Flubs doom Commanders against Rams as Jacoby Brissett-led rally falls short

An already ugly Washington Commanders season hit a new low Sunday.

The Commanders looked inept on multiple occasions in pivotal moments against the Los Angeles Rams. The result was a 28-20 loss that dropped them to 4-10 and did little for head coach Ron Rivera's already-perilous job security.

Jacoby Brissett replaced starting quarterback Sam Howell in the fourth quarter and threatened to spark a rally from a 28-7 deficit. But it was too little too late as the Rams held on for the win.

Mistakes were made in all three aspects of the game. But special teams flubs and a defensive breakdown encapsulated what's gone wrong in Washington all season.

Bad snap leads to Rams points, peril for punter Tress Way

With the Rams leading 10-0 with 34 seconds left before halftime, the Commanders lined up to punt. They did not get a punt off.

Long snapper Camaron Cheeseman's snap barely got off the ground and hit the turf several yards short of intended target Tress Way. The Washington punter did his best to corral the bouncing ball. But as soon as he did, he was met by Rams linebacker Troy Reeder, who jumped on top of him for a turnover on downs.

Reeder landed hard on Way's head and neck, prompting the Commanders to evaluate Way for a concussion and back injury. Way was eventually cleared to return, but not before damage from the play was done on the scoreboard. The Rams converted their short field position into a field goal with nine seconds left in the quarter to extend their to 13-0 at halftime.

Commanders leave Cooper Kupp alone on deep TD

Then another breakdown helped the Rams take a 20-0 lead. On their first possession of the third quarter, the Rams faced first-and-10 from their 38-yard line. Quarterback Matthew Stafford took a shotgun snap and looked down the left sideline to find a wide open Cooper Kupp.

There wasn't a Washington defender within 15 yards of Kupp as he looked up at the ball in mid-flight. He ran under the pass and corralled it for what may be the easiest touchdown of his professional career.

Per NFL's Next Gen Stats, the touchdown was one of the easiest of the the last three seasons in the entire league. The pass had a 73.6% chance of success, making it the most probable completion of more than 30 yards since 2020. Kupp's 17 yards of separation were the most on a pass of more than 50 yards since Next Gen Stats started tracking statistics in 2016.

The Commanders would eventually tack on a pair of touchdowns to make the final score more respectable. Brissett replaced Howell with 9:05 remaining and promptly hit Terry McLaurin for a 29-yard touchdown pass to cut Washington's deficit in half.

Brissett leads replaces Howell, leads 2 TD drives

Brissett then led another touchdown drive in the final two minutes, preluding yet another Commanders mistake. Brissett found Curtis Samuel in the end zone to cut Washington's deficit to 28-20 with 1:46 remaining. But another bad snap from Cheeseman doomed the extra point.

The blocked kick ultimately didn't matter, as Washington's ensuing onside kick failed, allowing the Rams to run out the clock on their win. But it summed up another tough day in another season for the Commanders at the bottom of the NFC East.

The struggles will bring more scrutiny on Cheeseman, who's struggled with low snaps for most of the season. The defensive breakdown on the Kupp touchdown exemplifies the issues with a unit that's devolved into one of the NFL's worst since trading cornerstones Montez Sweat and Chase Young at the trade deadline. Washington entered Sunday having allowed an average of 37.5 points per game in a four-game losing streak that was extended to five.

But mostly, the mistakes will raise more heat around Rivera, who's concluding his fourth season since joining the Commanders without producing a winning record.

The Commanders can point to a positive in Brissett, who completed 8 of 10 passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns in less than one quarter of play. But it's of little solace in a season that's long been lost.