The Washington Commanders entered the season without a lot of fanfare and without a lot of national expectations; they'd make much noise this NFL season at all.
However, after a 36-33 come-from-behind win over the Philadelphia Eagles, not only are the Commanders making noise, but they're continuing their mission to prove that the efforts of many outweigh those—and the opinions—of a few.
So, while many outsiders projected the team to win just around three more than the four games Washington did last season, it continued to turn inwards to find the spark needed to win its 10th game of the year and set a new franchise record in the process.
"After going 1-7 last season at home, Washington has improved their record at home to 6-2 this season with one game to play," the team reported on social media, citing Elias Sports for the data. "This is the first time in franchise history that Washington has increased its home win total by +5 games over the course of one year."
Head coach Dan Quinn spoke about his team's efforts in reaching this last win, after the game.
"One thing about our team that I really admire, we're never out of the fight. And it would take a lot to come back, and I don't think over the years I've won too many when you're this far down on the turnover differential. You guys have heard me talk about the ball for months here. So, to see us come back through those moments, I thought defensively did a good job of stepping up into those spaces to go and get some field goals as opposed to touchdowns into that spot. I thought that was probably the turning point for us because it couldn't have gone worse in the first quarter for us," Quinn said in his opening statement following the game. "And then the second half I thought defensively the guys really buckled down on who's a fantastic running back. Honestly, their run game is legit. And so, for [Philadelphia Eagles RB] Saquon [Barkley] to have 27 in the second half, tip my hat to the defense on that."
The Commanders will look to extend that record to a sixth game over last season's total with a win over the Atlanta Falons this weekend. Doing so would also clinch the team's first playoff berth since the 2020 NFL season.
