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Turning the Page: 17-16, a Birthday and Two Scary Terrys

By Ben · October 16, 2026

It's been a long week. Work's been a lot. Then on Thursday afternoon, my computer blue-screened. No warning, no error message worth reading, just a wall of blue and a sad little face. For a few seconds I sat there with my hands off the keyboard, not sure whether to wait or do something. I want to be clear that I have never felt closer to this football team. It rebooted, by the way. Life went on. That's the whole Commanders experience in one Thursday afternoon.

Dan Quinn said this week that we've turned the page from Sunday. I have not turned the page. I've read the page several times. I've highlighted parts of it. I could recite the page in the dark. For anyone lucky enough to have missed it: with a game-winning field goal sitting right there in overtime, the clock ran out on us, and we tied the Giants 27-27. At home. Quinn called it "a lot of hard truths," which is a very gentle way to describe a tie that felt like a loss.

The group chat took it about how you'd expect. Jason, usually the calm one, said he hadn't been mad at a game like that in years. Chris and I landed, independently, on the exact same sentence: I'd rather have just lost. That's where we are as a people. A tie isn't a result. It's a form you have to fill out.

A quick follow-up for the record. Two weeks ago, Jason was pretty confident we'd beat the Giants, and I told him he was two for two and not to let me down. He didn't win. He didn't lose. Jason is now 2-0-1, which is the most Commanders record a man can have.

The Guy Who Takes the Hit

Here's the part I keep coming back to. Jayden stood at a podium on Thursday and said, "Ultimately, it's on me." He called it a failure. He said he's better than that. He defended his coach while he was up there. And before that last play, he'd just come back from a dislocated elbow and run for 103 yards and two touchdowns. I have watched a lot of quarterbacks in this building blame the line, the play call, the weather and the turf. I'll take the one who takes the hit.

Which is why the group chat spent Tuesday morning arguing about his contract like any of us get a vote. I asked whether you extend a guy who hasn't stayed healthy. Chris wants to wait a year. Jason went straight for the heart: "I went through a 30 year mess to find a QB and it sucked." I lived through every one of those thirty years with him, and what I said that morning still stands. He doesn't look fast, but my lord.

Two Scary Terrys

I promised I'd stop reading the injury report out loud. I'm breaking that promise once, for a good reason. Terry McLaurin is on it with a hamstring. If you've been to Högwaller, you know there are two Scary Terrys in my life. One catches footballs for a living. The other is the inflatable tube man out front on East High Street. Only one of them is on the injury report. The other has been flailing nonstop since Sunday, so honestly, I relate.

Stefon Diggs, our best receiver this year with 18 catches and three touchdowns, still wasn't at practice Thursday. Bill Croskey-Merritt had the best game of his young career against the Giants, 82 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, then sat out Thursday's practice with a groin injury, which is how this team says congratulations. In fairness, Chris benched Bill in fantasy on Sunday and announced in the group chat that we were welcome. Bill then had the best game of his life. Chris has not apologized.

Even the 49ers caught it. Deebo Samuel, who used to be ours, is out with a hamstring. Welcome to the club, Deebo. We have jackets.

Monday Night, and a Birthday

So here's the setup: Monday night, 8:15, at Levi's Stadium, against an undefeated team, on national television, a week after the most replayed ending in the league. And somebody on r/Commanders dug up a gem this week, bless them. December 26, 1999, in San Francisco: Brad Johnson to Larry Centers for 33 yards in overtime, 26-20, and it won us the division for the first time since 1991. I'm not saying anything. I'm just saying.

Also, Monday is my birthday. I'm not saying the Commanders owe me anything. I'm saying a man deserves a reason to stay up past midnight on a Monday. We already did the early birthday dinner: seven courses of Portuguese food, which for us is a once-every-two-years kind of night, and this one was all pumpkin and fall. If you don't know us, Nicole and I are pumpkin spice basic bitches, and we're not ashamed. We were the target audience, and we ate like it. We'd built up about $500 in credit, so the whole thing was covered, and we walked out with four bottles of wine. For free. I mean, technically we paid for all of it at some point over the years, but that's a problem for past me. Four hours, home at 11, which for me is basically a red-eye. It was fantastic.

I'll be home for the game. Nicole has birthday plans for me that she has not shared, and the only thing I've been told is that I'll be on my couch at 8:15, which tells me she knows exactly who she married. I don't know what she has planned. I don't know what the 49ers have planned either. I trust one of them.

My birthday list for the team is short. One: win. Two: if it's close at the end, spike the ball. I'll buy the ball. Three: Major Tuddy cuts the cake. He's had a week.

My number last week was 24-20. Both teams beat it. This week: Commanders 17, 49ers 16. We win, and only God knows why.

Your turn. Call your shot below. There's a season leaderboard now. Beat me. It's not hard. I picked a winner in a game nobody won.

BE ON THE LOOKOUT: One (1) Commanders fan, last seen on our homepage Thursday, Oct. 15, at 9:33 p.m. Eastern, somewhere in the United States. Considered friendly. May be in possession of a small gold bar reading "You were visit #5,000." I don't know who you are, and the site very deliberately doesn't either. But your browser does. If that's you, click the bar and say hi. Reward: one sticker, mailed by me.

Here's the hope part, because there's always a hope part. We're 1-3-1, and we're also two games out of first place in a division the Giants are currently leading. Our quarterback told the whole country it was on him, and I believe him when he says he's better than that. A late game, an undefeated team, and a birthday surprise I know nothing about. I've had worse Mondays. Hail.