Commanders vs. Cowboys (game one) – Studs and Duds
Heartbreak is not a foreign word to Commanders fans. The team has gone through so much in the last two decades that most newer fans take this to be the norm.
Well, heartbreak hit again, this time at the hands of one of Washington's fiercest rivals - the Dallas Cowboys. Washington couldn't stop a toddler's nosebleed, however quarterback Jayden Daniels was keeping the team within striking distance and it looked like Washington may pull out a score before the half, while getting the ball to open the second half of play.
Then disaster hit...
As if the injury to Jayden Daniels wasn't enough, Washington, behind veteran backup quarterback Marcus Mariota, had to battle the refs and a costly fumble in Dallas territory. The circumstances were too much to overcome as the Commanders fell 37-20 to their most bitter rival on the road.
Washington is now 0-2 on the young season as they get set to face the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks at home next Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
Below are my Studs and Duds of the game, followed by some notes.
Studs:- QB Jayden Daniels: I feel so bad for the young man. He was having a great first half before the Gaffe-at-the-Goal-line occurred. He did miss a WIDE OPEN Treylon Burks, who had five yards of separation on a deep ball, but otherwise he was wheeling and dealing. The Cowboys had no answer for his scrambling in the first half, as he put up 69 yards on seven improvised runs.
Jayden scrambles for big gain of 20yds! pic.twitter.com/id7jCJxQTW
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
- WR Stefon Diggs: Diggs had five catches for 47 yards and two touchdowns. He has three scores on the young season already after recording four TDs last year with New England.
Mariota with the TD to Diggs! pic.twitter.com/Qm4oO46SND
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
JD hits Diggs for short TD - and even better, no goal post humping! pic.twitter.com/TaBMW0L8cP
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
- CB Amik Robertson: On what was an ugly day for the Commanders secondary, Mik continues to be one of the bright spots. He was targeted seven times and gave up just four receptions for 37 yards while recording two passes defended. He had five tackles, all solo.
Excellent effort by Lamb, but great job here by Mik at the end of the play pic.twitter.com/3VvhOsuN7W
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
- QB Marcus Mariota: Given the circumstances, I thought Mariota played very well. He had the touchdown to Diggs and absolutely should have had another on a beautiful pass to Dyami Brown which the officials stole. Overall, in a half of play, he was 11-for-16 for 111 yards and a touchdown while taking zero sacks. He looked in control of Blough's offense.
Duds:Great throw by Mariota and great catch by Dyami Brown.
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
Replay ruled this was NOT a TD.
Refs need to be investigated @NFLpic.twitter.com/IOpovEsQ2Q
- Daron Haynesworth: I'm done defending him. I HATED when we took him over Derwin James and I'll NEVER let that go! At this point, he's just stealing money from owner Josh Harris. I GUARANTEE Ricky Barber would have at least given some effort.
Absolutely DISGUSTING effort here by Payne pic.twitter.com/4cpSLHyPpe
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
- CB Mike StandRealStill: Another week, another chance for opposing quarterbacks to pick on StandRealStill. Yet again, he was the worst of the Commanders corners, allowing five receptions on six targets for 73 yards and was responsible for one touchdown. He needs to be benched! Period!
PLEASE Fire Mike Sainristil into another galaxy pic.twitter.com/1pfRCUDc7R
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
Literally every time Sainristil is targeted, he allows a reception
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
- S Jeremy Reaves: Reaves just isn't cutting it as a free safety. I'd much rather Quan Martin get reps as the free safety with Tyler Owens getting time as the third safety. Reavo may stuff the stat sheet with a good number of tackles, but he looks absolutely lost in coverage.
Every team in the NFL should copy exactly what Dallas does here (and what the Eagles did last week).
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
Commmaders safeties and LB's CAN NOT cover the TE in the seam. pic.twitter.com/pypWsrNJ8U
Douglas beat on a nice play call. Reaves misses tackle pic.twitter.com/Aerzp8CMee
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
On Lamb's first touchdown, Jeremy Reaves back is toward Dak. Not covering a soul. Nick Cross bites on the play-action, so 0 has no inside help from his safeties. Void created, TD. pic.twitter.com/FJtsLV7suP
- Jamual (@LetMualTellit) September 21, 2026
- LB Leo Chenal: Fans were hyped when Washington signed Chenal to a free agent contract. I fell into that hype a bit, too. But, before free agency hit, I was not on board with us targeting him because I said he struggled a LOT in coverage (see Tweet below). Well, over two games, those struggles have reared their ugly head. Not only has Chenal been poor in coverage, but he's missed quite a few tackles. Despite leading the team with 12 combined tackles (six solo), he looked absolutely HORRIBLE in coverage.
It's WAY too early in the season, however I'm NOT liking what I'm seeing from Leo Chenal - like AT ALL!
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
I have not seen defense this bad since...
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
2025
This was on Chenal pic.twitter.com/QQxBYFdSOc
This was a conversation JP and I were having back before free agency started. Notice what I said here about Leo Chenal https://t.co/mo8dtCxEh7
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 21, 2026
- HC Dan Quinn: Talk about being on the Hot Seat! Dan Quinn's backside might be so hot right now, that if he tried to wipe with extra-soft Charmin, he'd likely go up in flames! But Mark, that's not very professional of you... You know what - we're past that point! He's officially a lame duck!
- Shawn Hochuli and his crew: The officiating during this game was absolutely terrible. The non-touchdown to Dyami Brown was a suspendable-without-pay offense. This crew" needs to be investigated by the NFL.
Pretty clear block in the back here by Dallas against Tyler Owens
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
Refs failed to call this.
Had Jerry paid the refs off? @TheNFLOfficialspic.twitter.com/oXtoKmCPau
Refs SERIOUSLY called Terry for offensive PI???? pic.twitter.com/mZ0ZXlbYAK
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
Notes:Great throw by Mariota and great catch by Dyami Brown.
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
Replay ruled this was NOT a TD.
Refs need to be investigated @NFLpic.twitter.com/IOpovEsQ2Q
- RB Rachaad White led all Commanders with six receptions, which he turned into 40 receiving yards. He ran the ball well between the tackles, picking up 43 yards on just seven carries. I debated giving him Stud status.
Amazing effort after the catch here by White! pic.twitter.com/vA4Twuo6sT
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
- DL Javon Kinlaw recorded his first sack with the Commanders. He also had a tackle for a loss and two pressures on the afternoon.
Kinlaw with the big sack! pic.twitter.com/UQRDKg8tMU
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
- EDGE K'Lavon Chaisson notched his first sack with the Commanders on a great effort play off the left edge on a third down inside the red zone, forcing Dallas to kick the field goal. He had three total tackles and two pressures to go along with his sack.
Chaisson gets his first sack as a Commander pic.twitter.com/msrykpRLqN
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
- LG Chris Paul is too unathletic to be used in space. He's a phone-booth player and that's about it. This is the second week in a row he's failed to get out on a screen and make a key block. This one was costly, as Brown fumbled this one.
Two weeks in a row we have Chris Paul showing he's too slow to get out and block on a screen pic.twitter.com/hzJUIK6hYL
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
- To say Washington has problems on the offensive line is a MASSIVE understatement. Josh Conerly and Brandon Coleman both had their issues throughout the game. I already talked about Paul above.
HORRIBLE job by both tackles on this play. Conerly gets called for a hold pic.twitter.com/S7kOccRlx1
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
- Losing our best offensive lineman to an apparent concussion is really going to hurt. Here's hoping Sam Cosmi doesn't miss too much time...
HOLY SHIT!
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
Cosmi hit by friendly-fire pic.twitter.com/GqlANCkfYi
- Houston, we have a kicking problem (yet again). However, I'm going to give rookie Drew Stevens a VERY long leash.
Stevens misses badly from 51 pic.twitter.com/8FGBRRhEpG
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
- OT Andrew Wylie has absolutely NO BUSINESS playing left tackle.
Coleman left the game with an injury. Wylie comes in at LT and this is what he does pic.twitter.com/5MiCs4X41a
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
- WR Dyami Brown got robbed. He also had a fumble, which I'm not 100% pinning on him.
- CB Rasul Douglas was not as bad as Sainristil, but he did allow six receptions on seven targets for 61 yards.
- I thought EDGEDorance Armstrong looked pretty good in his return to action. He registered five total tackles (three solo) and two pressures. They moved him around a bit and I thought he played well against the run.
- OC David Blough and DC Daronte Jones reversed roles this week. Last week, Jones was nearly a stud while Blough was a dud for his play calling. Against Dallas, Jones' secondary got absolutely TORCHED, while the offense under Blough looked functional. An unfortunate injury, a few missed big plays and calls from the refs that went against the Commanders made the output look worse than it was.
- C Nick Allegretti wasn't a complete liability like he was against Philly. Hey, it's a start...
- For the second week in a row, Washington's defense failed to register a turnover.
- First of all, this was an ACCIDENT. Could Dan Quinn have chosen to kick the field goal here? ABSOLUTELY, but let's get this straight. This was NOT a decision that put his quarterback's health at risk, so no need to play revisionist history. As mad as I am over this latest injury, we can't blame Chris Paul either for stepping on his foot, just as we can't blame David Blough for having him under center.
Not looking too good pic.twitter.com/FlzzNRGd6a
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
Here is the injury to Jayden. It's the left elbow again. up pic.twitter.com/pLwVhpI5BZ
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026
3rd and goal with 3 seconds left. Chris Paul steps on Jayden's foot. pic.twitter.com/uDCIVu4mjI
- Tiller56 (Hogs Haven) (@Tiller56) September 20, 2026