The 2023 season was the Washington Commanders' 92nd season in the National Football League (NFL) and their fourth and final under head coach Ron Rivera. It was the first season under owner Josh Harris, who headed a group in the offseason that bought the franchise from Daniel Snyder for $6.05 billion.
The team replaced offensive coordinator Scott Turner, who joined the team in 2020, with former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who was also named assistant head coach. Defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio and defensive backs coach Brent Vieselmeyer were fired following a 45–10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving.
Despite a 2–0 start for the first time since 2011, the Commanders finished 4–13, failing to improve upon their 2022 record of 8–8–1. The team allowed the most points in the league (518) and had the worst point differential (−189). They also allowed 30 points per game on average, their worst since they allowed 36 in the 1954 season. It was the Commanders' seventh straight non-winning season and third straight missing the playoffs, with the team also going winless in the division for the first time since 2019 and for the third time since 2009. Rivera and his staff were fired following the season's end. This also marked the first season since 1993 where none of the team's players were selected for the Pro Bowl. This was the Commanders' seventh consecutive season with a new quarterback starting on opening week, as Carson Wentz left to go to the Los Angeles Rams. Quarterback Sam Howell became the first quarterback to throw 21 or more interceptions in a season since Baker Mayfield and Jameis Winston threw 21 and 30 interceptions in 2019, respectively.
Ownership change Daniel Snyder, whose ownership had been mired in controversy amid a lack of on-field success since buying the franchise in 1999, sold the team to a group headed by Josh Harris, co-founder of Apollo Global Management and owner of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and NHL's New Jersey Devils, for $6.05 billion. The group has 20 limited partners worth a combined $100 billion, the most in the NFL, which includes Danaher and Glenstone founder Mitchell Rales, Hall of Fame basketball player Magic Johnson, 76ers and Devils co-owner David Blitzer, D.C. entrepreneur Mark Ein, Maverick Capital founder Lee Ainslie, former Magic Johnson Enterprises president Eric Holoman, Blue Owl Capital founders Marc Lipschultz and Doug Ostrover, the Santo Domingo family, ProShares founder Michael Sapir, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and Cambridge Information Group CEO Andy Snyder. The deal was the highest price ever paid for a sports team at the time and was unanimously approved by the NFL on July 20, 2023.
Draft
+ 2023 Washington Commanders draft selectionsRoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes 1 16 Emmanuel Forbes CB Mississippi State 2 47 Quan Martin CB Illinois 3 79 Traded to the Indianapolis Colts 97 Ricky Stromberg C Arkansas 4 118 Braeden Daniels OT Utah 5 137 KJ Henry DE Clemson From Cardinals via Bills 150 Traded to the Buffalo Bills 6 193 Chris Rodriguez Jr. RB Kentucky 215 Traded to the Buffalo Bills 7 233 Andre Jones Jr. DE Louisiana
+ 2023 Washington Commanders undrafted free agentsPlayer Position College Kazmeir Allen WR UCLA Zion Bowens WR Hawaii Mason Brooks OL Ole Miss Tim DeMorat QB Fordham Xavier Henderson S Michigan State Joshua Pryor DE Bowie State Jalen Sample WR Minnesota State Kendall Smith S Illinois DJ Stirgus CB Missouri Western Mitchell Tinsley WR Penn State Brycen Tremayne WR Stanford Nick Whiteside CB Saginaw Valley State
Draft trades
Staff
Roster
Schedule Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 at Cleveland Browns W 17–15 1–0 Cleveland Browns Stadium Recap 2 Baltimore Ravens W 29–28 2–0 FedExField Recap 3 Cincinnati Bengals W 21–19 3–0 FedExField Recap
Regular season Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 10 Arizona Cardinals W 20–16 1–0 FedExField Recap 2 September 17 at Denver Broncos W 35–33 2–0 Empower Field at Mile High Recap 3 September 24 Buffalo Bills L 3–37 2–1 FedExField Recap 4 October 1 at Philadelphia Eagles L 31–34 2–2 Lincoln Financial Field Recap 5 Chicago Bears L 20–40 2–3 FedExField Recap 6 October 15 at Atlanta Falcons W 24–16 3–3 Mercedes-Benz Stadium Recap 7 October 22 at New York Giants L 7–14 3–4 MetLife Stadium Recap 8 October 29 Philadelphia Eagles L 31–38 3–5 FedExField Recap 9 November 5 at New England Patriots W 20–17 4–5 Gillette Stadium Recap 10 November 12 at Seattle Seahawks L 26–29 4–6 Lumen Field Recap 11 November 19 New York Giants L 19–31 4–7 FedExField Recap 12 November 23 at Dallas Cowboys L 10–45 4–8 AT&T Stadium Recap 13 December 3 Miami Dolphins L 15–45 4–9 FedExField Recap 14 Bye 15 December 17 at Los Angeles Rams L 20–28 4–10 SoFi Stadium Recap 16 December 24 at New York Jets L 28–30 4–11 MetLife Stadium Recap 17 December 31 San Francisco 49ers L 10–27 4–12 FedExField Recap 18 January 7 Dallas Cowboys L 10–38 4–13 FedExField Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries Week 1: vs. Arizona Cardinals
Week 2: at Denver Broncos
Week 3: vs. Buffalo Bills
Week 4: at Philadelphia Eagles
Week 5: vs. Chicago Bears
Week 6: at Atlanta Falcons
Week 7: at New York Giants
Week 8: vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Week 9: at New England Patriots
Week 10: at Seattle Seahawks
Week 11: vs. New York Giants
The Commanders' offense committed six turnovers throughout the game. With a chance to win the game, Isaiah Simmons intercepted Sam Howell for a touchdown that put the game away. The Commanders fall to 4–7.
Week 12: at Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving Day games
With the blowout loss, the Commanders were eliminated from NFC East contention. After the game, the team fired defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio and defensive backs coach Brent Vieselmeyer. This was Washington's first Thanksgiving appearance as the Commanders.
Week 13: vs. Miami Dolphins
Week 15: at Los Angeles Rams
Despite the Commanders reaching the one yard line with just under five minutes left, just under two minutes remained when they finally scored.Five takeaways from Washington's Week 15 loss to the Rams, WashingtonCommanders.com, December 18, 2023
Week 16: at New York Jets
Week 17: vs. San Francisco 49ers
Week 18: vs. Dallas Cowboys With the loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the commanders lost their 8th straight game in a row since beating the New England Patriots in Week 9.
Standings Division
Conference
References
External links