ASHBURN, Va. — It's "Tell the Truth Monday" in the DMV, and the Commanders have some work to do. The team lost 30-23 at M&T Bank Stadium against the Baltimore Ravens.
Despite the Washington's loss Sunday, fans remain hopeful about the direction in which the franchise is headed.
Riding high on a four-game winning streak that landed them atop the NFC East, the Commanders faced an experienced squad that featured an aggressive defense and an offense led by two-time MVP Lamar Jackson and veteran running back Derrick Henry.
Losing only by a touchdown on the road against a team that last season played in the AFC title game, Washington (4-2) could have insisted it was on the cusp of being a legitimate contender. But the manner in which Jackson shredded the Commanders' defense and the fashion in which Baltimore's defense shackled the highest-scoring team in the league spoke volumes about the pecking order of these two Maryland-based franchises.
Fans, players and coaches alike were proud that the team fought until the very end of the game.
“These are the type of games you want to be in. It’s the type of game that we’re probably going to be in moving forward," quarterback Jayden Daniels said. “You’ve got to be able to pull those out.”
"It’s a situation where we came out, we battled, they made a few more plays than we did. But guess what? We’re going to come back, bounce back and be ready to go again,” said running back Austin Ekeler.
Meanwhile, fans on social media sites like Reddit said they were proud of the squad's performance and echoed Ekeler's hope for a bounce-back against the Carolina Panthers next week.
"Can't expect to win every game," one Reddit user said. "What I expect is that they respond accordingly next week. I hope they are salivating seeing the [P]anthers on the schedule."
Another user agreed.
"This wasn’t a win but it was a tremendous result, and it’s one of those games we can look back on as a big building block to becoming the team AP and DQ are creating. We got that dog in us," they said.
Even Jackson had some kind words for Daniels.
“I believe he deserves all the hype he’s getting. He played a tremendous game out there,” Jackson said. “They just came up short. For six games, he’s been playing amazing.”
Now the team sets its sights on Carolina. The Commanders will take the Panthers at home at Northwest Stadium. Andy Dalton is expected to start despite a costly fourth-quarter interception in a 38-20 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.