In a game headlined by the return of wide receiver Terry McLaurin, set to square off against one of the NFL’s best cornerbacks in Pat Surtain Jr., also coming off an injury, ‘Sunday Night Football’ proved to be the tight end show.
The defense also showed promise by limiting Denver’s efficiency on the ground, but it would be tight end Evan Engram who proved to be the difference after posting 79 yards on six catches and nine targets. Engram, one of five players in the game to record five or more receptions, proved to be a thorn in overtime after his 41-yard catch set Denver’s offense up in the redzone before RJ Harvey punched in his second rushing touchdown of the night.
But the Commanders would answer back with their own scoring drive with wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Terry McLaurin making the clutch plays to set up the eventual score, but all night, it was Commanders tight end Zach Ertz who carried the load.
Ertz posted a season-high 106 receiving yards on ten catches and 13 targets, proving to be a game-high in a much-needed performance as the safety blanket in quarterback Marcus Mariota’s third consecutive start. Even more impressive? Seven of his catches resulted in first downs for the Commanders, including catches over 15 yards on each of the two touchdown drives in the second and third quarter. The performance also came on a night when Ertz (824) passed Shannon Sharpe (815) for fifth on the all-time receptions lists by a tight end, along with moving to eighth on the all-time receiving yards lists by a tight end with 8,581 heading into week 14.
Ertz had more chances to make plays, such as a 20-yard catch down the seam only for linebacker Alex Singleton to break up the play mid-air, along with the dropped touchdown pass in overtime one play before receiver Terry McLaurin punched in a three-yard touchdown for his second score of the season. Of course, Treylon Burks’ lone catch proved to be its own highlight with a one-handed catch in the corner of the endzone push the Commanders ahead again, 14-13, in the opening minutes of the second half.
A big part of the offensive success was protecting Mariota in the pocket against proven Denver defense, allowing one sack allowed and holding Denver to a 17.9% pressure rate, per Next Gen Stats, marking the Broncos’ lowest since week three of the 2023 season.
While the results point to a lost season and nearly eliminated, Sunday night showed the potential of what Washington’s could look like at full strength.
“I really thought having Terry [McLaurin] back that was big help with it. Zach [Ertz] made some big ones. Marcus, I thought I had, like, a warrior performance of long ones to overcome, but still got work to do. Tried to use cadence. We still have some issues onto that where we got to get rid of penalties. So like, there's plenty for us to dig in on. And the margins are like this. And so like, detail it out. Detail it out. But there's another step we're going to take and hope to see that improvement this week.”