The Washington Commanders come into 2023 with renewed hope. Out of the clutches of the wretched owner Dan Snyder and into a new group led by Josh Harris, there’s optimism in the Commanders fanbase. But is the team confident they’ll win this season? That’s a question that only Ron Rivera and the players can answer. The Commanders were very close to making the playoffs last season, but with poor quarterback play they missed out.
In this preview, it will take a look at a few things about the team and how this season will play out.
Quarterback
Sam Howell is tasked with being the starter and for good reasons as he has shown first round talent before slipping all the way down to the fifth round. He only has one start on his resume, but he deserves a shot at being the everyday and franchise QB. If he struggles, there’s a fail safe option in Jacoby Brissett who played admirably while filling in for Deshaun Watson in Cleveland while Watson was suspended. However, if the QB play is not anywhere good, it’ll be a long season. That being said, it’s an upgrade from last season’s situation.
Eric Bieniemy
Bieniemy was hired over from Kansas City to be the offensive coordinator and now has free reign over the offense. Bieniemy has enough weapons to be successful, especially with players such as Antonio Gibson, Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel, Brian Robinson, and Jahan Dotson as this is one of the scariest offenses to face. If Bieniemy is as good as advertised, then it’s going to be a fun season.
Running Backs
Oh my! This could be one of the best trios in all of the National Football League as Gibson and Robinson have proven to be excellent running backs, plus with the addition of Chris Rodriguez, it will be hard for many opposing defenses to stop them. How they’ll be used is a big question as they all bring something different, but this will make the Commanders offense hard to slow down. The receiving corp might be talked about more, but these guys look to make the offense really difficult to defend.
Defense
The defense is pretty good. Like really good. When there’s a defensive line of Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, Chase Young, and Montez Sweat, plus with the depth of Phidarian Mathis, James Smith-Williams, and William Bradley-King, that’s scary for any offensive line. While losing Cole Holcomb hurts, the team still has Khaleke Hudson and Jamin Davis at linebacker. But what the hardest part to beat will be the defensive backs as Percy Butler, Kam Curl, Emmanuel Forbes, Darrick Forrest, Kendall Fuller, Jeremy Reaves, and Benjamin St-Juste there, well that’s extremely hard to beat.
2023 Schedule
Game 1: vs Arizona
Game 2: at Denver
Game 3: vs Buffalo
Game 4: at Philadelphia
Game 5: vs Chicago
Game 6: at Atlanta
Game 7: at New York Giants
Game 8: vs Philadelphia
Game 9: at New England
Game 10: at Seattle
Game 11: vs New York Giants
Game 12: at Dallas
Game 13: vs Miami
Game 14: at Los Angeles Rams
Game 15: at New York Jets
Game 16: vs San Francisco
Game 17: vs Dallas
While the Commanders are built well enough to make the playoffs, the path might be very difficult to achieve this as they have one of the hardest schedules in the NFL. To play the entire NFC East twice, San Francisco, Miami, Seattle, and Buffalo is difficult enough as those were all playoff sides last year, but also the New York Jets, Chicago, and New England whom should be better this season. While it's more likely a shot at a wild card, this schedule is going to be tough to make the postseason.
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