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Nick Shook’s takeaways:

1. Commanders get back on track. Washington has spent much of the last month hearing about how it’s not ready to contend with the big dogs and how, much like past Kliff Kingsbury teams, its offense has run out of steam as the calendar turns to December. For at least one Sunday, the Commanders took those criticisms and fired them into the sun. Washington jumped all over Tennessee in Week 13, opening the scoring with a 40-yard Brian Robinson touchdown run that looked far too easy to have taken place in the NFL, forcing two first-half turnovers and following that first score up with three more touchdown drives before even the midway point of the second quarter. The Commanders rested on their laurels a bit from there, leaving the door slightly cracked open for Tennessee to peek through it, but two more nine-play scoring drives officially sealed this one, giving the fans in Washington something to cheer about at the end of a three-game losing streak. We’ll see if it carries over after the bye, where it truly becomes winning time.
2. Titans’ clumsy first half dooms them. Tennessee’s first four possessions of this game ended as follows: punt, punt, fumble and fumble. The second fumble came on a kick return, giving possession right back to Washington after it’d already taken a 21-point lead. Before Tennessee had run 10 plays, it was trailing 28-0, had already allowed Washington to rack up 197 yards of offense and had already been penalized for two false starts. The Titans reached halftime with 11 penalties accepted against them, two giveaways and just one drive of substance (a nine-play, 64-yard hurried possession that ended in a beautiful Will Levis touchdown pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine). That last drive seemed to wake up the Titans, but it was too late. They made it interesting, trimming the lead to 15 late in the third, but that was as close as they’d get. Their first-half struggles were indicative of the inconsistent team they’ve been for most of the season, and while their second-half successes can tempt fans into believing they’re not far from turning the corner, this is how a team ends up 3-9.
3. Daniels, Washington runners hit their stride. There have been glimpses in recent weeks of Washington’s offensive potential, but it had failed to put it all together against quality competition, losing to both Pennsylvania teams and Dallas by one possession. The same was not true Sunday. Brian Robinson rushed for 103 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, Chris Rodriguez Jr. chipped in 94 more yards and another touchdown on 13 attempts, and Jayden Daniels added 34 yards and a rushing score on nine runs. When you include Jeremy McNichols‘ 32 yards on six attempts, that brings the Commanders’ team total to 263 yards, a dominant showing and an ideal way to control a football game. That opened up the passing game, too, which saw Daniels renew his connection with Terry McLaurin on a couple of excellent touchdown passes. Daniels finished 25 of 30 for 206 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Visually, he moved closer to where he was during his stretch of hot play earlier this season. It’s the ideal way to enter the bye and prepare for the final month of games, and exactly what a playoff-contending team should do against an opponent like Tennessee.

Next Gen Stats Insight from Titans-Commanders (via NFL Pro): The Commanders offense recorded 39 carries for a season-high 246 yards and three touchdowns on designed runs in Week 13, including a season-high +78 rushing yards over expected and 2.8 yards before contact per carry (the second-most this season).

NFL Research: The Commanders scored 40-plus points for the third time in 2024, the most in a season since they set a franchise record with four in 1991, which was also the last time they appeared in a conference championship game (longest active championship game drought in NFL) and the last time they won the Super Bowl (XXVI).