The Washington Commanders ’ issues started long before their trip to Spain. After a 28-7 Monday Night Football loss to the Chiefs in late October dropped Washington to 3-5, tight end Zach Ertz delivered an urgent warning about the team’s inconsistency.

He told NFL.com’s Kevin Patra there were “too many highs and lows,” with the Commanders failing to execute in all three phases for a full game and the “clock… ticking” if they wanted to stay in the NFC race.

Now, even in Madrid’s iconic Bernabeu Stadium, the theme is still about execution, not excuses. As Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic relayed on X, Ertz said the turf in Madrid was “not ideal” and “had a lot of slippage,” but added that “you can’t blame it one on the field by any means.”

In other words, conditions were bad, but not

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