The Daily Slop – 16 September 2026
Editor’s note: Each day, Hogs Haven compiles a collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders, the NFC East, the NFL and sports in general, with a sprinkling of other stuff. Enjoy!
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Commanders links
Articles
Washington Sun
The Commanders’ Dilemma: Protect Jayden Daniels or Let Him Loose?
In Week 1, Washington’s young quarterback stuck to a new script until his team needed a hero
In a perfect world, the Commanders wouldn’t have to choose between keeping their franchise quarterback healthy and winning games. In a perfect world — such as the one they inhabited in 2024, when Daniels was a spectacular rookie and the Commanders were a 12-5 juggernaut — they can accomplish both objectives.
But here, at the start of the 2026 season, it’s already feeling like something close to a binary choice. And for most of Sunday night’s entertaining game, it felt like the Commanders were unsure which side of that line they wanted to occupy.
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For the first three quarters Sunday night, the Commanders mostly stuck to that script. And what did that get them? A 17-9 deficit. Nine completions in 24 attempts for Daniels, for a total of 65 passing yards. No sacks, but no touchdown passes. Their longest play from scrimmage at that point was for 15 yards. They were 2 for 11 on third-down conversions. Terry McLaurin, their two-time Pro Bowl wideout, had two targets and no catches.
They absolutely, positively, 100% don’t want Daniels to feel like he has to go out there and win games for them with his unique blend of athleticism, artistry and aerial acumen. Until they absolutely, positively, 100% need him to do exactly that. And then, it seems, they are willing to hold their breath and turn him loose.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Riggo’s Rag
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Joshua Josephs keeps turning limited Commanders chances into lasting impressions
Josephs didn’t generate many headlines, certainly not compared to Styles, Williams, and even special-teams ace Tyler Owens. He played only 13 snaps on defense, but the Tennessee product stood out a couple of times.
Just how much time Josephs will see on the field now that edge rusher Dorance Armstrong Jr. is back from his one-game suspension remains to be seen. But if the No. 147 overall selection in the 2026 NFL Draft keeps making this kind of impact against elite-level tackles like Johnson, it’ll stay on the radar.
At the very least.
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These Week 1 flashes weren’t without substance, either.
Josephs was among the standout performers at training camp, displaying the speed, length, and dynamism that convinced the Commanders to take a chance. He backed this up in the preseason, even scoring a touchdown by bursting onto a loose football against the Detroit Lions.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
The Athletic (paywall)
His stunning special teams effort went viral. To Tyler Owens, it was ‘just a normal football play’
It wasn’t the first time Tyler Owens ripped down the field to slam a returner to the ground. It wasn’t even the first time in that game.
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But in the second quarter of the Washington Commanders’ loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Owens’ play as a special-teams gunner made him a household name literally overnight.
Facing a vise, or double-team, in punt coverage, Owens split Eagles jammers Jonathan Jones (a former Commander) and Darius Cooper by essentially tossing them to the side and leaving them in his wake as he pursued returner Britain Covey — whom he then lifted off the ground and body-slammed at Philadelphia’s 38-yard line.
“I feel like it was just a normal football play out there,” Owens told The Athletic on Tuesday.
The rest of the world felt differently.
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To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
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Bullock’s Film Room (subscription)
Commanders Film Review: Sonny Styles vs Eagles
One of the main reasons Styles was drafted so highly was due to his athleticism. He is the definition of an athletic freak and while he adjusts to the mental side of the game at the NFL level, his athleticism can carry him through to be productive. Against the Eagles on Sunday, we saw that athleticism stand out in a number of different situations.
As soon as the ball is snapped, Styles triggers and gets a full head of steam as he works up to Barkley. Barkley has to abandon the play-action fake because Styles covers the ground so quickly. He attempts to get low and get under Styles in order to redirect his momentum upwards and stall out the rush, but Styles runs over him.
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Barkley is one of the premier running backs in this league. He’s listed at 6-foot, 233 pounds, which is big for a running back. He’s been one of the hardest backs to tackle and bring down in the NFL since he was drafted. This is not someone who just gets run over by a better athlete. Typically Barkley is the one running over people as the better athlete. But Styles gets low, gets his hands on Barkley’s chest and uses his momentum to knock Barkley off his feet and run through the block. Styles then quickly turns his attention to Jalen Hurts, who is another player that is very hard to bring down.
But even when he wasn’t making freaky plays against Barkley, the athleticism still stood out.
Pro Football Focus
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Statistical Review of NFL Week 1
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Pro Football Focus
NFL Week 1: Team of the Week & Player Awards
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: WR ANTONIO WILLIAMS, WASHINGTON COMMANDERS
Despite being on the field for just 12 passing snaps, Williams still made a big impact for the Commanders, catching four passes and a touchdown. He earned a 90.8 PFF receiving grade and averaged 5.82 yards per route run.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Podcasts & videos
THE COMMANDERS ARE FOR REAL! Attacking Defense + One Play Away!!! | Booth Review | Washington | NFL
NFC East links
Big Blue View
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How did the Giants’ 2026 rookie class play against the Dallas Cowboys?
Arvell Reese
The fifth overall pick was on the field for 62 total plays, including 11 penalties, two Cowboys’ kickoffs, and the Giants’ lone punt.
Reese was, overall, as advertised. He’s a big, long, and highly athletic linebacker who looked the part surrounded by the Giants’ other big, long, and athletic linebackers. He also showed off his football IQ all game long. Reese is a highly active communicator in the pre-snap phase, and he also appears to process quickly after the ball is snapped. He wastes little time getting to his landmarks, picking up pass catchers in coverage, or coming downhill to play the run. He also clearly understands where his gap responsibilities are, as well as where the defense is trying to funnel the ball.
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Reese looks smooth and rangy dropping into coverage at the second level, easily getting depth and into his coverage zones. He also did a good job of using his hands to keep blockers from latching on to him and allowing him to navigate traffic in pursuit. We also got to see Reese’s strength and violence as a tackler when the time came to get the ball carrier on the ground.
Reese wasn’t quite as flashy as former teammates Sonny Styles and Caleb Downs, but he did finish second to Tremaine Edmunds in total tackles. I’d like to see more splash plays from Reese, and I think we will as the season progresses, but this was an impressive introduction for the linebacker.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Bleeding Green Nation
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Eagles-Commanders Film Review: Offense did some good things but must improve
It’s easy to look at the Eagles scoring 24 points, averaging six yards per play, and conclude the offense played well in the first game of the season. Unfortunately, I don’t think it did.
The Eagles generated 318 yards, but 180 of them came on four plays. They finished with only 10 first downs, punted seven times, and had six possessions without earning a single first down. They also went three-and-out on three consecutive drives in the third quarter. Elite players made enough elite plays to win the game, but they showed little consistency. We saw this at times last season. The Eagles won games despite the offense failing to establish any rhythm, and the result often disguised the performance. That is not sustainable.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Bleeding Green Nation
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Landon Dickerson replacement options
With Landon Dickerson expected to go on injured reserve, the Eagles need a new starting left guard. Drew Kendall should and likely will be be the first man up. I know people love Willie Lampkin — and I’m one of them! — but he wasn’t taking first-team reps this summer. It was Kendall filling in at LG whenever Dickerson missed time. Kendall lacks a ton of experience at guard; he only played center in college. But he’s been learning the position since entering the NFL last year. I don’t like the idea of moving Cam Jurgens to left guard and changing two starting spots on the offensive line.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Upcoming opponent
ESPN
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Seven things Solak thinks entering NFL Week 2
Speaking of defenses worthy of suspicion, the Cowboys’ coverage woes carried over from 2025 to 2026 in their “Sunday Night Football” loss to the Giants. Brian Schottenheimer openly lamented multiple coverage busts by “young players” in his postgame news conference. New York was able to burn clock and limit the second half to only five total possessions — tied for the least second-half drives in a game over the past 15 seasons. I thought Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart looked quite sharp and the offensive line looked ferocious, but I’d like to see them in a game in which the opposing defense has a bit more spine.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
The Ringer
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Dallas’s young defense blowing coverages
Parker’s analogy for getting his young defense to understand his scheme was going to school for a master’s degree, and Sunday’s game was “graduation day.” Sunday’s performance looked like the defense needs courses like “Introduction to Pass Defense” and “Not Allowing Easy Receptions: A Beginner’s Course.” The Giants might be a sleeper team in the NFC after all, but they shouldn’t ever have sequences when they move the ball that easily against Parker’s defense.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
NFL league links
Articles
Front Office Sports
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Networks Get Mixed Results With Week 1 NFL Viewership
Both CBS and Fox had late-afternoon Sunday games for Week 1 this year, forming what’s commonly known as a “double-doubleheader” among the two networks. Last year, CBS had the Week 1 late Sunday afternoon national window to itself.
Fox won the 4:25 ET window to start the 2026 season, averaging 20.3 million viewers for its coverage of a Commanders-Eagles game.
Even with Fox’s bigger viewership in the late-afternoon window, CBS won the Sunday doubleheader overall, averaging 16.4 million viewers. CBS’s figures were aided by a strong early showing in the early window, averaging 14.1 million viewers there, led by the Bills’ roller-coaster win over the Texans.
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ESPN has not yet released viewership numbers for its Monday Night Football debut, which featured the successful return of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes from two torn knee ligaments. But put together, the audience numbers so far suggest that it could be a somewhat tougher climb for the NFL to repeat its banner 2025, the league’s best viewership year since 1989.
Streaming Rancor
Fox Sports president of insights and analytics Mike Mulvihill, meanwhile, took aim at Netflix’s exclusive coverage of the Australia game between the 49ers and Rams, the first of an expanded five-game NFL package this season for the streaming giant.
“It’s not the first inning anymore,” Mulvihill said in a social-media post. “Putting sports exclusively on streaming has failed. [It] alienates longtime fans without reaching new ones.”
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
aBit o’Twitter
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