Game Recap – Washington Commanders at New York Jets

December 25, 2023

By Noonefromtampa

Washington Comeback Falls Short Lose 30-28

First Quarter

New York won the coin toss and deferred until the second half. Washington’s receiving corps did Sam Howell no favors. Curtis Samuel dropped the first pass and Logan Thomas tipped the second pass, which was then intercepted by Tony Adams who returned it to the Washington 25.

Washington’s defense was able to shut down the Jets after Breece Hall picked up 15 yards on a pass from Trevor Siemian. Greg Zuerlein connected on the 25 yard field goal. Jets 3, Commanders 0.

Washington’s second drive was no better than the first, ending on a third down sack of Howell which lost 13 yards. Tress Way‘s punt was blocked and went out of bounds at the Washington 9 yard line.

It took the Jets two plays to score a touchdown, with Siemian hitting Jason Brownlee for an 8 yard score. The extra point was good. Jets 10, Commanders 0.

Washington went three and out again on the next drive, with the play calls of deep routes affording no open receivers for Howell before the pass rush got to him. Way punted the ball away successfully this time, but it only went 36 yards and Washington was called for a 5 yard penalty on the play.

Not to repeat myself, but once again it took the Jets just two plays to score. Garrett Wilson caught a 6 yard pass and then Hall ran through the left side of Washington’s defense for a 36 yard touchdown. The extra point was good. Jets 17, Commanders 0.

On the subsequent drive, Howell threw a screen to Samuel who took it 16 yards upfield for Washington’s first 1^st down of the game. Chris Rodriguez ran twice, first for one yard and then for 11 yards after fighting off two tacklers. Washington followed that with three straight incompletions, including a drop by John Bates, and a hit on Howell as he was throwing. That was all for that drive and Way punted it away again.

The Jets picked up 55 yards on their next drive but failed to convert on a fourth and one at the Washington 34. Washington was only able to pick up one first on their next drive on a Terry McLaurin screen for 13 yards. Three plays later, Way punted again, after a no-call defensive pass interference on McLaurin on third down.

Second Quarter

The Jets gained 20 yards on their next series before having to punt. Jamison Crowder returned it 24 yards into Jets territory but fumbled it, and the Jets recovered. The Jets were able to convert that into a 27 yard field goal mainly due to a 32 yard defensive pass interference call on Benjamin St-Juste. Jets 20, Commanders 0.

Antonio Gibson started Washington’s next drive with an 11 yard run. He then lost 4 yards on first down and the Commanders failed to convert on third down and 7, forcing another punt. Washington then got its first break of the game when Siemian fumbled the snap and Casey Toohill recovered. [Note to players – if you’re losing 20-0 don’t do end zone celebrations.] It took Washington one play to score, with Rodriguez running over left guard for a 12 yard touchdown. Thomas and Nick Gates literally pushed him into the end zone with a number of Jets players hanging on. Joey Slye converted the extra point. Jets 20, Commanders 7.

Wilson and Hall figured big in the next Jets drive. Wilson caught three passes of 7, 15 and 9 yards. Hall had a 6 yard run and a 15 yard reception plus score the 2-yard touchdown run. The drive had been stopped but Tariq Castro-Fields was called for encroachment on fourth down and three punt play to give the Jets a first down. Jets 27, Commanders 7.

Washington then went three and out, and the Jets ran the clock after losing 25 yards on an intentional grounding call.

Third Quarter

The quarter started with the teams trading punts back and forth. On Washington’s second possession of the quarter, Samuel slipped on a cut in his route, which left only linebacker Quincy Williams able to catch the ball. He did and returned it to the Washington 22 yard line.

Xavier Gipson caught a 16 yard completion, but two plays later Cody Barton intercepted Siemian at the Washington 4 yard line and returned it 52 yards. A 15 yard horse collar tackle was added on to the play. Jacoby Brissett came in at that point in relief of Howell.

After putting themselves in a second and 14 to go, Brissett ran for 10 yards and then threw 10 yards to Jahan Dotson. Three plays later Brissett hit Thomas for the 15 yard touchdown. Slye converted the extra point. Jets 27, Commanders 14.

Fourth Quarter

After picking up a first down on three straight runs, the Jets put themselves in a hole with a false start and offensive holding penalties. Starting with a first and 25, they only gained 15 yards on the next three plays. The Jets were forced to punt it away.

The Commanders started at their own 23, with Brissett completing three straight short passes. Washington elected to go for it on fourth down and 1 on their own 32 yard line. The short yardage jet sweep to Samuel reappeared and he picked up 6 yards and a first down. Washington then went into big play mode. McLaurin caught a pass and broke several tackles for 29 yards. Bates caught an 11 yard pass, and Dotson drew a 21 yard defensive pass interference penalty in the end zone, giving the ball to Washington at the Jets 1 yard line. Rodriguez scored from the 1 after Bates dropped a wide-open pass in the end zone. Jets 27, Commanders 21.

After the kickoff, Hall caught a 14 pass on the first play, but those were the only yards the Jets gained on that drive. Three plays later the Jets punted.

Washington went on the attack again on the next drive. Samuel started the drive by drawing a defensive pass interference penalty for 20 yards. Rodriguez ran for 11 yards and 16 yards. Dotson caught a 30 yard completion and had 9 yards tacked on for a facemask penalty down to the Jets 11 yard line. Two plays later Gibson scored up the middle and Slye converted the extra point. Commanders 28, Jets 27.

After trading punts, the Jets were able to move the ball 31 yards to the Washington 36 yard line, Zuerlein nailed a 54 yard field goal with ten seconds left on the clock. Jets 30, Commanders 28.

Washington was unable to answer with only 5 seconds on the clock.

Thoughts

Like I posted during the week, Jacoby Brissett should be the starting quarterback for the last two weeks. The fact that the fans can see this and not the coaching staff speaks volumes about how cluelessly determined the staff is to prove something that nobody else can see.

The team looked ill-prepared but got better as the game went on. If you are going to script plays for your young QB, try moving the pocket and have some easy hi-lo read options to build some confidence early in the game. Do that before loading up on the 15 yard intermediate routes.