The Washington Commanders' 2024 season is nothing but a success, even if it ended with an embarrassing thud in the NFC Championship Game against the Eagles.
Now, what matters most, are the steps taken to make sure the Commanders progress, as opposed to regress, in 2025. That's a lot more difficult to do than said, simply due to the NFL's nature of catching up with opponents. There is zero guarantee Jayden Daniels and Co. replicate the same success in 2025 and that's just how the game goes.
Therefore, Dan Quinn made sure his season-ending message resonated with the team on Monday and by the sound of things - it certainly will.
"Our team has a lot going for it," Quinn told reporters. "They've got brotherhood and toughness and work ethic, and there's just one thing we didn't have, and we just got it last night: and those are scars, and you can't get them when you first huddle up, you have to earn them.
"[We] sure as hell don't want to, but you do need them to grow. And you truly don't know who you are until you get your ass knocked down and see how you get back up. If I know anything about our team - they will absolutely get up swinging."
Quinn's message embodies what the Commanders have been about all year long. The team always fought until the final whistle and never backed down from a challenge. The team's toughness and resiliency were the catalysts behind 14 wins and an NFC title game appearance. A culture has been set and there will be guys to carry it over into 2026 - a feat that's hard to pull off in Year 1.
"We had a shared vision, and DQ did an incredible job of really instilling that into our players and bringing our guys together and creating a true brotherhood," Adam Peters told reporters. "And he said, when we started, the faster we can create that, the better we can be sooner. I think he did an excellent job with that and our guys did an excellent job buying into that and living that way. So [I'm] just really proud of how quickly that came together."
Winning five straight games on the last play from scrimmage is also a great way for a team to mature quickly - and so is an embarrassing loss on one of the NFL's biggest stages. Especially a 32-point blowout like the one the Commanders experience. While it's embarrassing, it'll certainly stick with them and if channeled correctly, it can lead to some really big things down the road and I'm talking about as soon as September 2025.
"Those tough games that you know, leave the mark, that's really what we're talking about. You have to go through them, because you only really get to be back in that spot, in that arena, to get to this. [That] was my lesson in this," said Quinn. "The scars are there to remind you of what and how, and it's really hard to get to the game that we got to yesterday.
"So I wanted to make sure that it counts, you know, that the lessons are learned and that we're able to apply them moving forward. It does sting when you're in front of the team and like, you know how hard they absolutely went for it. You never want to lose that reminder."
The Commanders have some work to do, but all signs point to another big year in 2025 and the team certainly has the right leaders in place to make it happen.
