Another issue for Jayden Daniels and another loss for Dan Quinn's Commanders create a new low

Coach Dan Quinn and the Washington Commanders hit a new low with their latest dismal showing, an eighth consecutive loss that officially eliminated them from playoff contention a year after they came within a victory of reaching the Super Bowl.

The 31-0 rout at the hands of the previously struggling Minnesota Vikings on Sunday featured a mediocre performance — and, continuing a troubling trend, early exit — by star quarterback Jayden Daniels, plus a bad-looking injury to tight end Zach Ertz for Washington (3-10).

“Baffling, frustrating, enraged,” Quinn said, summing up the day.

A season ago, Daniels was superb, leading Washington to a 12-5 record and earning AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors by completing 69% of his passes for 3,568 yards with 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions and running for 891 yards, at a clip of 6.0 per carry, with six TDs.

This season, he's been just OK — nothing more.

After going 9 for 20 for just 78 yards passing plus a pick on Sunday, Daniels owns a completion rate of 60.6 with 1,262 yards, eight touchdowns and three interceptions. His passer rating slid from 100.1 to 88.1. He's run for 278 yards, at 4.8 per carry, with two scores.

And after appearing in all 20 of the Commanders' games last season, including the playoffs, he's been in the lineup for only seven of 13, leaving before the end the past three times he played.

It was on the interception that Daniels got leveled by a Vikings defender and aggravated the dislocated left elbow that had sidelined him for more than a month.

“One of those fluke plays,” Washington linebacker Bobby Wagner said.

One game after seeming to play like a real NFL team in a tight overtime defeat to the Denver Broncos, prompting Quinn to say, “We lost, but we’re not lost anymore,” the Commanders were as inept as ever.

“I thought we took a step forward last week,” Quinn said after the disaster against Minnesota, which came in a four-game losing streak, “and tonight I thought we took three steps back.”

On Sunday? Absolutely nothing. “That’s not even a tough day at the office,” receiver Terry McLaurin said. “That’s just bad.” From giving up three turnovers (backup quarterback Marcus Mariota had one fumble and one interception) to forcing none, from not scoring to an inability to slow Minnesota, and so on. “When you miss the mark like we did,” Quinn observed, “you’ve got to look at it all and question it.”

The defense. After looking better during the past two games with defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. stripped of play-calling duties, that unit was once again unable to do anything — even against a Vikings team that got shut out last week and had gone more than 20 consecutive possessions without a touchdown. And even against QB J.J. McCarthy, who came in with a 57.9 passer rating, a 54.1 completion percentage, six TD throws and 10 interceptions. All he did was go 16 for 23 for 163 yards and his first NFL game with three scoring passes and lead one ridiculous drive that lasted 19 plays, 98 yards and took 12:01 off the clock.

Any tight end that faces Washington. On Sunday, it was Josh Oliver, who went into the day with seven catches all season and produced the first two-TD game of his NFL career. He only once finished any of his previous five seasons with a total of three scores.

Quinn. The number of games in which the Commanders have failed to be competitive keeps rising.

Quinn said he feared Ertz tore the ACL in his right knee; the No. 5 tight end in career receptions was expected to have an MRI exam on Monday. ... Quinn said Daniels could have gone back into the game Sunday but the coach decided to keep him out.

Zero — The number of points for Washington; the club hadn't been shut out since 2019.

Four meaningless games against NFC East rivals remain, starting next Sunday at the just-as-terrible New York Giants (2-11). It'll be worth monitoring how much Quinn and GM Adam Peters give extra playing time to some younger players to see what the roster contains — and, of course, what happens with Daniels the rest of the way.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) runs with the ball during the first half of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Minnesota Vikings tight end Josh Oliver (84) celebrates next to Washington Commanders cornerback Jonathan Jones after scoring a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn talks to linebacker Frankie Luvu (4) on the sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Washington Commanders tight end Zach Ertz (86) hits the ground after not being able to catch a pass between Minnesota Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman, left, and safety Jay Ward during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) walks off the field after an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

CAIRO (AP) — An Iranian commercial vessel was struck early Sunday off Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, with one person killed and four wounded, Iranian state media said, a day before Tehran seeks to brief regional countries on its contested efforts to manage shipping traffic there.

State-run IRNA news agency quoted the Qeshm governor as blaming a “terrorist enemy.” He also said the person killed was among the cargo vessel's 10-member crew, and that authorities had not yet identified the projectile.

Separately, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations monitor reported a vessel was hit by a projectile while transiting the strait, later adding that a fire had broken out and local authorities were evacuating those on board.

There was no immediate comment by the U.S. military, which previously has struck Iranian-flagged vessels as it keeps up a blockade of Iranian ports — while facing a new threat in recent days from Iranian ballistic missiles launched at its warships.

Qeshm Island, located about 14 miles (22 kilometers) from the port city of Bandar Abbas, is key to Iran asserting control over traffic through the strait.

Hours before the attack, Iran’s government remained defiant. “Our people can’t be bullied into submission. Iran won’t surrender,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a U.S.-aimed social media post.

Monday's meeting returns regional attention to the Strait of Hormuz days after Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen applied new pressure to a key shipping alternative, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea. While the Houthis say they are targeting only neighboring Saudi Arabia, which backs Yemen’s internationally recognized government fighting the rebels, markets are wary.

Global prices of oil, natural gas and related products have been sent even higher.

Commercial ship traffic remains low on the Strait of Hormuz as attacks continue on what was seen as an international waterway before the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28. The U.S. has asserted that plenty of oil is getting out as its military helps to guide ships along Oman's coast, at the risk of attack.

Iran has said foreign ministers from regional countries will meet Monday to discuss efforts by Iran and Oman, located on the other side of the Strait of Hormuz, to manage shipping on it. However, Bahrain has already said it will not attend, citing a lack of diplomatic relations with Tehran.

It was not clear what other nations would be there, and there was no new statement from Iran on Sunday.

Since early in the war, Iran has expressed interest in having ships pay fees for transit. It has said traffic into the Persian Gulf would pass through Iranian waters, while the outbound route would pass partly through Iranian waters and partly through Oman’s.

But Iran has said reaching an agreement with Oman on the strait doesn’t mean it will open for shipping. “The waterway would be opened up on the condition that the U.S. will terminate its blockade,” Iran’s president told broadcaster India Today TV on Saturday.

There was some measure of optimism in the region about the planned meeting, with hope that Gulf nations might use it to assert a collective response to a war they had no part in starting. For months, they have faced Iranian attacks that Tehran has claimed target U.S. military assets on their lands.

“Oman is hoping that by presenting this agreement with a reasonable level of regional buy-in, the Trump administration will be forced to recognize that the future of the strait will be decided by regional countries,” Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, who heads the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation, a think tank focused on Iran’s economy, said on social media.

Anna reported from Jerusalem.

A woman walks past a banner showing portraits of the late Iranian revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, left, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, center, and the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in northern Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Women hug each other as they react to the camera at the Tajrish square in northern Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A fruit seller waits for customers at the Tajrish square in northern Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A motorboat travels past commercial vessels anchored amid haze in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)