Wow. Where do I start?

The Washington Commanders went on the road to an improbable victory over the desperate Cincinnati Bengals. They never punted. Aside from kneel-downs at the end of both halves, they scored on every drive. They turned their red zone woes around by scoring touchdowns. Jayden Daniels showed why he was the No. 2 pick in the draft. Terry McLaurin showed why he is the most underrated wide receiver in the league.

Veterans like Austin Ekeler and Zach Ertz made huge contributions. Youngsters like Daniels and Luke McCaffrey played like veterans. Washington threw deep. They went for it on fourth down. And almost every time they tried something, it worked.

The Commanders still have plenty of issues to work out. As good as he was, Daniels didn’t see all the available throws early on, forcing him to run. The middle of both lines was overpowered at times. The defense in particular needs to be much more solid. The cornerbacks are still a big problem.

These are issues that Dan Quinn and his coaches will continue to work on. But there is one thing they have accomplished. They have done what Commanders fans have been hearing about for years. The thing that always seemed to be a meaningless phrase. A false promise.

Josh Harris, Adam Peters, Quinn and Daniels – they changed the culture of the Commanders.

The Commanders had some good games during Ron Rivera’s tenure. They didn’t do nearly enough, but we have to remember that Washington had some good success against the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. They didn’t get a win like this one.

This was exactly the type of game Washington would have lost under either Rivera or Jay Gruden. This was a cursed franchise under previous ownership. They didn’t have enough quality players who believed in what the team was doing. The best players — with the notable exception of McLaurin — wanted nothing more than to get out of town.

This team is different. They would have collapsed when the adversity began last year. They would have lost it when Ertz committed a false start — Washington’s first penalty of the game — early in a fourth-quarter drive after the Bengals had cut the lead to less than a touchdown. They would have lost it when Dyami Brown committed the same penalty a few plays later.

They would have lost if they had let Trey Hendrickson — who had been held in check all night by Cornelius Lucas and Brandon Coleman — tackle Daniels on the next play. This hasn’t been a resilient team in more than a decade. They were facing a 2nd-and-21. And what happened?

The very players who had made the mistakes – Ertz and Brown – made big plays to help them out of the hole. Coleman and Nick Allegretti, working together to protect Daniels from a six-man blitz on the final touchdown to McLaurin.

There were many heroes and many big plays. But my vote for the biggest play of all wasn’t one of those extraordinary deep balls from Daniels to McLaurin. Not one of Ekeler’s gallops that helped set the tone at the start of both halves. Not even the quarterback’s clutch runs for first downs when he couldn’t find a receiver.

My play of the game came with just under 10 minutes left, with Washington holding a five-point lead and facing a 1st-and-15 from their 25-yard line, made by Allegretti.

Daniels threw a center screen to Ertz, who hesitated on a strike and then drifted to the open middle of the field. He caught the ball and was immediately caught by linebacker Germaine Pratt. He hit the tight end and fumbled.

This was it. This was the exact play that killed the Commanders time and time again. Not a fumble, per se, but a mistake. A mistake in a close game that they simply could not overcome.

If the Bengals had recovered, they would have had the ball deep in Washington territory. The crowd would have cheered. You just know Joe Burrow would have found one of his talented receivers for a score for their first lead since the first quarter. And you know the Commanders would have folded.

None of that happened because Allegretti rushed down and fell on the ball. Sam Cosmi was also nearby. Center Tyler Biadasz, timing his run perfectly, was already five yards down blocking for Ertz. This line rushed and the Commanders kept the ball. They would score the touchdown that secured the victory.

Allegretti’s effort would have meant nothing if it weren’t for the repeated heroics of Daniels and McLaurin. But there’s another reason it was so important to this team.

Perhaps the greatest unsung play in franchise history came in Super Bowl XXII when Washington defeated the Denver Broncos for their second title. Denver jumped out to an early 10-0 lead. Ricky Sanders fouled the ensuing kickoff and it looked to all the world as if the Broncos had recovered. Had they gotten the ball, they would have been deep in Washington territory with overwhelming momentum.

But Washington recovered. Linebacker Ravin Caldwell was credited with the recovery, though it could have been tight end Terry Orr. No one knows. All that mattered was that players fought harder than their opponents when the game was on the line, and that carried them to victory.

Allegretti’s recovery wasn’t nearly as dramatic or significant. It didn’t result in a huge Super Bowl momentum swing. But it may have been a pivotal step for this franchise.

Maybe they are no longer cursed, doomed or bound by whatever horrible karma they had under the previous ownership. Maybe this is the type of team that can overcome adversity. Maybe this is a team that doesn’t collapse, but triumphs.

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