Washington suffered a massive failure in head coach Dan Quinn’s Commanders debut against Tampa Bay on Sunday afternoon. The game was a complete failure in all three aspects. The offense sputtered and couldn’t get the ball into the hands of their wide receivers in the backfield. The defense failed in coverage on multiple occasions, missed tackles and couldn’t get off the field on third down. And the special teams weren’t particularly good. Overall, it was a nightmarish start to the season.

Some of that was to be expected, though. This was a 4-13 team that had traded away half its roster in the offseason and started with a rookie quarterback at quarterback. Growing pains are part of the process and Washington certainly had plenty of them on Sunday. If there’s a silver lining to this ugly loss, it’s that things really can only go up from here for the team. And, oh yeah, we play the Giants next!

Below are my studs and duds of the game, followed by some notes.

Bolts:

Jayden Daniels – Despite constant pressure all afternoon, Daniles showed his unique athletic ability to evade that pressure and make positive progress out of the huddle, gaining 88 yards on the ground and scoring two touchdowns. While he didn’t blow the Bucs defense out of the air, he made quick decisions and didn’t lose the ball. There’s a lot to be excited about here.

Brian Robinson – Robinson ran hard between the tackles and showed off his ability as a pass receiver and his ability to run after the catch. He had 89 total yards and a touchdown on the afternoon.

Clementine Ferrell – Ferrell seemed to be one of the few players on defense who didn’t give up when the going got tough. He was solid coming off the side and had two tackles, one for a loss, a sack and several pressure situations.

Unexploded bombs:

Cade York – I can’t believe we’re doing this with a kicker again, but here we are. York had 0/2 field goal attempts and kicked one kickoff out of bounds. I’d be surprised if he had a job by the end of the week.

Emmanuel Forbes – I’m going to list the entire secondary as DUDS, but Forbes needs his own category. Although it was St-Juste who allowed two touchdowns to Mike Evans, it was Forbes who once again looked like he didn’t belong on an NFL field. He continues to miss tackles and botch conversions — and commit costly penalties in the process. This experiment may soon be coming to an end.

Andrew Wylie – He’s just not good! He’s a liability every time the offense tries to pass. He gets beat in just about every way imaginable – at the rim with speed, inside with quickness, and bull rushing when defenders get in his chest. He lacks foot quickness and contact balance and needs help every play if we’re going to keep Daniles up all season. He allowed several pressures and a sack in the contest.

Secondary Commanders – I have to criticize the entire secondary here. The third-down conversions they allowed the Bucs were embarrassing. The same goes for the tackles, miscommunications, coverages and penalties.

trainer – I understand this was the first game under this new coaching staff with A LOT of new players, but neither the team nor the special teams looked particularly good. I think we all expected some obstacles, especially early on, but whether expected or not, you have to call a spade a spade. The coaching gets an F from me.

Notes:

• Despite leading the team with 10 total tackles (five solo, three for loss), Wagner seemed to have lost his rhythm and was genuinely disinterested at times.

• Austin Ekeler didn’t manage much ball movement (just 2 for 10 yards), but he showed his ability to run after the catch when Jayden targeted him.

• Many fans were bad about Payne and Allen after the game, but I don’t think Payne played badly at all. He was disruptive and worked hard to chase the ball carriers down the field. I won’t comment on Allen…

• Jamin Davis needs to play more on the edge. He shone when he was in the game, showing speed, reaction and good tackling. He had three tackles, one with loss of space and one with pressure.

• I’ve already called the entire secondary a failure for their performance and some fans have really ripped Mike Sainristil for his play. I admit the rookie didn’t have a good game, but I’m not down on him at all. In fact, it’s quite the opposite for me. I’ve seen him make some plays and I think he’s learning from them and getting better because of them.

• We only had one wide receiver on the field yesterday who was over 6’1″. You might think that’s not that important – but it is! Noah Brown has to play against the Giants.