Daron Payne suspended for punch as Commanders’ season continues to unravel

The Washington Commanders‘ downward spiral seems to haven’t any finish in sight. Throughout their fifth consecutive loss, a 44-22 blowout to the Detroit Lions, which can be Washington’s fourth straight defeat by a minimum of 20 factors, it seems that frustrations reached a boiling level. 

Within the second quarter, Lions operating again Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for a 13-yard landing to increase Detroit’s result in 17 factors. After the play, Commanders defensive lineman Daron Payne circled and punched Lions wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown within the face. 

Payne was ejected from the sport and subsequently given a one-game suspension by the NFL on Monday for his “act of unsportsmanlike conduct.” 

The penalty gave the Lions a good shorter area to aim a two-point conversion. David Montgomery punched within the two-pointer to increase the result in 19 factors, and that is when one other Commander misplaced his cool, as Javon Kinlaw was given a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for making contact with an official. 

After an exhilarating win over the Los Angeles Chargers in Jayden Daniels’ “homecoming” sport on Oct. 5, not a lot has gone proper for Washington, now 3-7. The Commanders have been outscored by 88 factors of their final 4 video games. Keep in mind, this can be a franchise that was searching for even greater issues in 2025 after final season’s magical 12-5 marketing campaign that ended with a loss to the Eagles within the NFC Championship simply 10 months in the past. 

So why has Washington’s season been a catastrophe? There are a few completely different causes. 

It was clear final yr that Washington discovered a franchise quarterback in Daniels. Nonetheless, at the same time as an NFL prospect, his sturdiness was a query mark. The No. 2 total decide within the 2024 NFL Draft did not miss a single begin as a rookie, however missed three contests by the primary eight weeks of this season. That quantity goes to extend with Daniels struggling a dislocated elbow final week within the loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

Any crew lacking its beginning quarterback goes to battle. That is very true once we’re speaking a few expertise like Daniels — who nearly took a struggling franchise to the Tremendous Bowl in his first season. When Daniels suffered a hamstring harm within the Week 7 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Daniels’ mom took to social media to ask followers to cease “manifesting” Robert Griffin III on her son. Sadly, these comparisons exist for a motive. 

The protection

Daniels’ availability isn’t the one motive why Washington has struggled this yr. Actually, you could possibly make the argument the protection has been rather more of an element why Washington has gone from NFC contender to afterthought. 

The Commanders entered this week permitting a median of 377.8 yards per sport (fifth-worst within the NFL), 253.6 passing yards per sport (fourth-worst within the NFL) and 26.2 factors per sport (Tenth-worst within the NFL). This Dan Quinn protection allowed 33 of 35 completions for 492 passing yards and 7 touchdowns in a four-quarter span from the second half of Week 8 on the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs, to the primary half towards Seattle final Sunday night time. Issues will not get any higher for Washington both, as they only misplaced beginning cornerback Marshon Lattimore for the rest of the season attributable to a torn ACL and now will probably be with out Payne subsequent Sunday for a gathering with the Miami Dolphins in Madrid.

To place it bluntly, the Commanders are struggling on each side of the ball, and that is why they will not be making the playoffs this yr.