Jayden Daniels’ Commanders Among 3 Playoff Teams Who Should Stop Dreaming About Postseason

Last season, Jayden Daniels surprised every football fan when he led his Washington Commanders to the NFC Championship game in his first-ever season in the NFL.

After that run, many believed they were a team on the up, and were about to stake their place as legitimate Super Bowl contenders for the foreseeable future.

The optics made sense. In Jayden Daniels, they have an electric quarterback who was not afraid to utilize his arm and legs to full measure. They had a very good receiving core, a solid offensive line, and a stud defense.

The Commanders added a few important pieces to ensure they had all the areas covered. Now, there is a legitimate concern about whether they can even reach the postseason.

There are a couple of other teams that are also in the same boat, loaded with talent, but certain circumstances could end up seeing them miss the postseason. These are the teams that should stop bothering about the playoffs and work towards next season.

Jayden Daniels’ Commanders are struggling with injuries

For starters, Jayden Daniels went down with a horrific elbow injury. Initially, it was deemed that he would likely miss the rest of the season. Now, however, team doctors have determined that he may be able to come back earlier.

But for what? They are 3-7, and they do not have quite a few starters for the rest of the campaign. WR Terry McLaurin has struggled with injuries. They lost running back Austin Ekeler earlier in the season.

In their Week 9 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Commanders lost starting cornerback Marshon Lattimore and punt returner Luke McCaffrey for the season. The question is what Jayden Daniels will do even if he were to return. They have a mountain to climb and do not have the necessary personnel to push the team towards their goal.

It will be prudent if head coach Dan Quinn also analyzes what the team lacks. A good run masks problems that a bad run will show. He might as well start preparing for the 2026 season with those pointers in mind.

49ers’ form does not reveal team’s core problems

Unlike the Washington Commanders, the San Francisco 49ers have a much better record. Despite having as many, if not more, long-term injuries, they are currently 6-4 and 8th in the NFC.

They can make it to the postseason. However, the only problem is that those injuries will not help them when the playoffs arrive. They are already without a top receiver as Brandon Aiyuk seems to have made Injured Reserve his permanent spot.

Then add Nick Bosa and Fred Warner‘s season-ending injuries, and one should start to wonder how they will fare when opponents start playing chess in the playoffs. Already, starting QB Brock Purdy has missed enough games. There are concerns about how the offense will work once he is back and fully healthy, even though the team has proved that it can grind out wins.

But what matters in the postseason is how effective they can be as a group of players. The 49ers currently do not look like a team that can scare anyone, and that is a root concern that HC Kyle Shanahan needs to fix before the 2026 season.

CJ Stroud and the Texans are not ready

Just like Jayden Daniels, CJ Stroud surprised everyone during his rookie season. Their individual debut campaigns will probably be talked about as examples of how good 1st year QBs can be.

Since then, the Houston Texans have been a shadow of themselves. Sure, injuries to Stefon Diggs and, later, Tank Dell, stopped them from continuing their 2023 season form. There were signs that the team was not as impactful as it was. Naturally, opposing teams will learn their tendencies and react, which may have slowed Stroud as well as his teammates.

This year, Dell is not playing, and running back Joe Mixon has yet to play. However, unlike the teams above, their problems are not directly related to injuries. The offense is not as fluid as it was, and the defense is not necessarily stopping opponents as it once did. The Texans might make it to the playoffs, but they might likely not last.

It is time that head coach DeMeco Ryans and his staff rethink what they are doing with the team and draw up plans to make them a force ahead of the 2026 season.

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