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The Washington Commanders' downward spiral appears to have no end in sight. During their fifth consecutive loss, a 44-22 blowout to the Detroit Lions, which is also Washington's fourth straight defeat by at least 20 points, it appears that frustrations reached a boiling point. 

In the second quarter, Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for a 13-yard touchdown to extend Detroit's lead to 17 points. After the play, Commanders defensive lineman Daron Payne turned around and punched Lions wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown in the face. 

Payne was ejected from the game and subsequently given a one-game suspension by the NFL on Monday for his "act of unsportsmanlike conduct." 

The penalty gave the Lions an even shorter field to attempt a two-point conversion. David Montgomery punched in the two-pointer to extend the lead to 19 points, and that's when another Commander lost his cool, as Javon Kinlaw was given a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for making contact with an official. 

After a thrilling win over the Los Angeles Chargers in Jayden Daniels' "homecoming" game on Oct. 5, not much has gone right for Washington, now 3-7. The Commanders have been outscored by 88 points in their last four games. Remember, this is a franchise that was looking for even bigger things in 2025 after last season's magical 12-5 campaign that ended with a loss to the Eagles in the NFC Championship just 10 months ago. 

So why has Washington's season been a disaster? There are a couple of different reasons. 

Jayden Daniels' availability

It was clear last year that Washington found a franchise quarterback in Daniels. However, even as an NFL prospect, his durability was a question mark. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft didn't miss a single start as a rookie, but missed three contests through the first eight weeks of this season. That number is going to increase with Daniels suffering a dislocated elbow last week in the loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

Any team missing its starting quarterback is going to struggle. That's especially true when we're talking about a talent like Daniels -- who almost took a struggling franchise to the Super Bowl in his first season. When Daniels suffered a hamstring injury in the Week 7 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Daniels' mother took to social media to ask fans to stop "manifesting" Robert Griffin III on her son. Unfortunately, those comparisons exist for a reason. 

The defense

Daniels' availability is not the only reason why Washington has struggled this year. In fact, you could make the argument the defense has been much more of a factor why Washington has gone from NFC contender to afterthought. 

The Commanders entered this week allowing an average of 377.8 yards per game (fifth-worst in the NFL), 253.6 passing yards per game (fourth-worst in the NFL) and 26.2 points per game (10th-worst in the NFL). This Dan Quinn defense allowed 33 of 35 completions for 492 passing yards and seven touchdowns in a four-quarter span from the second half of Week 8 at the Kansas City Chiefs, to the first half against Seattle last Sunday night. Things won't get any better for Washington either, as they just lost starting cornerback Marshon Lattimore for the remainder of the season due to a torn ACL and now will be without Payne next Sunday for a meeting with the Miami Dolphins in Madrid.

To put it bluntly, the Commanders are struggling on both sides of the ball, and that's why they won't be making the playoffs this year.