Life has been easy for Tress Way this season.
The Washington Commanders' all-time leader in punt yardage might be a fan favorite, but perhaps they're happy they don't see him on the field that much. He punted the ball 50 times this season, the second lowest number of his career, and all he did in the Commanders' 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was hold the ball for Zane Gonzalez on extra points and field goals.
Part of that is because the Commanders have been so efficient on offense and occasionally historically great. The Burgundy & Gold had the seventh-ranked offense in the regular season and scored 28.5 points per game, both being drastic improvements from what Way has been used to in his career. Way has had more time to relax on the sideline because of how willing the coaching staff has been to try converting fourth downs. To their credit, it worked, as the Commanders led the league in fourth-down conversion rate (87%).
There's a chance neither Way nor Detroit Lions punter Jack Fox will get much work during this weekend's Divisional matchup on Jan. 18. The game between the Commanders and Lions will pit two of the NFL's most aggressive teams, with the two combining for 56 fourth down attempts. Both teams will be ready to match the other's intensity.
"From an efficiency standpoint, they're excellent at it [and] we're excellent at it," head coach Dan Quinn said during his press conference. "So, obviously, big parts of the game to go through it."
The Commanders have become the latest example of teams that view keeping the offense on the field for fourth downs at times as a strategic advantage. Twenty teams elected to make a fourth-down attempt at least 20 times in 2024. Just 10 years ago, only two teams -- the Chicago Bears and Lions -- hit that number. In 2004, there were three teams.
Other teams were ahead of the Commanders in terms of fourth-down attempts and successful conversions (the Lions fit in both categories, as they converted 22 of 33 attempts in 2024), but no one was better at converting fourth downs than the Commanders. Their conversion rate of 87% is the best of any team since the 2000 season when the Indianapolis Colts were 90% in the category.
The secret, if there is such a thing, to Washington's success is choosing when and how to convert fourth downs. Quinn called it being "bold, but not reckless" after Washington converted three of their five fourth-down attempts in the Wild Card win over the Buccaneers.
"I think that's who we are the whole season," Quinn said. "But when you do get stopped early, you just have to stay the course knowing that, 'Hey, keep your chin tucked and keep swinging,' knowing that this is going to be a game that's going to go all the way down to the end."
Quinn's formula for deciding when to keep the offense on the field involves knowing what the offense can do, what the team needs in that moment and what the opposing defense is trying to do to the offense. The five attempts they had against the Buccaneers, while probably anxiety-inducing for Washington fans, can be easily justified because of who the Commanders were facing -- in this case, a third-ranked offense that put up more points than almost any other in the NFL -- and the rewards of being successful on those downs.
Take their last fourth-down conversion, which resulted in a five-yard touchdown by Terry McLaurin, as an example. The Commanders could have kicked a field goal, which would have cut the 17-13 deficit down to a point, and relied on their defense to make a stop. However, Mayfield and receiver Mike Evans' connection had been perfect all night, and there was a chance the Buccaneers could have run down the clock, kicked a field goal of their own and forced the Commanders to score a touchdown to win.
So, rather than take that chance, they chose a safer gamble: trust Jayden Daniels to make a play with his arm or legs. That choice tends to work out for the Commanders; Daniels completed all eight of his passes on fourth down for 77 yards and rushed for 85 along with scoring two touchdowns.
"It's something that is part of our game," Quinn said. "A lot has to do with No. 5 (Jayden Daniels). And sometimes he can make a play that takes place that was not the huddle call by using his legs and doing that."
Like the Commanders, it's become part of the Lions' identity to go for it on fourth down. They've ranked in the top five of fourth-down attempts every season since Dan Campbell became their head coach in 2021. The 151 attempts are an NFL record over that span.
"Our guys, for the most part, look at it as it's just the next down," Campbell said. "As opposed to 'this is do or die,' this is the last chance."
The Commanders and Lions are expected to be aggressive during their matchup this weekend, and fans are anticipating a good contest. Per ESPN's Field Yates, the average purchase price of $991 makes it the most expensive game, excluding the Super Bowl.
We'll see if the matchup lives up to the hype, but the one certainty is that fans of punts will probably be disappointed.
