Washington got blown out 41-3 and now has 48 hours to fix it before the roster deadline
The Commanders closed the preseason with their worst performance in years, a 41-3 loss to Baltimore that exposed an offensive line crisis - and now Dan Quinn has until Sunday to cut to 53 and find answers before a real game counts.
In brief
Washington got blown out 41-3 and now has 48 hours to fix it before the roster deadline
Friday night at M&T Bank Stadium was bad. Not preseason-loss-that-doesn't-matter bad. The kind of bad that sticks. The Washington Commanders absorbed a 41-3 demolition at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens in their preseason finale, and by morning the league had moved on. Washington can't.
The Commanders wrapped up the preseason with a 41-3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The starters weren't playing - Jayden Daniels, Terry McLaurin, Stefon Diggs, and roughly three dozen others were all held out - but that's exactly the problem. Baltimore finished with a 26-7 edge in first downs, and a 456-177 advantage in total yards. Those are the backups. Those numbers came against Washington's fringe roster players, the people competing for the last few spots on a 53-man cut list due Sunday at 6 p.m.
The score is almost secondary. What matters more is what came before the game.
An offensive line the Athletic called 'inoperable'
Wednesday's joint practice in Owings Mills was where the real alarm bells went off. Much of the focus was on the Commanders' offensive line because of who wasn't on the field. In addition to Laremy Tunsil, who tore his triceps but attended practice to support his teammates, and Nick Allegretti, Sam Cosmi was dealing with an illness that kept him out of practice. Three of Washington's best offensive linemen, either hurt or sick, on the same day. The practice fell apart.
The Athletic's Nicki Jhabvala referred to the unit as "inoperable" on Wednesday, and also stated on social media it was the worst she had seen the Commanders' offense "in years."
Daniels tried to stay measured. He told reporters, per JP Finlay of NBC4 Sports, "The good thing about it is it's August...Our first game is September 13th...I have to do my job better, control what I can control." That is exactly what a veteran quarterback says when he doesn't want to throw anyone under the bus. It is not a reassurance.
Allegretti's absence at center looms largest. He was set to transition to center this preseason, but has barely been on the field in August, which hasn't allowed Daniels to get many practice opportunities with him. Julian Good-Jones, Matt Gulbin and Trey Hill are the other centers on the roster besides Allegretti. None of those three inspire much confidence among fans tracking the depth chart.
Then Friday night happened. The Ravens got off and running to start the night, as four of their first five drives ended with points. Tyler Huntley was on the field for just one drive, covering 69 yards in eight plays, and connected with wide receiver Chris Moore twice, including a 25-yard touchdown pass. Rookie Joe Fagnano from UConn took over and moved the Ravens methodically, leading two touchdown drives and completing 17 of 24 attempts for 145 yards. Backup beating backup. Washington's backups lost that fight, badly.
Roster cut day, and no real answers yet
The Commanders are days away from finalizing their initial 53-man roster for the 2026 season. They have one final preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens before deciding which players on their 90-man roster will be part of the franchise for the next five months. That final game is now in the books. The decisions come Sunday.
The preseason record - Washington finished 1-2-0, third in the NFC East - means nothing in September. But the pattern of who played and how they looked does. Jayden Daniels played only one series across the entire preseason. The offensive line has been stressing fans out due to injuries at left tackle and center, along with the fact that the depth at center is so lacking that fans are counting down the days until Allegretti returns to start.
Washington opens the real season September 13 in Philadelphia. Offensive line play will be of paramount importance for the Commanders this year as the team looks to keep Daniels upright after an injury-plagued 2025 season. The Commanders will seek to improve upon their injury-riddled 5-12 record from last year. Losing Tunsil for multiple months already set that plan back considerably. Now center is a live question, too, with Allegretti's calf keeping him off the field through the entire exhibition slate.
There was one legitimately good moment Friday. In two-minute work at the joint practice Wednesday, Mike Sainristil made a leaping interception on a pass from Lamar Jackson, and on offense, backed up facing a fourth down against an all-out Ravens blitz, Daniels stood firm in the pocket and delivered a strike downfield to Antonio Williams in the end zone. Preseason, yes. But it's something.
Meanwhile in Nationals Park: Perales debuts, struggles, and the rebuild goes on
The Commanders weren't the only Washington team with a rough couple of days. On Wednesday, the Nationals watched their most anticipated pitching prospect of the year make his major league debut - and give up four runs in two innings.
The Washington Nationals promoted right-handed pitching prospect Luis Perales from Triple-A Rochester to make his Major League Baseball debut, a move that came after Tuesday's 3-1 loss to Colorado as Washington shifts its focus toward evaluating young talent.
Perales has big stuff and well below-average command. The Venezuela native has averaged 98.5 mph on his fastball while mixing a cutter, changeup and occasional slider. The fastball was real Wednesday. So was the wildness. The Washington Post reported he allowed four runs in two innings in a 13-1 home loss to Colorado.
The Nationals and Red Sox lined up on the rare prospect-for-prospect swap of Perales for Jake Bennett last offseason. Bennett has had success in Boston, while Perales has been up and down in Triple-A. Perales' path to the majors was delayed after he missed most of the 2025 season recovering from Tommy John surgery, and he's stayed healthy through most of 2026 aside from a brief IL absence in late May.
The debut numbers weren't pretty, but the underlying trends heading into it were more interesting. In his last 37.1 innings since July 1, Perales had 49 strikeouts. The biggest key to unlocking more whiffs has been his splitter, which he's been using more since July, and hitters are whiffing on it 46.4% of the time. Perales said afterward, per the Post: "One outing is not going to define the type of pitcher I am."
The call-up comes as the Nationals sit fourth in the NL East at 62-72, 16 games behind first-place Atlanta. Washington's 7-16 showing in August ended whatever long shot playoff hope they might have harbored. They're in evaluation mode for the final month, and Perales will get his first opportunity to impress the coaching staff as he tries to secure an Opening Day spot in 2027.
Two Washington franchises, 48 hours, two separate messes to clean up before things start counting. The Commanders need to find a viable offensive line from a decimated roster by Sunday afternoon. The Nationals need Perales's splitter to keep behaving. Neither problem has an easy answer.
On Sunday, when the roster cuts come down and the names start dropping off the Commanders' 90-man list, the shape of Washington's line - and whatever patchwork solution Adam Peters has in mind - will finally be visible. Allegretti's calf remains the X-factor. He has been nursing the issue since early August but was able to return to practice in late August, and testing did not reveal any setbacks. That's the best news Dan Quinn's gotten on that front in weeks.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
