Washington Commanders season “gets a lot easier” in second half – Daily Slop

Finding unheralded running backs who can cut it in the NFL has become a happy habit for the Washington Commanders, who “really like” a free-agent addition with the “explosive” talent to challenge last year’s late-round draft find Jacory Croskey-Merritt for carries this season. Undrafted backfield threat Robert Henry Jr. has the Commanders “intrigued,” according to ESPN’s John Keim. He explained on The John Keim Report how Henry is “going to be one to watch in training camp. To what degree? I don’t know. I know there’s some people here are intrigued by him because he had a game against Texas A&M in college where he ran for 177 yards, made guys miss. Like that stuff opens eyes. So like, hey, let’s see him here. He’s one of the undrafted guys that I think will be one to watch.”

**Podcasts & videos**

from last night for ESPN: a quick video on the Commanders schedule. Do they have one advantage early in the year?

— John Keim (@john\_keim) May 15, 2026 I feel like the last nine games of Washington's season are exactly where they can make their playoff run.

Talked about that stretch with @DCSportsDre@SaintWah on @TraporDive#RaiseHailpic.twitter.com/emHGkgHNGL

— Jamual (@LetMualTellit) May 15, 2026

**NFC East links**

**Bleeding Green Nation**

Ranking the best Eagles road trips for 2026

**7. Washington Commanders, Week 8, Sunday, No. 1, 8:20 p.m.**

What an absolute dump. Know what’s worse than a dilapidated stadium in the early afternoon? A dilapidated stadium at night. The Commanders play in the middle of nowhere and it’s hard to get both into and out of the stadium grounds. A quick day trip for a game like this makes sense if you’re on one of those large fan-centric buses, but with a trip of roughly two-and-a-half hours before even taking traffic into consideration, those are much more palatable for 1 p.m. games rather than prime-time ones. Oh, yeah, Northwest Stadium has the worst sight lines of any NFL home, too. Hard pass! **Blogging the Boys**

Cowboys schedule 2026: Instant predictions for all 17 games

Week 2: Commanders at Cowboys

The Cowboys get off to a strong NFC East start by winning two games in a row in the division. The Cowboys offense at home will be too much for the Commanders defense. We’ll also get a second look at how a Christian Parker defense deals with a mobile quarterback.

Week 18: Cowboys at Commanders

Who knows if this game will mean anything to either franchise at this point in the season? We might see a lot of backups. Or, it may mean everything to one or both of them. We’re taking the view the Cowboys have locked in their playoff position and rest some starters. Commanders win. **Cowboys loss:** **10-7 record** **Big Blue View**

NY Giants schedule 2026: Instant predictions for all 17 games

Week 5: Oct. 11 — Giants at Washington Commanders

One question: Will Jayden Daniels be healthy? That really is THE question for this game, and I think we have to assume that he will be. Scary Terry might finally start to slow down this year, but the duo of Luke McCaffrey and Antonio Williams (2026 3rd, Clemson) could pick up the slack. I would also expect the Dan Quinn to have his rebuilt defense playing well by this point

Week 10: Nov. 12 — Giants vs. Commanders (TNF)

The Giants show up to get their revenge in primetime at home. I think the Giants are the more talented team, and that will show itself in the rematch, especially on a short turnaround from the previous week.

Final thoughts

Is predicting a 10-7 record optimistic for a team that finished 4-13 the year before? Certainly, at least on the face of it. However, the Giants had double-digit leads as underdogs fivetimes last year, only to blow them late in the game. Had the Giants not blown those leads, we’d be talking about a team that went 9-7 with a rookie quarterback and without their best receiver and running back.

**NFL league links**

Articles

**The Athletic**

How to watch the NFL in 2026: Full guide to streaming, cable and TV schedule

If you hope to watch it all, you will need access to 10 platforms: Netflix, Prime Video, NFL Network, NBC, Fox, CBS, ESPN, Paramount+, YouTube TV and NFL Sunday Ticket. Subscriptions to live TV streaming services such as Fubo, Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV and DirecTV will get you access to games airing on CBS, NBC, Fox and ESPN. YouTube TV worked out a 2025 contract dispute with ESPN that had blacked out NFL games for two weeks. There is also a joint ESPN Unlimited and Fox One bundle for $39.99 per month that will give you full access to games on ESPN and Fox, respectively.

**Discussion topics**

**Awful Announcing**

The NFL is slowly killing the Sunday afternoon window

An analysis of the NFL TV schedule since 2016 shows that the NFL has steadily shifted inventory away from the traditional Sunday regional windows on CBS and Fox and into standalone packages. An Awful Announcing analysis of the schedule data found that, this year, the NFL is scheduled to air 197 Sunday-afternoon games. That’s down from 198 in 2025 and from 211 in 2021, the first year of the NFL’s expanded 18-week schedule. The 2026 total is also one less than the number of Sunday afternoon games in 2016, when the NFL had one fewer week in the regular season. The NFL’s Sunday regional windows have long been the bedrock of the league’s appeal. Unlike other major American team sports, which schedule games throughout the week, the NFL has long aired the bulk of its games at 1 p.m. or 4 p.m. ET on Sundays. Since 1998, those Sunday games have aired exclusively on CBS or Fox. **ESPN**

NFL pushes back on criticism of streaming games

The NFL is defending its expanded lineup of games on streaming platforms amid criticism from President Donald Trump and scrutiny from the U.S. Justice Department. While discussing this week’s schedule release with reporters, NFL executive vice president of media distribution Hans Schroeder on Friday suggested the league has no intention of pulling back from its partnerships with streaming services. “We love our model,” he said. “We think we have the most fan-friendly model there is of any sport or entertainment as far as distribution.” The NFL airs 87% of its games on free broadcast networks CBS, NBC, FOX and ABC, according to league officials. But Schroeder argued that the league is actually meeting consumers where they are in an era of cord-cutting by adding games on platforms such as Netflix. “We think broadcast [networks] have been an incredible home,” he said. “And, now, we also know fans are increasingly spending their time on other platforms as well. They tune into broadcast for the NFL and that’s where we want to be. But we also want to be on these platforms with a limited amount of our games where we know our NFL fans are already as well. “When we’re going onto Netflix, we’re going onto a platform that is already massively adopted and a huge number of viewers on that platform already, including a huge number of NFL fans.”

**aBit o’Twitter**

Sonny Styles is about to be unleashed this year and is being seen as a LEGIT dude from day 1.

Today he told me he aspires to build his game into a blend of Fred Warner, Luke Kuechly, and Ray Lewis.

I can’t wait to see him in action. pic.twitter.com/vwLgaISjR0

— Kurt Benkert (@KurtBenkert) May 14, 2026 Commanders rookie @sonnystyles\_ checks out his new threads at this years NFLPA #RookiePremierepic.twitter.com/qinHi77sOA

— NFLPA (@NFLPA) May 16, 2026 we love a division matchup at home 🙂‍↕️

— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) May 15, 2026 Here are @heykayadams' Top 5 Games of the 2026 NFL Season:

1⃣ Broncos at Patriots (Wk 17) 2⃣ Bears at Bills (Wk 15) 3⃣ Chiefs at Seahawks (Wk 7) 4⃣ Bengals at Commanders (Wk 11) 5⃣ Giants at Colts (Wk 12) pic.twitter.com/6A8eyn2JnQ

— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) May 15, 2026 If it feels like international slate's getting more exciting games, you're not imagining it. Mike North says NFL used to let teams block 4-5 home games from international. Then 3, then 2 & now:

“There’s a lot of conversations about eliminating the protections in their entirety.” pic.twitter.com/SkLdPzaZ6D

— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) May 15, 2026 “Monday, Sunday, Thursday…”

“That's something the scheduling team was never really big fans of so this year we made a commitment from January that we were NOT going to have any teams doing that stretch…”

NFL VP of NFL Broadcast Planning Mike North reveals what the league… pic.twitter.com/CYknHmJqow

— Ross Tucker Podcast (@RossTuckerPod) May 15, 2026 The @DKSports lines for all 272 NFL games. pic.twitter.com/cD6qNIsUTb

— Kyle Borgognoni (@kyle\_borg) May 15, 2026 #Commanders are only favored in five games all season, per @DKSports

Wk 1: @ Eagles (+5.5) Wk 2: @ Cowboys (+4.5) Wk 3: Seahawks (+3.5) Wk 4: Colts (-1.5) Wk 5: Giants (-2.5) Wk 6: @ 49ers (+5.5) Wk 7: BYE Wk 8: Eagles (+2.5) Wk 9: Rams (+4.5) Wk 10: @ Giants (+1.5) Wk 11:…

— Full Command (@FullCommandShow) May 15, 2026 Based on DVOA projections

Schedules harder in Weeks 1-9: Chargers, Cardinals, Broncos, Bills, Commanders, Jaguars

Schedules harder in Weeks 10-18: Steelers, Packers, Jets, Eagles, Titans

— Aaron Schatz 🏈 (@ASchatzNFL) May 15, 2026 NFL Schedule DVOA Rollercoaster 🎢 pic.twitter.com/3XNJIhuo9I

— FTN (@FTNFantasy) May 15, 2026 From @bburkeESPN: The Commanders are legit benefiting from net rest this season. pic.twitter.com/L6OZgO2wYe

— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) May 15, 2026 Commanders schedule musings Part 1: This will be only the 3rd time in the past 55+ years Washington opens AT Philly (OT win in 1982/Loss in 2019).

It will also mark the FIRST time in team history they play Philly in W1 followed by Dallas in W2 pic.twitter.com/ePFv90VDQE

— Washington Football Memories (@skinsmemories77) May 15, 2026 Former Commanders owner Dan Snyder plans to relist his Alexandria waterfront estate for $49.9 million on May 20.

— Virginia Business (@VirginiaBiz) May 15, 2026 a team specially requesting the NFL not schedule them for an opponent's specific home game is sooo incredibly soft

I've never heard of that before

"please don't make us play the Saints on Katrina's 20-year anniversary"

so the NFL forced Atlanta to play that specific game 💀💀

— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) May 15, 2026 The @TheUFL is averaging 631,000 viewers per game this season.

The NHL averaged 546,000 on national TV and the MLS averaged 120,000.

Spring football has failed in America for 40 years – this feels like the first version that actually has a chance to last.

The biggest reason… pic.twitter.com/zovgFEO9mD

— Adam Breneman (@AdamBreneman81) May 15, 2026