Commander’s offense has ‘much more under the hood’

Kingsbury’s performance stands in stark contrast to a few other OC hires, particularly in Las Vegas and Chicago. Both clubs talked to the former Cardinals head coach this offseason, but went in different directions. Each fired their OC mid-season, while Kingsbury has the Commanders offense humming.

The big question hovering over Kingsbury heading into Thanksgiving: late-season spirals.

Kingsbury’s offenses have hit strides down the stretch throughout his coaching career. His winning percentage as an NFL head coach or coordinator dropped from .602 (26-17-1) from Weeks 1-9 to .281 (9-23) from Week 10 to the end of a season, per NFL Research. Kingsbury was 7-14 in games 10 and later as Texas Tech’s head coach from 2013-18. And in 2023, USC went 1-3 from Game 10 with Kingsbury as the offensive analyst.

Was each of those seasons a distinct set of circumstances, or does the cumulative completion failure signal an inability to adjust when the defense catches your schemes?

The Commanders are coming off a season-low 242 total yards in a Week 10 loss, including five three-and-outs and six punts, both single-game season highs.

Kingsbury — with Daniels, Terry McLaurin and a smart running game — has the chance to wash away the narrative that his offense is dimming down the stretch, starting Thursday night against an improved Philadelphia Eagles defense.