18-15 victory.

Ironically, Daniels never saw the catch. 

“I just heard people screaming and our sideline rushing the field. That’s how I knew,” said Daniels. “That’s kind of like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Not too many people get to experience stuff like that.”

Naughty: Emmanuel Forbes

The Commanders had high hopes for Forbes when they selected him 16th overall in the 2023 NFL Draft, but less than two years later, in Week 13, Washington cut ties with the 23-year-old cornerback.

Washington took Forbes one spot ahead of Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez, playing at a Pro Bowl level despite missing his rookie season with a shoulder injury. Meanwhile, Forbes had seven starts in 20 appearances as a Commander.

Nice: The RFK site

Over the weekend, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan bill allowing the federal government to lease more than 170 acres of land to the district at the site where RFK Stadium resides and where Commanders' ownership would like to build a new stadium.

The NFL called the surprise vote "an important breakthrough" in a statement: "Washington, D.C., will now have a long-overdue seat at the table when it comes to the location of a new Commanders stadium."

While nothing is guaranteed, the move dramatically increases the chances of the Commanders building a new stadium on the site.