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    • Washington Commanders shatter expectations with a quick turnaround
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    Washington Commanders shatter expectations with a quick turnaround

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    Sam Cosmi took it upon himself to deliver the message. His Washington Commanders teammates had to hear what the right guard had to say in the locker room after the team’s 28-27 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

    “I wanted them to know that so this snowball effect doesn’t continue next week,” Cosmi said. “I wanted them to know that what we have here is still special. No matter what happens, we’ll keep fighting. I wanted them to know this would hurt. This should damage your core. This means a lot to us.”

    Cosmi played during the Commanders’ Ron Rivera era — four years of dismal on-field results and mounting off-field scandals that were not related to the team, but rather former owner Dan Snyder. But Josh Harris and his partners bought the team last summer. Adam Peters was hired to take over the reins of football, and Dan Quinn has done well with his second chance at coaching in the NFL. The Commanders are 7-3 and face the Philadelphia Eagles (7-2) on “Thursday Night Football” with the NFC East lead on the line.

    With the short week approaching, Cosmi’s speech set the tone moving forward after a loss in which the Commanders squandered a 10-point lead at home. The fourth-year offensive lineman also, perhaps without realizing it, offered his own assessment of the transformation of an entire franchise — and the increased expectations that come with it.

    “What Dan Quinn has done, what Adam Peters has done, is change the culture,” Cosmi told reporters. “We don’t have the most talented team, but we do have a hard-working team.

    “Winning is the ultimate goal. And as I know from the past, this means a lot, not just to me, but to everyone. So just to keep our heads up and keep fighting, and let’s get ready to beat Philly.

    Accelerated expectations

    Before the loss to Pittsburgh, Washington had not started a 7-2 season in 28 years. Although the bottom bowl of Northwest Stadium was filled with yellow “Terrible Towels,” the Commanders say they have sold out every home game this season and had a 90% renewal rate on season tickets, according to the Washington Post. Admission revenues have increased by 20% and the team has signed 29 new sponsorship deals in the past year.

    Having the presumptive Offensive Rookie of the Year in quarterback Jayden Daniels, the No. 2 pick and reigning Heisman Trophy winner, accelerated the turnaround. But the 23-year-old’s organizational infrastructure, offensive line and coaching have made his transition to the NFL smoother, even though Daniels has been nursing a rib injury since Week 7.

    There’s excitement among the fans, too — from the viral clip of a fan announcing the Hail Mary victory against the Chicago Bears in October, to players and coaches saying they can actually feel the energy of the home crowd.

    Daniels’ historic start cooled after a Week 6 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Washington showed it could hold its own with a team that has an “entrenched” identity, as Quinn said. The next day, Quinn was asked if winning the NFC East had become the expectation for the team. The coach said the team rarely talked about expectations, but it was a goal mentioned at the start of the season.

    “We try not to be guided by expectations or things that are later on the agenda or anything like that,” Quinn said. “We’re just trying to dive into this week and say, ‘This is, you know, we’re based on improvement.’ It’s like a lifestyle we live here, man. Can you get better? Can you dig further? Can you reach that place? And so that is a kind of stressor that we have to deal with, and not based on outside expectations.

    “I recognize the question about the division because it is very important to talk about that, but you only really talk about that when you talk about the division games when you play in them.”

    Washington is 2-0 in NFC East play this year, both wins coming against the New York Giants. Four of their last eight games are against the Eagles or Dallas Cowboys.

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    Culture is the key to a rapid turnaround

    The Commanders finished last in the division during Rivera’s final two seasons and fell to 4-13 in 2023. A coaching search landed Quinn, the former head coach of the Atlanta Falcons who had led the Cowboys’ defense the previous three seasons.

    “I didn’t really understand culture. I have not been part of a ‘good culture,’” Cosmi said. “This year I’m slowly but surely – I can see it. It’s really cool to see and be a part of. Talking and acting about it. So I’m excited about that.”

    Five years ago, then-general manager Bruce Allen said the “culture is actually damn good” in Washington, and the comment became a punchline.

    At last year’s trade deadline, Rivera was forced to sell defensive line pieces Montez Sweat and Chase Young, both former first-round picks of the organization. A year later, Peters found himself buying at the deadline, acquiring former New Orleans Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore, whose Commanders debut will have to wait at least another week as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury.

    “I don’t necessarily look at it as a buyer or a seller,” said Peters, who had $96 million in cap space to work with this offseason and signed respected veterans (who have also been contributors) like tight end Zach Ertz. , running back Austin Ekeler, linebacker Frankie Luvu and linebacker Bobby Wagner. “I think I’m just doing my best to help this team as best as I can.”

    Quinn defines culture as ‘how a group lives together’. For him, it is in the standards – effort and physicality, for example – that he has set.

    “The things we want to play with,” Quinn said after Washington’s 3-1 start. “Was it all perfect? Hell no. But there are (sic) many things that show how far apart people are from each other. And things like that help shape that identity.

    “But it takes a while to fully understand that, and every time we play you see that over and over again. So yes, we are building towards that, but in four games we are certainly not where we will be in two months.”

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