Washington Commanders Fall to Detroit Lions
The Commanders endured yet another brutal loss at home, having lost five consecutive games, but this time in an NFC showdown to a team that Washington eliminated in the playoffs last year: the Detroit Lions.
Despite a frustrating time for the Commanders, with the 44-22 loss to the Lions and yet another week of injuries– including for star quarterback Jayden Daniels— the team is working to overcome challenges and build a deeper sense of brotherhood.
“[Linebacker] Bobby [Wagner] said something at halftime, and I really appreciate the fact that he led us, and said, ‘Hey, this is on us. We have to figure it out. It’s not just offense, it’s not just defense, it’s not just special teams, it’s on everybody,’” said quarterback Marcus Mariota. “And at the end of the day, like I said, going into this game, I believe in the guys in this locker room, but we have to figure out what it is and what these details are if we’re missing the lack of execution.”
With President Donald Trump in attendance causing major traffic on the I-95 beltway and rising tensions throughout the matchup, it was a tough game for the team and fans alike.
Fans booed as President Donald Trump addressed the stadium at halftime from the Owner’s Suite. Trump is the first sitting president to attend a regular-season NFL game since Jimmy Carter in 1978. pic.twitter.com/UIrr74cAMh— Skylar Nelson (@SkyMad03) November 9, 2025
Washington dropped 3-7 on the 44-22 loss, as the team remained third in the NFC East, while Lions advanced to 6-3 tying for second in the NFC North.
For Washington, it was a loss that made unwanted history as this marked the team’s fourth consecutive loss by 21-plus points, which hasn’t happened since the 2002 Arizona Cardinals.
The Commanders’ defensive woe persisted and sank to an unbelievable level in their loss to the Detroit Lions. Although Coach Dan Quinn vowed to make changes heading into Week 10, the only noticeable adjustment was bringing defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. down to the field to call plays. Unfortunately for Washington, the results looked no different.
Washington’s defense gave up three touchdowns on the first three drives of the game and players started to show forms of frustration for the lack of execution.
After the Lions powered in their third touchdown increasing the score 22-3 in the first half, one of the Commanders high performing defensive tackles’ Daron Payne was ejected for punching Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown in the face when he walked past him.
Payne’s punch wasn’t the only signal of frustration in Sunday’s matchup, as defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw was flagged for pushing an official after the next play and safety Quan Martin received a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct a couple of drives later.
“I get the frustration, but we’ve got to find a way to channel our frustration better or different than that,” said head coach Dan Quinn. “That part [I] obviously addressed it hard at halftime about our poise and what it’s got to look like and where it goes.”
Any glimpse of a playoff appearance has been slowly fading for Washington. And the Commanders must make some serious changes to the defensive unit if they want to have success heading into next season.
The Washington Commanders are set for a trip this week to Madrid, Spain to face AFC Opponent, the Miami Dolphins at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium before their Week 12 bye week.
Kickoff will be at 9:30 a.m. EST on NFL Network.
“We’re way off and that’s up to us to fix that and [I] also told the team, it’s for us to go away [to Madrid next week], get it together… not the worst thing for us,” said Quinn. “We’ve got to find solutions, where we’re at and doing that together, that’s the right space to go do it. So, we’ll take it on the road tomorrow night and we’ve got a lot of things to fix.”
Wizards Bring Fiery Physicality, But Turnovers Cost Them a Win Over Mavericks; Pistons Preview
Despite losing to the Dallas Mavericks 111-105, the Washington Wizards have been showing off a fiery new wave of basketball.
“I’m really pleased with the guys tonight, the competitive response that we were looking for. These are the games that we wanna be in,” said head coach Brian Keefe. “Close games, tight games, a lot to learn from that. I made a little miscue there myself, so we can all grow [in] these situations. But the best part was… our effort, our physicality, our defensive edge was there, and our competitiveness. We got a little stagnant there in the fourth quarter, which can happen, those are learning and growing moments.”
Washington took a thrilling leap early on in the game with a 16-9 lead before Dallas responded with a 19-0 run.
Washington Wizards forward Alex Sarr looks to make a play in a 148-115 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, Nov. 7 at Capital One Arena. (Marcus Relacion/The Washington Informer)
The Mavericks managed to build a 14-point lead, but the Wizards clawed back taking an eight point lead in the fourth quarter. Then, that’s when Washington’s offense struggled, and the defense faltered, opening the door for Dallas to make a comeback, winning the game by six.
“We gave a lot of second-chance points and we should have been boxing out, and crashing all five guys to the basket a little bit more, but I felt like down the stretch it was really second-chance points that kinda, you know, hurts us, said forward Cam Whitmore.”
The Wizards’ perimeter defense showed just how vulnerable they could be as Dallas’ forward Naji Marshall torched them with 30 points on just 14 shots, adding eight rebounds, two assists, and three steals in a breakout performance.
Although the Wizards started the season surprisingly strong as a defensive rebounding team, Washington seems to be going back to last year’s struggles on the glass. Dallas managed only six of 24 three-pointers but compensated with 16 offensive boards, and won the battle of turnovers 13-18.
Next up, the Wizards will take on the Detroit Pistons, after meeting up in the preseason. The Pistons are coming off of a 111-108 win over the Philadelphia Eagles improving 8-2, while Washington will be coming in sitting at 1-9 tied with the Brooklyn Nets and Indiana Pacers.
Washington are without a doubt underdogs against Detroit as their opponent is coming off of a second night of back-to-back matchups, but it will be up to Washington to fight to get themselves back into the win column.
“It’s important, we were really close so it’s a lot of stuff that we can learn from tonight, go back, and watch on the film on stuff we can do differently in crunch time,” said forward Alex Sarr. “But you know it’s all a learning experience and it’s gonna make us better at the end of the day.”
Player Notes:
CJ McCollum is Washington’s most reliable guard option and has been a primary leader this year. He recorded 23 points in the first half against Dallas on Saturday but only had just two points, shooting 1-of-7 from the field.
Sarr has grown tremendously since his rookie season and has increased his motor, play-making ability, and defensive awareness. He’s finishing 77% around the rim and although there is some inconsistency his energy has allowed him to chase down misses and turn them into second-chance opportunities for scoring.
Cam Whitmore recorded a season-high of 29 minutes (and Wizards-high of 19 points) against Dallas as he showed solid communication on defense. There’s still room for improvement as he is growing in game versatility, but 19 points in 29 minutes is a step forward in the right direction for Whitmore with a lot of basketball ahead.
Kyshawn George, for a second time in just nine games so far this season, committed five fouls five times and four fouls just once, but he’s going to have to learn how to manage his play without fouling so often.
Tre Johnson is a draft pick with amazing potential but he is just not ready to start for Washington. But don’t be surprised if he has a potential breakout.
“Keep building on that [physicality against Mavericks], keep this the consistent thing to how we play,” Keefe said. “Keep making this something that we can do for longer and for better. That’s the goal for us, those are the important things. That was a good step tonight.”
Spirit Survive Louisville in Penalty Shootout to Reach Semifinals
In a quarterfinal National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) game deemed to be a potential upset, the No. 2 seeded Washington Spirit flipped the script, advancing to the semifinals after a tense penalty 3-1 winning shootout at Audi Field.
“We knew that wouldn’t be easy. There’s no easy games right now and anything can happen, any opponent right now can beat you and it’s gonna be hard, like this,” said head coach Adrian Gonzalez. I think we need to be proud of, especially the first half we’ve been very dominant, creating a lot of chances, executing the game plan perfectly.”
Backed by a thrilling home crowd in Washington, D.C., the Spirit took control of the game early, dictating the tempo for most of the game.
Fans chanting “Free DC!” during the 51st minute of today’s NWSL quarterfinal matchup between the Washington Spirit and Racing Louisville FC at Audi Field. pic.twitter.com/Shf6FjI6BQ— Melissa Y. Kim (@melissaykim) November 8, 2025
“I give a lot of credit to our fans, they’re so loud, I have to imagine that’s quite intimidating to come up as the opponent and to try to score in front of that so yea they brought the energy, the confidence, and yea it was just confident in our preparation and knew that we would execute today,” said goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury.
From the outset, Racing Louisville struggled to cope with Washington’s crisp ball movement and suffocating counter-press. Louisville spent most of the first half pinned deep in their own half, falling behind the Spirit, who appeared to score on a clever set-piece, only for the goal to be ruled offside.
The early injury substitution of Spirit defender Gabby Carle slowed down Washington’s rhythm, but it wasn’t enough to change the flow of the match.
A Spirit defender gets the D.C. crowd hyped during a 3-1 shootout against the Racing Louisville. (Marcus Relacion/The Washington Informer)
By halftime, the Spirit’s dominance was set on the stat sheet: 73% possession to Louisville’s 27%, nearly triple the passes (302–109), and double the total touches (405–202). With this in mind, both sides still struggled to generate quality chances. It wasn’t until the second half when a breakthrough arose out of the shadows.
Spirit forward Gift Monday rose above the defense to head home the opener, finally rewarding Washington’s pressure.
It looked like it was going to be enough, as the Spirit managed their narrow lead deep into stoppage time. But it was Louisville’s substitute Kayla Fischer who shocked the home crowd with a late equalizer for Louisville.
Extra time brought more adversity for Washington. Defender and U.S. national team standout Tara McKeown was forced off after a potentially game-saving tackle on Racing striker Emma Sears, further depleting an already thin squad.
Then, fatigue began to set in, sending the game to penalties.
“I thought the first half was beautiful, didn’t have much to do. I was just enjoying everything in front of me. Great movement, great decision-making, and I think we just kinda got a little tired in the second half,” said Kingbury. We didn’t have the correct movement and spacing off the ball so kinda just bad decisions, gave it away a little too much, maybe went a little bit too direct which played into Louisville hands.”
But Spirit’s Aubrey Kingsbury stole the show. The veteran goalkeeper stopped three consecutive Louisville attempts in the shootout, lifting Washington into the semifinals and igniting celebrations at Audi Field.
It was a familiar formula for the Spirit, a team who last year survived a fiery No. 7 seed in Bay Football Club (FC) before riding that momentum all the way to the finale.
Next up, Washington will host the winner of Portland Thorns FC at Audi Field on Saturday, Nov. 15 at noon for the NWSL Semifinal.
“The mentality is always similar. We like taking the games one day at a time… today was about today,” said Gonzalez. “Trying to be present, trying to be focused on what we had to do today. And now it’s time to celebrate it, time to rest, try to recover, and then next week we will prepare the next as we always do. So the mentality is always similar. We try to focus on every training session, being present, and don’t think too much about the past or the future…we like to be more present.”
Source: Washington Informer
