Commanders should have been playing on wild-card weekend

I’ve watched two NFC playoff games and made one conclusion, the Washington Commanders should have been playing this weekend.

Did you notice the Seattle Seahawks pass defense? Or should I say, lack of pass defense? My goodness, they were yielding huge chunks of passing yardage. George Kittle averaged 18.5 yards per reception, Jauan Jennings 20.5, Deebo Samuel 22.2 and Brandon Aiyuk 24.3 yards per catch. The 49ers cruised by the Seahawks 41-23.

The Vikings defense made Daniel Jones look like he was soon going to be fitted for his yellow jacket in Canton, OH. In the 31-24 NYG win over the Vikings, Daniel Jones became just the 3rd QB in playoff history with 300 passing yards, 75 rushing yards in a game. Who are the other two? Lamar Jackson and Steve Young. But those two lost in those games; Jones and the Giants today won.

On December 4, the Commanders stepped into Giants Stadium with a 7-5 season record. They jumped out to a 10-0 lead and had plays to win the game. Many of you, I am sure, still see Logan Thomas wide open for a touchdown, and for some reason, Taylor Heinicke couldn’t make the play, and Washington settled for a field goal. That was four points sorely missed, seeing the Commanders settled for a 20-20 tie.

Two weeks later, Washington again could have beaten the Giants, but when they could only convert one of ten third downs,  and Heinicke lost two fumbles, they fell 20-12 to the Giants. And somehow, with rookie running back Brian Robinson Jr. averaging 7.4 yards per carry, he had just 12 rushing attempts.

After Heinicke turned the ball over twice in a Week 16 loss at San Francisco, Rivera turned to Carson Wentz. But Wentz was horrible against the Browns in Week 17, completing a Commanders 0-3-1 month, and they were officially eliminated from the playoffs.

Offensive coordinator Scott Turner was fired last week. Heinicke and Wentz both said possible goodbyes to the Commanders while the Seahawks and Giants were playing on national television in the NFL playoffs.

Story originally appeared on Commanders Wire