The following is an excerpt from Warren Sharp's 2025 Football Preview book. In addition to Warren's deep, detailed write-up on all 32 NFL teams, each chapter features page after page of full-color charts, stats, and heatmaps as well as penalty analysis from Joe Gibbs. Click here for a full FREE chapter from the 2025 Football Preview.
Penalties are an under-discussed aspect of NFL success and failure. Average teams can become playoff contenders with good discipline, and good teams can become great simply by winning the penalty battle.
Let's look at how the Washington Commanders performed from a penalty perspective in 2024 and where they can improve in 2025.
How Did Penalties Impact the Washington Commanders?
The Good
- The Commanders offense accounted for 44% of the team's penalties, below the NFL average of 51.7%.
- The offense was a top 10 beneficiary of automatic first downs via penalties, with the majority of these penalties generated on all important third down plays.
- The Commanders defense was a top-five unit at generating false starts on opposing offenses.
- The Commanders ranked 27th in penalties per game on the road. If form holds, this will serve them well with nine road games scheduled in 2025.
The Bad
- The Commanders defense ranked No. 1 in the NFL for defensive pass interference penalties.
- The defense ranked 31st in generating offensive holding penalties on opposing offenses, finishing ahead of only the Bengals defense in this category.
- The defense was a top-five penalized unit at surrendering automatic first downs via penalty and was the No. 1 penalized unit on third down plays.
Grade: B
The hype around Washington is off the charts after Jayden Daniels’ historic rookie season.
The offseason acquisitions fortified the offensive line and added additional weapons to an already efficient offense.
The prospect of Daniels behind an upgraded offensive line is a terrifying thought for opposing defenses, given what he accomplished last season as a rookie behind a subpar unit.
Will these moves be enough for the Commanders to improve on their 2024 campaign?
Washington goes from the hunter to the hunted in the 2025 season, and history suggests regression will be a factor for this team.
Overall, they have a very talented roster, but it's a tough task to improve from 2024 given the bar for success has been set extremely high after a playoff run that took the Commanders all the way to the NFC Championship.
This analysis continues in the 2025 Football Preview
Order Warren Sharp's 2025 Football Preview to get penalty analysis for all 32 NFL teams.
Warren Sharp’s 550+ page full-color PDF, the 2025 Football Preview, is unlike anything you have previously read. Stunning visualizations, including new heat maps, are built with the reader in mind. Innovative, next-level thought process abounds in every team chapter and article.
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Warren Sharp's book shares insights into the players, coaches, teams, and philosophies with one goal: to prepare you for the 2025 NFL season with the smartest information delivered in the fastest, most direct way possible for optimal reviewing and retention.
- Team Chapters previews are in-depth, data driven & full of actionable info
- Fantasy Football player profiles, predictions, and ranks
- Vegas Odds forecast team wins, division rankings, lines for all 2025 games
- Coaching strategic advice for teams, play calling analysis & team tendencies
- Front Office Analysis positional spending, roster construction & cap analysis
- Reasons to bet over/under win totals & analysis of futures betting market
- Rookie draft class deep dive into impact for every team
- Rankings for every positional unit on every team with analysis
