Sept. 28, 2026, 7:02 a.m. ET
Washington Commanders offensive coordinator David Blough picked up the biggest win of his young NFL career so far on Sunday. The 31-year-old first-time offensive coordinator spent parts of five seasons in the NFL as a quarterback and two as an assistant coach before his promotion to OC in January. In the first two games of the season, the Commanders went 0-2.
Blough certainly made some calls he’d like to have back, but he also made some brilliant calls that didn’t look so brilliant because of poor execution. On Sunday, Blough faced the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks and head coach Mike Macdonald. The Seahawks have what most consider the NFL’s best defense, led by Macdonald, the defensive equivalent of coaches like Sean McVay, Ben Johnson, and Kyle Shanahan. Making things even more difficult, the Commanders faced the Seahawks without starting quarterback Jayden Daniels, his two best offensive linemen, and starting tight end. In the end, Blough and the Commanders won, defeating the Seahawks 33-31. Blough earned a ton of praise around the NFL for his play-calling in Sunday’s victory.
Some even said that Blough outcoached Macdonald. But on the Sunday Night Football pregame show, Blough received his biggest praise yet, with the entire NFL world watching. Longtime Pittsburgh Steelers head coach and Super Bowl champion Mike Tomlin gave Blough a big shoutout, courtesy of George Carmi, who recorded it. “I enjoy a little good news,” Tomlin said. “And I want to talk about this young coordinator for the Commanders in Washington, David Blough.
In the most significant moment, he took some strategic risks, and he won and won big. They have possession, third-and-9; they hand this ball off on the perimeter and get a new set of downs. If they don’t get it, the clock’s running. They come back on the next possession down (set of downs), and they allow Marcus Mariota to keep it. That’s two third downs: third-and-9 and third-and-7.
David Blough took the calculated risk associated with pursuing victory, and I tip my cap to that gentleman.”
Huge praise for Blough. The first play Tomlin is referring to is this handoff to Rachaad White, which gained 19 yards on third-and-9:
And here’s the final play, Mariota’s game-clinching run:
When head coach Dan Quinn promoted Blough in January, this was his vision for Blough.
It’s already paying dividends.
