Washington

Five takeaways from Washington's Week 1 loss to Tampa Bay

Published

2 hours ago

September 9, 2024

Five takeaways from Washington's Week 1 loss to Tampa Bay

4. Execution vs. lack of execution.

There was one key difference between the Commanders and Buccaneers Sunday afternoon: one team knew how to finish drives, while the other struggled to do so.

Tampa Bay made a habit of ending drives with more points on the board. They scored either three or seven points on their first five drives before being forced to punt, which occurred in the third quarter. That series ended up being a speed bump, though, as they scored two more touchdowns to put the game away.

Washington, meanwhile, sputtered from the start with their first play resulting in a fumble. There was some positive movement after that, but two of its scoring opportunities came up fruitless because of misses from Cade York.

The lack of execution became more troublesome as the game progressed and Tampa Bay kept scoring points. They had two punts in the second half, when they put up a combined 27 yards.

There were certainly some signs of growth on Sunday, but the uneven performance from the offense is another sign that it is not a finished product.

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Washington

Reality bites for Commanders in blowout Week 1 loss to Tampa

Published

9 hours ago

September 9, 2024

Press Room

Reality bites for Commanders in blowout Week 1 loss to Tampa

TAMPA — After six months of building a new roster and building excitement among the fan base, Sunday’s season opening loss in Tampa came as a big dose of ugly reality for Commanders fans.

Washington lost 37-20 in a contest that had far more lowlights than highlights. Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels looked great as a runner, gaining more than 80 yards on the ground and scoring twice, but could not get much going through the air.

On the first play of the second half wide receiver Terry McLaurin streaked down the left sideline, two steps clear of his defender. A good throw likely results with a walk-in touchdown, however, Daniels sailed the ball just out of McLaurin’s reach.

Outside of Daniels scrambling ability, the Washington offense struggled. The pass game seemed centered far too much on passes at or near the line of scrimmage. Midway through the third quarter Commanders receivers only had three catches, total, and none of them were named McLaurin.

Defensively it was worse.

Second-year cornerback Emmanuel Forbes was repeatedly beat in this game, and the secondary as a whole gave up consistent yardage. Basic tackling was a problem all afternoon. The pass rush wasn’t much better as Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield wasn’t sacked until the third quarter.

Mayfield finished the game with nearly 300 yards passing and an impressive four touchdowns while the Tampa offense piled up more than 100 rush yards.

Perplexing coaching decisions and a bad outing from new kicker Cade York didn’t help either. York missed two field goal attempts and also put a kickoff out of bounds, resulting in a penalty. It’s safe to say York has serious job security questions.

Dan Quinn has zero job security questions, and this is just the first game of his Commanders tenure. Still, questions need to be asked about some of his decision making.

After a Jayden Daniels rushing touchdown in the second half gave Washington a chance to cut the Bucs lead to a one-score game, Quinn inexplicably kicked an extra point instead of going for two.

The result? The Commanders trailed by nine, which means two scores to take the lead. If Washington failed on the two-point conversion attempt, then they’d be down 10, which would still mean two scores to take the lead.

Throughout the contest Quinn seemed to err on the side of caution rather than aggression. Perhaps that was because his team was outmanned. Perhaps that’s his manner. Those questions will get answered over time.

What else will take time? Washington’s rebuild.

This was a bad team last year. They only won four games, had no Pro Bowlers and finished with the worst point differential in the NFL.

To expect immediate and overnight success from the new regime was optimistic at best and probably naive. The Commanders need players – good players – and new general manager Adam Peters made clear his intention is to build up the roster through the draft.

That will take years. Plural. But maybe things can look less ugly along the way.

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Washington

Adams Morgan Day: Longtime tradition celebrates why residents love the DC neighborhood – WTOP News

Published

17 hours ago

September 8, 2024

Press Room

Adams Morgan Day: Longtime tradition celebrates why residents love the DC neighborhood – WTOP News

The annual Adams Morgan Day celebrated the D.C. neighborhood in picture-perfect weather Sunday, promising music, dance and art.

The annual Adams Morgan Day celebrated the D.C. neighborhood on Sept. 8, 2024.
(WTOP/Dick Uliano)

WTOP/Dick Uliano

vendors at Adams Morgan Day — Adams Morgan Day features music, dance and art as well as vendors selling clothing, jewelry and books.
(WTOP/Dick Uliano)

A history exhibit at Adams Morgan Day — American University’s Humanities Truck set up a pop-up exhibit at 18th and Wyoming Streets NW. The brightly colored step-up van featured photos and text on “The New Thing” — a 1960’s era art, education and culture center that once operated in Adams Morgan.
(WTOP/Dick Uliano)

A booth for the D.C. Tutoring & Mentoring Initiative at Adams Morgan Day in D.C.
(WTOP/Dick Uliano)

face painting at Adams Morgan Day — A child gets her face painted by an artist during Adams Morgan Day on Sept. 8, 2024.
(WTOP/Dick Uliano)

The annual Adams Morgan Day celebrated the D.C. neighborhood in picture-perfect weather Sunday, promising an afternoon of music, dance and art.

The celebration also featured a promenade of vendors selling clothing, jewelry, books and furnishings.

At 46 years running, organizers said it’s the city’s longest operating community festival. However this year’s offering is a scaled-down version compared to the two block-long festival in years past, which closed a section of 18th Street NW.

This year Adams Morgan Day is being celebrated on the grounds of Marie Reed Elementary School. The school’s soccer field featured a sound stage and games for kids.

Colorful vending booths lined the school’s 18th Street entrance and spilled out onto the sidewalk.

“It’s not quite the same as it used to be, where we used to have all the street and it was just packed, so now it’s just a little bit smaller — a lot smaller but they still have some nice vendors,” said Yvonne Williams, who’s lived in Adams Morgan since the 1970s.

Williams and other visitors to the festival talked about their love of their neighborhood.

“It’s a diverse neighborhood, there are a lot of things you can do within walking distance,” Williams said.

“It’s always been a diverse area, all kinds of religions, races, everything, kind of cool like that,” said Tony Artisst of D.C.

There’s even a history exhibit. American University’s Humanities Truck set up a pop up exhibit at 18th and Wyoming Streets NW. The brightly colored step-up van featured photos and text on “The New Thing” — a 1960s-era art, education and culture center that once operated in Adams Morgan.

“It was started by an architect named Topper Carew,” said Daniel Kerr, an associate professor of History at American University. “What they did was they taught African drumming, African dance, photography, music, jazz.”

This year’s festival features an evening performance of Washington’s legendary band “The Blackbyrds.”

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Washington

Washington Commanders vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers Prop Bets

Published

24 hours ago

September 8, 2024

Press Room

Washington Commanders vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers Prop Bets

The Washington Commanders start their 2024 season with a road game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Washington opened the week as a 3.5 point road underdog. Washington has a lot of new across the franchise this season, and it will be interesting to see how it all comes together in Week 1. Jayden Daniels was drafted No. 2 overall, and was named the starter. He has some weapons that are new to Washington like RB Austin Ekeler and WRs Olamide Zaccheaus and Luke McCaffrey. Daniels looked good in limited action in the preseason, and now its time for the games to count.

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