ASHBURN, Va. — The Washington Commanders are 1-1 after defeating the New York Giants 21-18 off the back of seven Austin Seibert field goals.
It took five tries, but the Commanders may have finally found their kicker, and doing so allows the team to move on to focusing on fixing some things that will help them win even more games down the road.
Starting first and foremost with strengthening the discipline of the team.
Helping lead to the seven field goal tries by Seibert, which were five false start penalties in the red zone that not only disrupted but ultimately derailed any chance Washington had of getting into the end zone.
“The pre-snap ones, those are the ones that we have to not have in our game,” head coach Dan Quinn says about the fouls. “I get it when there’s a combative one, or a holding or a [defensive pass interference], those that take place sometimes when you’re really battling. Pre-snap and post-snap, can’t have into our game.”
So the new guy did what anyone with less than a week in the building would do, and he came to save the day. But Seibert wasn’t the only recent hire making his presence felt, especially on that last drive to set up the game-winning score.
Signed after being released by the Houston Texans two weeks ago, Commanders receiver Noah Brown, brought in a 19-yard pass from quarterback Jayden Daniels and turned it up field for what would be a 34-yard gain down to the Giants’ 43-yard line.
Six snaps later, Washington had its first win of the season. It was a true team effort, and one that wouldn’t have happened without the efforts of the coaches and players everyone sees on Sundays, but also the front office players who operate outside of the public view once the season begins. Guys like general manager Adam Peters and assistant general manager Lance Newmark.
“I give those two a lot of credit, and the whole personnel staff for never stopping,” says Quinn. “To find an edge, to compete for it, and Noah [and] Austin are examples of that. They’ve had their eye on them for a long time, they’ve watched them all through training camp, and so when we have that moment to add those two players here, that was a big deal.”
Now the team has its sights set on the Cincinnati Bengals Sept. 23, who are itching to get their own first win after dropping their first two games of the season, while the Commanders aim to take the next step toward becoming a regular presence in the win column.