Nobody has played a down yet and a lot of things could change after the first week or - like the Ryan Fitzpatrick era in Washington – the first quarter. But the Washington Commanders have been projected to be the lowest-scoring offense in the NFL for the 2023 season by ESPN's Mike Clay.
The reasoning Washington would score just 310 points: Washington has finished in the bottom 10 in scoring each of the past five seasons (which includes all of Ron Rivera's three-year tenure and the final full year and a partial year of Jay Gruden's tenure) Sam Howell (who Clay writes could be a "diamond in the rough" and has "looked good" this preseason") is unknown and the offensive line looks shaky.
The hope for Washington to beat this mark lies on the "terrific" wide receiver group of Terry McLaurin, Jahan Dotson and Curtis Samuel – and it appears at this juncture that McLaurin will miss the start of the season and possibly longer than that.
For comparison, Washington scored 321 points last season, which was ninth lowest in the NFL. But for Team 980's Chris Russell, something doesn't add up, "I just don't see them getting worse."
Even with the additions of offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and Howell at quarterback, "even with a two starter upgrade on the offensive line, even with Jahan Dotson in year two and not a rookie – maybe because of [injury concerns for] McLaurin and Logan Thomas, even with a healthy Brian Robinson, that the Commanders are gonna go from 18.9 points per game to 18.2. They're actually gonna get worse and they're gonna be the worst," Russell said. "Again, I say this, I don't know everything, I mean of course if Sam Howell gets hurt if Jacoby Brissett has to miss a large stretch of time... they're screwed, in all likelihood and that [310] number can be achieved.
"But I'm sorry, honest to gosh, I know everybody thinks I'm negative, I don't see it at all."
Russell added that the offenses of the past have been pedestrian, but can't see how the offense is the lowest-scoring in the league unless numerous injuries occur.
To be fair, having a low-scoring offense doesn't mean Washington will have the worst record. Last season, Pittsburgh (308 points) went 9-8 and Tampa Bay (313 points) went 8-9 and won the NFC South.
Of course, in the same article, ESPN's post-preseason power rankings had the Commanders at No. 28, which is fifth from the bottom in the league.
Overall, ESPN projected the Kansas City Chiefs (followed by the Philadelphia Eagles and Cincinnati Bengals) to score the most points with 498. And Rivera's Commanders were just below the Buccaneers (311 points) and Carolina Panthers (323) in the ESPN projections.
Russell began the segment by talking about how the Commanders can't lose their Week 1 matchup against the lowly Arizona Cardinals on Sunday at a soldout FedEx Field. Listen on the audio player above!