Wow. Where should I start?

The Washington Commanders went on the road and pulled off an improbable win over the desperate Cincinnati Bengals. They never punted. Aside from kneeling at the end of both halves, they scored a point on every drive. They turned their red zone woes around by scoring touchdowns. Jayden Daniels showed why he was the No. 2 pick in the draft. Terry McLaurin showed why he’s the most underrated wide receiver in the league.

Veterans like Austin Ekeler and Zach Ertz made big contributions. Young players like Daniels and Luke McCaffrey played like veterans. Washington threw long. They tried fourth down. And almost every time they tried something, it worked.

The Commanders still have a lot of problems to solve. As good as he was, Daniels missed some potential throws early on, which meant he had to hurry. The middle of both lines was overpowered at times. The defense in particular needs to be much stronger. The cornerbacks are still a big problem.

These are issues that Dan Quinn and his coaches will continue to work on. But they have already achieved one thing. They have done what Commanders fans have been hearing about for years. What has always turned out to be a meaningless phrase. A false promise.

Josh Harris, Adam Peters, Quinn and Daniels – they changed the culture of the Commanders.

The Commanders have played some good games during Ron Rivera’s tenure. They haven’t done nearly enough, but we should remember that Washington has had some good wins against the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. However, they haven’t had a win like this one.

That was exactly the kind of game Washington would have lost under Rivera and Jay Gruden. Under the previous ownership, this was a cursed franchise. They didn’t have enough good players committed to what the team did. The best players – with the notable exception of McLaurin – wanted nothing more than to leave town.

This team is different. They would have collapsed when adversity began last year. They would have lost control when Ertz committed a false start at the start of a fourth-quarter drive — Washington’s first penalty of the game — after the Bengals had cut the lead to less than a touchdown. They would have lost control when Dyami Brown committed the same penalty a few plays later.

They would have lost it if they had allowed Trey Hendrickson — who was controlled by Cornelius Lucas and Brandon Coleman all night — to sack Daniels on the next play. This team hasn’t been this robust in over a decade. They were facing a 2nd-and-21. And what happened?

The very players who made the mistakes – Ertz and Brown – made great plays to get them out of the hole. Coleman and Nick Allegretti combined to protect Daniels from a six-man blitz on the final touchdown to McLaurin.

There were many heroes and many great plays. But the greatest play of all, in my opinion, was not one of those extraordinary deep passes from Daniels to McLaurin. Not one of Ekeler’s gallops that set the tone at the start of both halves. Not even the quarterback’s crucial runs for first downs when he couldn’t find a receiver.

My play of the game came with just under 10 minutes left, when Washington held a five-point lead and faced a first-and-15 at the 25-yard line, run by Allegretti.

Daniels threw a center screen to Ertz, who hesitated for a moment and then drifted into the open middle of the field. He caught the ball and was immediately mobbed by linebacker Germaine Pratt. He hit the tight end and dropped the ball.

That was it. It was exactly this play that was the Commanders’ downfall time and time again. Not necessarily a fumble, but a mistake. A mistake in a close game that they just couldn’t make up for.

If the Bengals had recovered, they would have had the ball deep in Washington territory. The crowd would have roared. You just know Joe Burrow would have found one of his talented receivers and scored a point that would have given them their first lead since the first quarter. And you know the Commanders would have folded.

None of that happened because Allegretti ran down the field and fell on the ball. Sam Cosmi was also nearby. Center Tyler Biadasz, timing his run perfectly, was already five yards downfield to block for Ertz. That line ran and the Commanders kept the ball. They would score the touchdown that secured the win.

This performance by Allegretti would have meant nothing without the repeated heroics of Daniels and McLaurin. But there is another reason why it was so important for this team.

Perhaps the greatest unsung play in franchise history came in Super Bowl XXII, when Washington defeated the Denver Broncos to win its second title. Denver jumped out to an early 10-0 lead. Ricky Sanders dropped the ensuing kickoff and it looked for all the world like the Broncos had recovered. Had they gotten the ball, they would have been deep in Washington territory with overwhelming momentum.

But Washington recovered. Linebacker Ravin Caldwell was credited with the save, although it could have been tight end Terry Orr. No one knows. The only thing that mattered was that the players fought harder than their opponents in crucial moments and that led them to victory.

Allegretti’s recovery wasn’t nearly as dramatic or important. While it didn’t lead to a massive Super Bowl bounce, it may have signaled a game-changer for this franchise.

Maybe they are no longer cursed, damned, or bound by the terrible karma they faced under the previous owner. Maybe this is the kind of team that can overcome adversity. Maybe this is a team that doesn’t crumble, but triumphs.

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