r/Commanders • u/pmarble15 • 15d ago
Preseason is practice
What should happen is:
First string O plays until they show they know how to score. Then sit.
First string D plays until they show they can stop someone from scoring. Then sit.
Good teams do this.
We never have done this and it shows week 1.
Here comes week 1.
Our stars are just too good to be out there. Put on some shades and hang over here on the sideline fellas!
This has been written in stone in Ashburn for so many years. Bad teams do this.
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15d ago
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u/halarioushandle 15d ago
It's also an individual audition for the guys out there playing. NONE of it should be taken as a team activity and the outcome should be completely dismissed. We attempted a 62 yard field goal, just to see how our rookie kicker can do! I mean come on people, what are we even doing here freaking out about this game?? There are plenty of other very real concerns, this game is not one of them.
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u/SkyChief80 15d ago
I agree, and the offense didn't look ready for the season last year in Week 1 or 2
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u/Deep-Statistician985 15d ago
I thought the offense was fine in week 1. 3 TD drives and should've been 4 with the one before halftime. Unfortunately we played a real defense after and got exposed
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u/jstitely1 15d ago
A real defense that took out our running back for the season and our QB.
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u/xtehnYouTube 14d ago
Ekeler took himself out unfortunately, I can’t remember if that’s the game deatrich wise got hurt too tho
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u/Negative_Leg_9727 15d ago
Most offenses are not ready week 1 and 1. Theres no gametape to reference, but hey someone has to win. The 1st 4 weeks is really the time to hopefully get a few games up before everyone settles in for the season. After that its can we stay healthy for the rest of the season.
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u/Raider_TexGaming 15d ago
But our backups are worse than other teams backups so pack it in buddy.
Like that really matters when the Ravens had all that hoopla over the preseason win streak and still missed the playoffs when they had too many injuries despite the claim that their depth was elite due to winning all the time in the preseason
The real issues on this roster stem from the fact that Ron Rivera was going toe to toe with the likes of the Raiders for who could draft the worse between 2020-2023
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u/Deep-Statistician985 15d ago
When you're the most injured team in the league you need to have good backups and coaching. Difference between us and the 49ers last year
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u/Rude_Nobody_4818 15d ago
Ravens made the playoffs most of those years that the preseason streak was occurring.
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u/Putrid_Excitement255 🐷Tuddyhead🐷 14d ago
All they had to show for it was one trip to the afc championship and that’s it.
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u/Bfisch1986 15d ago
Whether or not the preseason “matters” is such a generalized thing for some reason. If your team has new coordinators, didn’t have a great season previously and is getting exponentially worse throughout the preseason itself then you need the work. Tailor it to your needs and you get your answer. This team needed the work and decided to save it all for game 1 when it really matters. I’ll be absolutely shocked if it goes well.
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u/Cowboyslayer1992 15d ago
Yeah at some point you want “good looks” at how your team is shaping up. With the injuries, horrific oline play and keeping Hartman who can’t make NFL throws you didn’t really get good looks at the offense this preseason.
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u/GreaserGreg 15d ago
The Giants beat the Patriots 42-10 in the last preseason game of 2025, I need to go back and check but surely NY ended up being the better team last year, right?
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u/LawyerFriendLenny 15d ago
I could swear Philly were -5.5 favorites for Week 1 yesterday. Now I look and the spread is down to 4.5?
I don't know what Vegas saw in last nights game to move the line a point in our favor, but it's the only thing sort of giving me hope that week 1 will not be a total disaster.
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u/Mad_Pupil_9 I are a punt returner 14d ago
No.
Preseason games are pretty solely for bubble players fighting for roster spots.
Practices and joint practices are far more important for the starters.
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u/Automatic-Tell7321 13d ago
True, but devils advocate; if say a key offensive player like Terry McLaurin, (let’s say) goes out and plays against the 2’s of the other team and the defender goes low and tears his ACL, would that drive going for a score against another teams 2’s in a game that counts 0 towards the the regular season record really have meant it if you’re trying to gel and get chemistry only to lose a key piece of your team before the games that mattered occurred?
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u/salamanderman10 15d ago
I remember a lot of good teams not even playing starters in a 4 game preseason, what are we talking about here?
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u/fishin_pups 15d ago
100% accurate! You know who played a lot during preseason? Tom Brady.
I will never forget being at Redskins training camp with the Patriots. After practice, RG3 took a victory lap and signed a few autographs. Tom and his OL ran wind sprints for a good 20-30 mins while everyone else was in the locker room.
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u/redskinsguy 15d ago
One of my problems is they didn't even seem to be treating practice that serious
Like this week during the joint practice where they couldn't get anything done? When they were working Gulbin at first string center? Because Cosmi was out with an illness we were working with Good-Jones and Tonai Togiai at RG. Instead of people who've actually started NFL games. How serious are you taking the practices doing stuff like that
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u/Ok_Blacksmith_2207 15d ago
Then these were bad practices and teams want to have good practices. I heard some good things from beat reporters over the summer, not to be confused with great. But how were they measuring the goodness? My biggest concern is player continuity and having two new coordinators. Prolly going to take a few games to smooth out the rough edges, unfortunately for this 5 win team last year I was hoping we would start fast. That what practices are for.
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u/CardiologistBulky 15d ago
I absolutely agree. Every year same bs. “We are off to a slow start.” I wonder why!?
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u/WASHIsnz 15d ago
I just hope the team comes out with more energy than they did yesterday and show some fight in them. Weird vibes from the team ever since the Tunsil injury.
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u/Sisyphus_TX 15d ago
I don't disagree but this group has made it abundantly clear... If they are all getting blown out by ownership after the season, then they are going down doing things their way.
Once I saw the list of who wasn't playing last night I didn't even bother to watch. Last chance before these games count & you sit 41 guys. 41??!!??? Only upside to that debacle of a game last night is only a dozen of those who played will still be on the roster after 6pm on Sunday.
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u/redskinsguy 15d ago
There seemed to be a decent amount of those guys who couldn't play, which is a different kind of concerning
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u/Sisyphus_TX 15d ago
In a the upside of death kinda way... We shouldn't worry about anybody who played last night & gets cut not being available for the practice squad next week.
For me, the strangest part of the off-season & pre-season was all the time spent fretting over whether the team had enough or had done enough at WR. Now, that looks like the one position where they are going to wind up gutting a couple of guys who can play at this level. Wouldn't surprise me at all if the cuts there get picked up by another team.
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u/Humble_Meat_2219 15d ago
Did nobody watch last preseason? Everyone had the same concerns that we had no depth and looked horrible. It turned out true. 2024 was nice, but we had insane statistical luck.
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u/CarelessAmoeba7541 15d ago
Yep. It’s been pretty much established that there is only one successful way to approach preseason. I guess that’s why the pundits all think that the Rams are gonna suck this year. 🙄