Commanders Escape Saints Late Comeback (12-15-24)

By: Jaden Golding

Headline Photo Credit: Washington Commanders 

NEW ORLEANS, LA – The Washington Commanders defeated the New Orleans Saints, 20-19 in their week 15 matchup at Caesars Superdome on Sunday afternoon. 

Washington (9-5) quarterback Jayden Daniels threw two touchdown passes, passing for 226 yards and rushing for 66 yards on the ground. Both touchdown passes came in the first half and were caught each by wide receiver Terry McLaurin who now has 11 touchdown grabs on the season. Daniels was sacked a staggering eight times but saw some register as sacks after being pushed out of bounds for no gain,

New Orleans (5-9) now sees any chance of its playoff hopes disappearing. The Saints have lost all four games without veteran quarterback Derek Carr under center. Jake Haener entered the contest as the Saints starting quarterback but could not muster any points or long-sustaining drives and was replaced by Rattler in the second half. Rattler led scoring drives on all four of his opportunities nearly picking up a Saints victory. 

Newly signed kicker Greg Joseph missed a 54-yard field goal attempt to potentially put the game out of reach for New Orleans, as they would’ve trailed by two scores with 1:54 left in the game. 

Rattler would guide the New Orleans offense down to the Washington eight with 22 seconds on the clock. On the ensuing 4th-and-3, Rattler completed a short right pass to tight end Foster Moreau at the one-yard line and was able to down the ball with five seconds. Rattler then found Moreau again, this time in the endzone on an out route to the right side with no time remaining. Interim head coach Darren Rizzi kept his offense on the field to attempt a game-winning two-point conversion. The Saints ran a roll out towards the right side of the endzone that saw the pass intended for Juwan Johnson that sailed past his outstretched hands and went incomplete. 

For Washington, it was a tail of two halves for Dan Quinn’s unit. They were dominant in the first half holding the Saints scoreless and only 67 yards on five drives. But in the second half, careless penalties, negative plays, and missed chances slowly allowed the Saints to take control on both sides of the ball. If the Commanders want to play against the Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday, they’ll have to play disciplined and not let their foot off the gas. 

Washington Player Of The Game 

WR Terry McLaurin: No shocker here, McLaurin stood out as usual hauling in seven catches for 73 yards and two scores. His first grab was on a highlight play that found Daniels scrambling to his left side trying to evade the closing Saints’ defensive lineman, Daniels dropped the ball scooped it back up quickly, and launched a strike over the arms of linebacker Pete Werner to a leaping McLaurin who came across the endzone grabbing it into his hands while crashing into a crowd of players. 

Two Missed Opportunities

The Daniels to McLaurin connection has been one of the league’s best all season long. But they had two plays that showed the growing pains from earlier in the beginning of the season. In the fourth quarter, Daniels had an open McLaurin who darted past the Saints cornerback and was open deep middle but overthrew him. Later, McLaurin dropped a deep pass down the right sideline that he couldn’t haul in due to him stopping a little on the top part of his route causing him to have to try and leap out. The first play would’ve been a walk-in touchdown and the second one could’ve put Washington in the red zone but they both ultimately resulted in no points keeping New Orleans in the game. 

Lattimore Debuts 

Marshon Lattimore debuted in his first game with the Commanders against his former team who dealt him away at the trade deadline. Lattimore was well worth the wait putting in a blank stat sheet on the game on 49-of-51 snaps. Sounds bad….but it was the complete opposite. The pair of New Orleans quarterbacks did not target near Lattimore’s way once as they looked to attack elsewhere and avoided testing any side he was on. Rookie Mike Sainristil and Noah Igbinoghene were well prepared for the challenge making plays on the ball throughout the game. Sainristil picked off a pass in the second quarter.

Up Next:

Washington hosts the Philadelphia Eagles in their second meeting of the season, at Northwest Stadium on Fox at 1 p.m. et. 

New Orleans travels to Green Bay for a Monday Night matchup against the Packers on Dec. 23rd.