Look away, Washington Commanders fans.
ESPN columnist Bill Barnwell has some bad news. In his article predicting the 14 playoff teams for the 2025 season, he has the Commanders experiencing some regression after a promising 2024 season that saw them reach the NFL Championship Game.
Even with a rising star at quarterback in Jayden Daniels, Barnwell believes the team will take a step back.
"There's real 2024 Texans vibes here, where some splashy veteran offseason additions distract from concerns about how sustainable their performance was away from the quarterback position," Barnwell writes. "There was nobody in the AFC South who could challenge the Texans as they struggled to take that next step forward, but things are going to be tougher in the NFC East with the Eagles in tow."
The Commanders have the oldest roster in the NFL this season, and their offseason additions of Laremy Tunsil and Deebo Samuel don't help that metric. They also had a historically great conversion rate on fourth down and an injury rate that is likely to rise. Finally, the schedule will be much more difficult after a deep trip into the playoffs last season.
Barnwell does offer a ray of hope that it won't be entirely bad for Commanders fans.
"I would be surprised if the Commanders fell entirely to the bottom of the NFC East, of course," Barnwell writes. "This isn't like the team in 2013, when Robert Griffin III came off of a serious injury and wasn't the same player and the offense wasn't quite as sustainable."
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