The Washington Commanders' defense allowed Seattle to score on all three of their final possessions – an 11-play, 55-yard field goal drive to extend their lead, a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to re-take the lead and the game-ending seven-play, 50-yard field goal drive in the final 52 seconds of the fourth quarter to give the Seahawks the win.
"They made the play and we didn't that's essentially what it comes down to," Jonathan Allen said during his weekly appearance on Monday with 106.7 The Fan's The Sports Junkies, which is presented exclusively by our partners at MainStreet Bank — Cheer Local. Bank Local. Put Our Team in Your Office.
Sitting at 4-6 on the year, the Commanders have seven games remaining: Giants, Cowboys (away), Dolphins, Rams (away), Jets (away), 49ers and Cowboys in the finale. After being sellers at the NFL trade deadline in dealing away Chase Young and Montez Sweat, many fans feel the season is over. What's the mood in the locker room?
"I think as a team we just have to make a decision," Allen told The Junkies. "We can either pack it in for the season – which we're not gonna do – or we can circle the wagons, focus on what we gotta do to get the correct adjustments made and finish the season strong.
"Seven games left, there's so many things that can go our way. But we gotta decide to do it."
The Pro Bowler added, "We're gonna see what everybody's mindset is come Wednesday and we're gonna go from there. But the team I know, we're gonna come out here and compete and we're gonna work. And we've shown that when we do things the right way, and when we play our brand of football, we can beat everybody."
When asked about his impressions of the defense's play overall, Allen said he thought the first half they played "really good" and started the second half "really good."
"Then they got that 75-yard little dump pass that they took off, we gotta be better at limiting explosives and that's kinda the thing all season," the Commanders' DT told the Junks. "Because even though they had all that yards whenever they were getting down in the red zone we were able to get them off the field and make them kick field goals. And as a defense, if you can do that, that's a win.
"It was just [not] limiting explosives in the game, played undisciplined, committed penalties that extended drives, it was tough."
