If this team were competently coached this year, they could easily be 7-3. A well coached team beats the Giants and Bears, probably beats the Seahawks today, and likely splits with the Eagles. Waiting so long to reshuffle the o line, and punting the MLB position have probably cost this team a playoff season. The team also comes out flat most weeks. You’re not trying to win if you replace Holcomb with Mayo. Mayo is a good MLB in 2002. He’s unplayable today. If the middle of the field is a liability then it’s harder on the entire defense. I know some folks here are talking about tanking, but the talent is here. A competentely coached Commanders team has 7 wins.
The talent is not here at the LB or CB position. JDR has done a poor job with this defense, to say the least. But the ceiling, with a better DC, is still not very high. I’m not defending JDR-- he needs to go. But that is not the magic pill that solves all the problems on this defense. There are still serious personnel gaps that need to be addressed.
I agree about the O-Line. They look so much better with Larsen at center and the fact that it took until almost November to figure that out, is a coaching problem. But that “re-shuffling”, while effective at elevating the O-Line from dumpster status, has not made them great by any means. They’ve gone from bottom of the league to slightly below average. A huge improvement but there is still work to be done.
Off-season priorities: