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A Case of the Mondays: I Owe This Team a Football

By Ben · October 20, 2026

A Case of the Mondays is on a Tuesday this week, because the Commanders played on Monday, and because I turned 45 on Monday and needed a day. Here's the receipt. Last week I said Commanders 17, 49ers 16. Final: Commanders 17, 49ers 23. I got our number exactly right. I just assumed the 49ers would take the night off, and they did not take the night off.

I also put out a birthday list for the team. One: win. Two: if it's close at the end, spike the ball, and I'll buy the ball. Three: Major Tuddy cuts the cake. We went one for three, and the one was the spike. With under a minute left, no timeouts and the game on the line, Jayden hit Antonio Williams on third-and-2 and spiked it. It's the most specific birthday wish I've ever had granted, and I would like to formally retract it in exchange for a win. I still owe this team a football.

The Undercard

UVA went to SMU this weekend and lost, 23-13. Road game, so no President's Box, no free food, no catered cushion between me and the result. Just a regular loss, delivered the regular way.

Next up is Duke, at home, which means the box is back open. I'd like to say I'm going for the football. I'm going for the football and the free food.

The First Half

For about thirty minutes on Monday night, this was exactly the game everybody expected. The 49ers ran 41 plays in the first half. We ran 17. They had 17 first downs. We had two. They had 303 yards. We had 90. It was 20-3 at halftime, and on my couch it felt like 50-3. By the end of the night Brock Purdy had thrown a touchdown pass and Christian McCaffrey had run for two.

And somewhere in there, Terry McLaurin went down. His left knee gave out as he planted on a route, and he left on a cart with his leg in an air cast while players from both teams came over to wish him well. The team fears it's season-ending, and he's getting an MRI today. Jayden said it better than I can: "He's a brother to me. It sucks. You see how hard he works ... Praying for Terry."

Last week I joked that there are two Scary Terrys in my life and only one of them was on the injury report. I don't have a joke this week. Get well, Terry.

Fourth and Two

Then came the clip. In the second quarter we went for it on fourth-and-2 from the San Francisco 13. The pass fell incomplete, we got flagged for an illegal shift, and ESPN's cameras caught Dan Quinn looking like a man who had just been told what down it was. By Tuesday, people were reading his lips. The Athletic ran an actual headline about people reading his lips.

Quinn came to his press conference nearly an hour after the game, after Jayden, and he came ready. "I definitely knew it was fourth down," he said. Somebody on the headset had asked him about the illegal shift, and he was telling them they couldn't kick a field goal now.

I believe him. I also believe that one week after a coach lets overtime run out without a field goal attempt, the entire country is going to study his face every time the down changes. The official findings: the coach was aware of the down. The down was aware of the coach. The relationship remains under review.

The Second Half

And then, because this team refuses to let us hate it in peace, the second half happened. Jayden hit Stefon Diggs for a 1-yard touchdown with 15 seconds left in the third quarter, then Rachaad White for 9 yards with 9:22 left in the game. Fourteen unanswered points. A 23-3 game was suddenly 23-17, and Pro Football Talk described the ending as "too close for comfort for the home fans," which is the nicest thing anyone has said about us in a month.

Treylon Burks nearly made the catch of the year on a fourth down, and the ball came loose when he hit the ground. Then we got the ball back at our own 46 with 52 seconds left and no timeouts. Jayden found Williams for 20. Then Williams again on third-and-2, then my spike. Then an intentional grounding penalty with its 10-second runoff, and a sack to end it. Jayden said the grounding was worth it rather than eating a sack. We didn't get a throw off on the last two plays.

For the record, Jayden became the first Washington quarterback to throw for 300 yards since Case Keenum in 2019. Asked whether there was anything to take from the comeback, he said, "Nah, not really," and that he wants a full four-quarter team, not a first-half team or a second-half team. John Keim put it the way all of us feel: "No moral victories. Need real ones."

The Sub

r/Commanders spent the night after the game the way you'd expect, which is to say all of it at once. One thread was titled "Will not, can not tolerate JD slander." Another was titled "Everyone..We Are Fine." Plenty of people want changes after the bye, and plenty of people were praying for Terry. Put it all together and it reads like one fan arguing with himself, which I respect, because I am also that fan.

Call Your Shot

Thirty-three percent of you had us winning, and I was proudly in that 33 percent. The crowd's median pick was 23-30. Taylor P called it 17-30, right winner, off by seven, and now leads the season leaderboard at 1-0. I'm 0-2, in second place, ahead only of Cody, who picked 38-35 and whom I respect enormously for it. Taylor, enjoy the view. Cody, never change.

Roll Call

Now the best part of my week. Two of you reported for Roll Call, the first two ever, and I can't tell you how happy that made me.

A reader from DC, born and raised and a fan since 1986, was at the Giants tie in the cold rain and reports that they are "still healing." Same. Their game-day ritual: rotate the game-day clothes until we win, then wear that exact outfit until we lose. Which means that after Monday, the rotation continues. Favorite player: Sean Taylor. Of course.

And J, from "Cville baby," became a fan because of "My Father. Simple as that." J's superstition is no superstitions, which is the most powerful superstition there is. Favorite player: Santana Moss. Still not over: "that stretch from about... 2002-2024," which is the most accurate sentence anyone has ever submitted to this website. J also said they hope to see me around town so they can say thanks. Please do. I'll be the guy in a brand-new Commanders hoodie.

The Bye

So: 1-4-1, a bye week, and a quarterback who's playing like the best thing about us. The NFL had until today to decide whether to flex our Week 8 Sunday night game against the Eagles out of prime time. The Eagles are 2-4. We're 1-4-1. I understand the league's hesitation. I'm watching anyway.

Keim said something else Monday night, and it's what I'm holding on to for the next two weeks: "if Jayden Daniels keeps playing like this they have a shot in this division."

I spent my 45th birthday on my couch, watching my team dig a hole and then nearly climb out of it with 52 seconds and no timeouts. Honestly, that's not a bad description of being 45. Two weeks until the Eagles. I'll bring the ball. Hail.

Want to be in the next one? Report for Roll Call. Every question is optional, and you decide what I can share.