Kliff Kingsbury has been the toast of D.C. during the Washington Commanders' 2024 turnaround.
The offensive coordinator has put rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels in optimal positions to succeed, authored impressive game plans and hit all the right buttons through 10 weeks.
The Commanders are tied for third in the NFL with 29.0 points per game in 2024, on pace for the most in a season for Washington since 1991 (led the NFL with 30.3). The Commanders also lead the NFL with 2.95 points per drive (fifth-most since 2000).
Head coach Dan Quinn glowed about his OC this week.
"A lot that I've grown to appreciate," Quinn said, via the team's official transcript. "I've found out the competitor that he is and the detail that he wants to get to with the group. And we've got, we think a lot more under the hood, about where we can develop and how far we can take it. And Kliff's a really big part of that. He's got incredibly high standards for the group. He's got a very creative mind. So, to think that all of our playbook has been seen, you would be mistaken."
Kingsbury's performance stands in stark contrast to a few other OC hires, most notably in Las Vegas and Chicago. Both clubs spoke with the former Cardinals head coach this offseason but went in different directions. Each fired their OC mid-season, while Kingsbury has the Commanders offense humming.
The big question hovering over Kingsbury heading toward Thanksgiving: the late-season spirals.
Kingsbury's offenses have hit the skids down the stretch throughout his coaching career. His winning percentage as an NFL head coach or coordinator dropped from .602 (26-17-1) from Weeks 1-9 to .281 (9-23) from Week 10 to the end of a season, per NFL Research. Kingsbury was 7-14 in Game 10 and later as Texas Tech's head coach from 2013-18. And in 2023, USC went 1-3 from Game 10 on with Kingsbury as an offensive analyst.
Were each of those seasons a separate set of circumstances, or does the cumulative ending failure signal a lack of ability to adjust when defenses catch on to your plans?
The Commanders are coming off a season-low 242 total yards in a Week 10 loss, including five three-and-outs and six punts, both single-game season highs.
Kingsbury -- with Daniels, Terry McLaurin and a nifty running game -- has the chance to wash away the narrative that his offenses flounder down the stretch, starting Thursday night against an improved Philadelphia Eagles defense.
