Washington played their very first game as the Commanders on Sunday – and won. They beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 28-22 on the strength of four Carson Wentz touchdown passes in Week 1 of the 2022 season.
Washington will now face the Detroit Lions – who lost 38-35 to the Philadelphia Eagles. The Lions scored 14 points in the 4th quarter but fell short of completing the comeback. They will be out for their first win of the season in their home opener at Ford Field.
Washington have struggled with the Lions “lately”.
Head-To-Head
Washington and Detroit have squared off 46 times. Washington have won 31 of them (31-15-0).
However, the Lions have won 4 of the last 5 games between the two teams.
Their last meeting was a 30-27 victory for Detroit in Week 10 of the 2020 season. It was a tear-jerker for Washington fans. Dustin Hopkins tied the game up for WFT with just 16 seconds to go. But in a terrible turn of events, Chase Young was flagged for roughing the passer on a late hit on Matthew Stafford with 6 seconds to go. Detroit’s Matt Prater then kicked a 59-yard field goal to steal the victory.
Alex Smith threw for almost 400 yards (390) in a losing effort. While (now Super Bowl champion Stafford) had a 3 touchdown, 276 yard outing.
In fact, Washington led the game in virtually every statistic except the one that counts most – the final score. They had 13 more first downs. They had 100 more total net yards. They even possessed the ball for 10 minutes more than Detroit. But it wasn’t enough.
Last 5:
Odds
Washington +2.5
Over / Under 48.5
Don’t gamble? This means that Washington are 2.5 point underdogs (the Lions are expected to win by 2.5 points).
2022 Record
Straight Up:
Washington 1-0
Detroit 0-1
Against The Spread:
Washington 1-0
Detroit 1-0
Injuries
For Washington:
Cole Turner, TE, Hamstring, Questionable
Jonathan Allen, DE, Groin, Questionable
Kamren Curl, SAF, Thumb, Questionable
Nate Gerry, LB, Undisclosed, Questionable
Bunmi Rotimi, DE, Foot, Questionable
Sammis Reyes, TE, Undisclosed, Questionable
Josh Drayden, DB, Undisclosed, Questionable
Keith Ismael, C, Concussion, Questionable
Wes Schweitzer, OG, Hamstring, Questionable
Alex Armah, RB, Undisclosed, Questionable
Phidarian Mathis, DT, Knee – Meniscus, Out
Chase Young, DE, Knee – ACL + MCL, Physically Unable to Perform. Expected Return – Week 5
Tyler Larsen, OG, Tue, Aug 23, Achilles, Physically Unable to Perform. Expected Return – Week 5
Curtis Hodges, TE, Thu, Sep 1, Thigh, IR. Injured Reserve. Expected Return – Week 5
Brian Robinson Jr., RB, Wed, Sep 7, Knee, NFI-R, Expected Return – Week 5
Willie Beavers, OG, Tue, Aug 30, Undisclosed, IR. Injured Reserve
Drew White, LB, Tue, Aug 30, Knee, IR. Injured Reserve
Eli Wolf, TE, Mon, Aug 22, Undisclosed, IR. Injured Reserve
For Detroit:
Tommy Kraemer, G, Back, Questionable
Julian Okwara, LB, Hamstring, Questionable
Ifeatu Melifonwu, SAF, Hamstring, Questionable
Levi Onwuzurike, DT, Back, IR. Injured Reserve. Expected Return – Week 5
Jerry Jacobs, CB, Knee – ACL, Physically Unable to Perform. Expected Return – Week 5
Halapoulivaati Vaitai, OT, Back, IR. Injured Reserve. Expected Return – Week 5
Jason Cabinda, FB, Ankle, Physically Unable to Perform. Expected Return – Week 5
Josh Paschal, DE, Sports Hernia, Physically Unable to Perform. Expected Return – Week 5
Romeo Okwara, DE, Achilles, Physically Unable to Perform. Expected Return – Week 9
Jameson Williams, WR, Knee – ACL, NFI-R Expected Return – Week 5
Greg Bell, RB, Hamstring, IR. Injured Reserve
Rest of NFC East
Vikings (1-0) @ Eagles (1-0) | MNF 8:30pm ET
Bengals (0-1) @ Cowboys (0-1) | Sunday 4:25pm ET
Panthers (0-1) @ Giants (1-0) | 1:00pm ET