Survey results!!
With a 4-1 record, sole possession of first place in the NFC East, the hottest rookie quarterback since…well…ever, and coming off a dismantling of the Cleveland Browns this past Sunday, the Washington Commanders are earning respect around the league.
Among Hogs Haven readers, there is still a tiny minority that aren’t convinced that the team is headed in the right direction.
In this week’s Reacts confidence survey, 99% of Hogs Haven readers who responded — the highest percentage among all 32 fan bases — said that they are confident in the team’s direction. With new ownership, a respected new GM, a new coaching staff and re-made roster, the on-field success — albeit vs a slate of less-than-elite opponents — would seem to tick all the boxes for what any reasonable fan could ask for from the Washington franchise.
Washington is 4-1 against a slate of five opponents with a combined record of 9-16, with the team’s only loss coming to the only opponent that currently has a winning record — the 3-2 Buccaneers.
The burgundy & gold has a chance this week, however, to take on the top team in the AFC North, the 3-2 Baltimore Ravens, in Washington’s only road trip in the month of October.
We asked readers to pick the winner of the game.
Nealy seven out of ten respondents picked the Commanders to win outright; this despite Washington being 6- to 7-point underdogs.
The Ravens have been somewhat inconsistent this season. They opened the season with consecutive losses to the Chiefs and Raiders, but have since won three straight beating the Cowboys in Dallas and the Bills in Baltimore before last week’s overtime win against the Bengals. In the latest win, Lamar Jackson lost a fumble in overtime to give Cincy a shot at the win, but a missed field goal by kicker Evan McPherson gave the Ravens offense the break they needed to get above .500 for the first time this season.
This week’s game features two teams that mirror one another in many ways.
These are, arguably, the two best offenses in the league right now, with Baltimore accumulating slightly more yardage and Washington scoring slightly more points.
Neither defense has been outstanding, though the Ravens have the best run defense in the league and the 2nd-worst pass defense (measured by yards surrendered). Some fans have wondered if the strong ranking against the run is a function of how easy it has been for opposing offenses to pass against them. Washington has been slightly more successful than Baltimore in limiting opposition scoring.
There’s not much to choose between the statistical performances of rookie Jayden Daniels and reigning league MVP Lamar Jackson.
Baltimore fans look at this game and see it differently than their Washington neighbors.
Readers of Baltimore Beatdown voted 85-15 that the Ravens will win on Sunday.
Certainly, the oddsmakers are on their side, but underdog status is nothing new to Washington fans. What is new is the attitude and execution of the 2024 Commanders under Dan Quinn.
The head coach rightly refused to refer to this as a “measuring stick” game. That term implies an expectation of going up against a superior team with an expectation of having to play a nearly perfect game to be competitive or avoid a big loss.
The 69% of Washington fans who believe that the Commanders will win on Sunday seem to view this as a “statement game”. That term implies that the game ahead is against a quality opponent, but that the expectation is that the Commanders will play to the standard they have already set, and that fans expect the team to come away with an impressive win that will change the minds of any remaining doubters.
Many media observers and fans have already proclaimed this to be the unofficial ‘game of the week’, and there was a failed effort to ‘flex’ the game into the Sunday Night Football time slot. Undoubtedly, the contest between a pair of teams on winning streaks (Commanders 4 wins; Ravens 3 wins) that features the league’s two best offenses guided by a pair of talented, young, Heisman trophy-winning quarterbacks and some of the most productive running backs in the game will draw a ton of attention from all NFL fans.
Show up or tune in Sunday at 1:00 p.m. for what is potentially the biggest game yet of the Peters/Quinn/Daniels era of Washington football.
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