Washington

Commanders Coach Knew ‘We’re Going to Win’ When Offense Got the Ball Back

Published

1 year ago

January 16, 2025

Commanders Coach Knew ‘We’re Going to Win’ When Offense Got the Ball Back

ASHBURN, Va. — Hope is a powerful thing, but belief is even stronger, and that’s what the Washington Commanders have plenty of after defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23-20 in the Wild Card Round.

That belief didn’t just show up in Florida, however, it has been growing ever since the Commanders first got together for OTAs and into rookie minicamp, and so on. Every step this team has taken, the belief it has in itself has grown.

Because of it, while most are going to predict Washington will lose to the Detroit Lions this weekend, the coaches and players believe in themselves. And they believe that if they have the ball last with a chance to win they’re going to, because that is exactly what defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. believed last weekend – and it came true.

Washington Commanders defenders Dorance Armstrong and Bobby Wagner.

Jan 12, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) runs against Washington Commanders defensive end Dorance Armstrong (92) and linebacker Bobby Wagner (54) during the second quarter of a NFC wild card playoff at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

“We’re going to win,” is what Whitt says he felt after his defense stopped the Buccaneers’ last possession of the game. “This game here, so it was a second-and-one. We got the stop. And then third-and-one, they sort of bobbled it, we get the stop. Now, they punted to us, I think it was four minutes or something else. Alright, ‘We’re going to go down and win it,’ That’s winning time. We got the stop that we needed, the special teams secured the ball, and we went down there and kicked the field goal. So, that’s what complementary football was all about, playing as a team.”

Sunday night, the Commanders put together one of the cleanest performances they have had as a team in over a month. Penalties were low–though we’re sure the coaches would say any penalty is too many–mistakes weren’t critical, and like Whitt said, the football was complimentary.

Head coach Dan Quinn knows that’s exactly what his team will need again to keep their season going for at least one more weekend.

“Much like last game, I told you we’ll play our best complimentary game all year, offensively, defensively, and special teams,” said Quinn. “And Detroit in this game calls for that again. And so, we’re working hard on all those things from our field position stuff, our winning time moments, just all of it.”

Stick with CommanderGameday and the Locked On Commanders podcast for more FREE coverage of the Washington Commanders throughout the 2024 season.

• Commanders Get Unexpected Boost in Win vs. Buccaneers

• After Playoff Win, Commanders QB Jayden Daniels Isn’t Satisfied

• Commanders Share Thoughts as Game-Winning Field Goal Doinked In

• Dan Quinn Reveals Emotion During Final Kick in Commanders-Buccaneers

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Washington

Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury announces she’s pregnant

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury announces she’s pregnant

Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury has announced that she and her husband Matt are expecting a baby in July.

The couple made the announcement in a video on the Spirit’s social media channels, holding a baby goalkeeper jersey on the pitch at Audi Field.

Kingsbury becomes the most recent Spirit star to go on maternity leave, following defender Casey Krueger, midfielder Andi Sullivan and forward Ashley Hatch.

Sullivan gave birth to daughter Millie in July, while Hatch welcomed her son Leo in January.

Krueger announced she was pregnant with her second child in October.

Kingsbury has served as the Spirit’s starting goalkeeper since 2018, and has been named the NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year twice (2019 and 2021).

The 34-year-old has two caps with the U.S. women’s national team, and was named to the 2023 World Cup roster.

The club captain will leave a major void for the Spirit, who have finished as NWSL runner-up in back-to-back seasons.

Sandy MacIver and Kaylie Collins are expected to compete for the starting role while Kingsbury is on maternity leave.

The Spirit kick off their 2026 campaign on March 13 against the Portland Thorns.

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Washington

Washington state board awards Yakima $985,600 loan for Sixth Avenue project design

Published

2 days ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Washington state board awards Yakima 5,600 loan for Sixth Avenue project design

YAKIMA, Wash. — Yakima could soon take a major step toward redesigning Sixth Avenue after the Washington State Public Works Board awarded the city a $985,600 loan.

The loan was approved for the design engineering phase of the Sixth Avenue project. The funding can also be used along Sixth Avenue for utility replacement and updated ADA use.

The Yakima City Council must decide whether to accept the award. If the council accepts it, the city’s engineering work will move forward with the design of Sixth Avenue.

The cost of installing trolley lines is excluded from the plan. The historic trolleys would need to raise the funds required to add trolley lines.

The award is scheduled to be discussed during next week’s City Council meeting.

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Washington

Microsoft promises more AI investments at University of Washington

Published

2 days ago

February 25, 2026

Press Room

Microsoft promises more AI investments at University of Washington

Microsoft will ramp up its investment in the University of Washington.

Brad Smith, the company’s president, made the announcement at a press conference with University of Washington President Robert Jones on Tuesday.

That means hiring more UW graduates as interns at Microsoft, he said.

And he said all students, faculty, and researchers should have access to free, or at least deeply-discounted, AI.

“ Some of it is compute that Microsoft is donating, and some of it is pursuant to an agreement where, believe me, we give the University of Washington probably the best pricing that anybody’s gonna find anywhere,” Smith said. He assured the small group of reporters present that it would be “many millions of dollars of additional computational resources.”

The announcement today didn’t include any specific numbers.

But Smith said Microsoft has already invested $165 million in the UW over several decades.

He pointed to Jones’ vision to spur “radical collaborations with businesses and communities to advance positive change,” and eliminate “any artificial barriers between the university and the communities it serves.”

Microsoft’s goal is for AI to help UW researchers solve some of the world’s biggest problems without introducing new ones.

At Tuesday’s announcement, several research students were present to demonstrate how AI supports their work.

Amelia Keyser-Gibson is an environmental scientist at the UW. She’s using AI to analyze photographs of vines, to find which adapt best to climate change.

It’s a paradox: AI produces carbon emissions. At the same time, it’s also a new tool to help reduce them.

So how do those things square for Keyser-Gibson?

“ That’s a great question, and honestly, I don’t know the answer to that,” she said. “I’m highly aware that there’s a lot of environmental impact of using AI, but what I can say is that this has allowed us to make research innovations that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.”

“If we had had to manually annotate every single image that would’ve been an undergrad doing that for hours,” Keyser-Gibson continued. “And we didn’t have the budget. We didn’t have the manpower to do that.”

“AI exists. If we don’t use it as researchers, we’re gonna fall behind.”

Microsoft reports on its own carbon emissions. But like most AI companies, it doesn’t reveal everything.

That’s one reason another UW student named Zhihan Zhang is using AI to estimate how much energy AI is using.

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