LONDON — Losing leaders such as receiver Terry McLaurin along with quarterbacks Jayden Daniels and Marcus Mariota gave the Washington Commanders minimal room for error on Sunday. Penalties and miscues eliminated that cushion entirely during a 30-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Officials assessed 10 penalties to the Commanders, compared to one on the Colts. Sub-par punts, failed fourth-down attempts and inopportune turnovers sullied Washington’s best defensive performance of the year, despite what the final score may indicate.
The Commanders defense held the Colts’ playmakers in check throughout large swaths of the game.
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Pro Bowl running back Jonathan Taylor scored on a pair of five-yard scampers but finished with just 95 rushing yards on 20 attempts. One of the most explosive runners in the league failed to record a carry longer than 12 yards.
Colts quarterback Daniel Jones was similarly stymied. He completed 19 of his 34 passes, tallying 143 yards with an interception and a short touchdown run of his own. The veteran recorded just one pass more than 13 yards downfield.
The Commanders also forced a pair of first-half turnovers with a strip sack by edge rusher Odafe Oweh on the opening drive and an interception midway through the second quarter. Washington scored just three points off the turnovers.
“We should have had more,” cornerback Amik Robertson said.
But Washington’s defense was constantly forced into short fields while the offense sputtered. The Commanders’ attack entered the game without McLaurin or Daniels. It lost Mariota 10 plays into the game.
Third-string quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis posted a middle-of-the-road performance. But the offense’s mistakes were costly. The Colts’ three touchdown drives arrived after an interception, a turnover on downs and a lackluster punt that only reached the Indianapolis 48-yard line.
“It’s always tough, but we’ve got to figure it out,” Robertson said. “Have that sudden change mindset and get the job done, eliminate those guys from getting into the end zone.”
But, even when the offense and defense did their respective jobs, penalties proved costly. The Commanders forced a fourth-and-long before the Colts’ first touchdown. But an unnecessary roughness call on Robertson extended the drive. Taylor scored three plays later.
“I know how I felt about it,” the defensive back said of the penalty call. “I should have been a little smarter. But film doesn’t lie.”
The offense’s biggest mistake arrived late in the third quarter, as the Commanders trailed 20-13.
Kaliakmanis found fellow rookie Antonio Williams open along the sideline with room to run. The receiver made a couple of defenders miss and beat the rest of the secondary in a footrace to the end zone for an 87-yard touchdown.
At least, it was momentarily an 87-yard touchdown. Williams didn’t see the penalty flags as he celebrated the potential game-tying score. Kaliakmanis noticed them. He stood unmoving near his own 10-yard line. The Commanders were called for holding and an illegal shift on the play, forcing them into a third-and-long that elicited their fifth punt of the afternoon.
“It definitely stung. You can’t control that,” Kaliakmanis said after the game. “It hurts for a second, but you’ve got to go into the next play. It’s unfortunate, but we let the refs ref and the players play the game. We don’t make those decisions.”
But fixing the 84 yards worth of penalty yards begins with accountability, according to veterans in the locker room. They’re not buying into excuses based on the revolving lineups caused by injuries.
“We say the same thing every week. ‘We’ve got to fix it,’ but it’s bull s—-,” left tackle Brandon Coleman said. “It’s stuff that we know we’ve got to do. It’s stuff that we’ve got to get fixed. At the end of the day, it’s on us as an offense, as an O-line. That’s simple communication that just has to go down.”
With missteps in all three phases, Commanders fans who flew 3,000 miles from Washington to North London left disappointed. A promising start — which featured an early turnover and a 6-0 lead behind Mariota — spiraled into an afternoon full of hair-pulling mistakes.
The miscues allowed Indianapolis to outscore Washington 30-7 after Mariota left the game.
The Commanders won’t have much time to stew on the defeat. The NFL has abandoned the post-London bye week that was once customary. Washington, now 1-3, returns to action on Sunday at home against the New York Giants.
“We’ll be alright,” offensive lineman Nick Allegretti said. “We’ve got a flight to lick our wounds and feel down about it. Then we’ve got the Giants, so we’ve got to turn the page.”
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