By the Numbers: Washington Commanders
The Boston Braves/Boston Redskins/Washington Redskins/Washington Football Team/Washington Commanders have been playing professional football since 1932, and in their 92 seasons they played in six NFL championships, winning two – 1937 and 1942, and five Super Bowls, winning three of them – VII (14-7 loss to Miami), XVII (27-17 win over Miami), XVIII (38-8 loss to the Los Angeles Raiders), XXII (42-10 win over Denver) and XXVI (37-24 win over Buffalo). The Commanders are now 629-642-29 in the regular season and 23-20 in the playoffs, while currently in one of the worst stretches in franchise history, playing just two playoff games – losing both in the wild card round, in the last 10 seasons. Here is a look at the Commanders by the numbers before Sunday afternoon’s regular season finale at FedEx Field in North Englewood, MD.
17 – Washington cornerback Benjamin St-Juste has been picked on this season, but he has been up to the challenge. St-Juste has 17 pass break ups in 15 games, which is tied for third best in the NFL this season with New Orleans cornerback Paulson Adebo, and both are behind Jacksonville cornerback Darious Williams (19) and San Francisco cornerback Charvarius Ward (23). It is 10 more than he had last season, when he played 12 games for the Commanders. This season has been the best of his three in the NFL, as St-Juste has recorded career highs in tackles with 63 tackles – 48 solo, 15 assists, forced fumbles with two and interceptions with one. He also has one sack. Against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, St-Juste had just three tackles, the third lowest of his season.
35 – If the Cowboys punt on Sunday, they better be ready for a return. Washington punt returner Jamison Crowder has returned 35 of them this season, which is second in the NFL behind only Minnesota’s Brandon Powell (36), while calling just 14 times for a fair catch. It is the most returns in any of his seven seasons in the league. But while Crowder may try, he hasn’t been very successful. He has gained the sixth most yards by a punt returner this season, just a total of 278 yards, and that includes a 61-yard return against Atlanta in Week 6, which is ninth best in the NFL this season. In his career, Crowder has returned 130 punts for 1,055 yards and one touchdown – and 85-yard return for Washington against Baltimore in Week 5 of 2016. Against the Cowboys, Crowder has returned nine punts for 55 yards, with a 6.1-yard average and a long of 21 yards.
73 – The best player on the Washington offense, wide receiver Terry McLaurin has a chance to put up the second most catches in a season of his 5-year career. McLaurin sits at 73 catches, and with just five against Dallas, he will eclipse the 77 catches he made in 2021 and 2022 and his 2023 season will trail only the 87 catches he made in 2020. If McLaurin can rack up 54 yards receiving in the season finale, then he will break the 1,000-yard barrier for the fourth straight season. His 73 grabs have him currently ranked 25th in single-season receptions in team history, and with a double-digit catch game against Dallas his 2023 season could vault all the way into the top10 and into a tie for 10th with Chris Cooley, who caught 83 passes in 2008. Pierre Garcon holds the team record with 113 catches in 2013.
115 – On a defense that ranks dead last in the NFL this season, safety Kamren Curl is having the best season of his young career. In just his fourth season, Curl leads the Commanders with 115 tackles this season, which is only good enough for 29th in the league. However, he is just one of six safeties to rank in the top 30 in total tackles this season – along with Minnesota’s Camryn Bynum (15th, 130 tackles), Atlanta’s Jessie Bates (17th, 128 tackles), Los Angeles Chargers’ Derwin James (25th, 117 tackles), Tampa Bay’s Antoine Winfield (25th, 117 tackles) and Seattle’s Julian Love (27th, 116 tackles). Curl has played in all 16 games this season, racking up 74 solo tackles, 41 assisted tackles, 1 sack, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and five pass break ups. He has reached double digits in tackles four times this season – vs. Arizona (10), at Philadelphia (12), at Atlanta (11) and at Seattle (10). He had five tackles in the Commanders loss to Dallas earlier in the season.
126.5 – If the Cowboys want to get their running game going before the playoffs, they have one chance left in the regular season. Good thing they are taking on one that gives up just over 126 yards per game, which puts Washington as the 25th ranked run defense in the NFL. The Commanders have only kept three teams under 100 yards rushing in a game this season – 96 to Arizona in a Week 1 win, 59 to Philadelphia in a Week 8 loss and 91 to the New York Giants in a Week 11 loss. The Commanders have allowed more than 150 yards rushing five times this season, including their last three games – 196 in a Week 15 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, 164 in a Week 16 loss to the New York Jets and 184 in last week’s loss to San Francisco. Overall, the Commander have allowed 2,024 yards to teams on the ground this season. It is the most yards rushing allowed by Washington in the four seasons under head coach Ron Rivera – 1,805 yards in 2020, 1,775 yards in 2021 and 1,926 yards last season, and there is still one game to go.
3,793 – You might not know it, but Washington quarterback Sam Howell has played, at times, at a pro bowl level this season. Howell comes into the season finale playing all 16 games so far this season. He has thrown all but 18 passes by the Commanders this season, and heads into the season finale with Dallas at 3,793 yards passing this season. That is already good enough for sixth all-time single season passing yards in franchise history, but with a big game against Dallas (301 or more yards) and he will move into fourth, leap frogging the 1999 season from Brad Johnson (4,005) and landing just ahead of the 2017 season by Kirk Cousins (4,093). That would still put him behind the 2016 season from Cousins (4,917), the 2015 season from Cousins (4,166) and the 1986 season from Jay Schroeder (4,109).