Commanders back on top after 42-19 win over Tennessee Titans

LANDOVER, Md. - Jayden Daniels wanted no part of sitting around for half of December dwelling on a losing streak.

"I didn’t want to go into the bye week with an ‘L,’" he said.

Daniels made sure of it, throwing two of his three touchdown passes to Terry McLaurin and scoring one rushing to lead the Washington Commanders to a 42-19 rout of the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. They got their groove back, their skid ended at three and it was all smiles following their first victory in nearly a month.

"It’s always great to win," Daniels said. "Obviously, winning always makes everything better."

Daniels completed 25 of 30 passes for 206 yards and the TD passes to McLaurin and Zach Ertz, offsetting his interception and bolstering his status as favorite for AP Offensive Rookie of the Year. Brian Robinson Jr. returned from a sprained ankle to run for 103 yards and a TD, and the defense and special teams each forced a fumble in a game the Commanders (8-5) had well in hand before halftime.

"That was one of the best displays of complementary football we’ve played in a little while, and we still didn’t play our cleanest," said McLaurin, who had eight catches for 73 yards and was serenated with "Terry! Terry!" chants throughout the afternoon. "For us to do that against a really solid team just shows us what we can do if we execute at a high level and play off of one another."

The bounce back from defeats to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Dallas keeps Washington solidly in a playoff spot at its long-awaited bye week. It was made possible by the offense returning to elite, early season form following a series of questions about Daniels and coordinator Kliff Kingsbury that mounted during the skid.

"We trust Kliff and the offensive staff to put us in the best situation to be successful," McLaurin said. "But it’s on us to be able to execute the plan and I feel like we did a better job of that than we had the past few weeks."

The Commanders went nine of 14 on third down and went up 28-0 just over 19 minutes into the game — the fastest lead by that margin since Baltimore did it in 16:11 against Miami in 2019. Washington scored 21 points in the first quarter for the first time since 2015.

Daniels was a big part of that, extending plays with his legs and finishing with 34 yards on the ground and his sixth TD run of the season. Coach Dan Quinn said Daniels "was able to fully express himself today (with) runs, keeping, creating on the move."

Tennessee (3-9) didn’t score until Will Levis’ 27-yard TD pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine late in the second quarter, and the two connected on another with seven minutes remaining in the fourth.

The Titans for much of the first half had more yards in penalties than on offense and were unable to climb out of a deep hole. The loss puts to rest any talk of a long-shot playoff bid created by their upset victory at Houston last week.

"Keep going — it’s all we can do," said Levis, who was 18 of 37 and got sacked twice. "We just keep finding different ways to shoot ourselves in the foot."

Love for Luvu

Frankie Luvu tormented Levis early and often, hitting him on one third down play and tipping a pass on another. His sack of Levis in the second quarter gave him eight this season, setting a career high.

Luvu has perhaps been first-year general manager Adam Peters’ best free agent signing. The other candidate for that, fellow linebacker Bobby Wagner, joined London Fletcher as the only players in NFL history to make 100-plus tackles in 13 consecutive seasons.

Injuries

Titans: CB Roger McCreary injured a shoulder late in the third quarter while tackling Robinson.

Commanders: WR Noah Brown left with a rib injury. ... CB Marshon Lattimore (hamstring) missed a fourth consecutive game and still hasn’t played since Washington acquired him at the trade deadline.