Veteran additions from Wagner to Ertz have the Commanders on track to make the playoffs

Before drafting Jayden Daniels and turning the keys to the Washington Commanders to him as their franchise quarterback, first-year general manager Adam Peters made clear in free agency this was not a long-term rebuild.

In came Bobby Wagner, Zach Ertz, Frankie Luvu, Jeremy Chinn, Dante Fowler, Austin Ekeler and several other veterans with decades of combined NFL experience. When a losing streak threatened to derail the season, Wagner spoke up in the locker room before practice last week to deliver a message about getting back to enjoying football.

“We just needed to have fun,” Wagner said. “As the expectations started to grow, we needed to get back to just having fun. That’s why we were playing so well.”

He and his teammates responded by routing Tennessee to end the skid at three and go into the bye week 8-5 and on track to make the playoffs.

New coach Dan Quinn calls the current state “base camp” with more of the mountain left to climb, and his team has doubled the win total from last season and gotten to this point thanks to Wagner, Ertz, Luvu, Chinn, Fowler, Ekeler and others forming a competitive identity that has turned things around in Washington.

“Those are what I would consider the lead sled dogs,” Quinn said Monday. “And when it comes time and you get into December and January football, you lean on players like that.”

The Commanders will continue to lean on them in the closing stretch with games at New Orleans on Dec. 15, at home against Philadelphia on Dec. 22 and Atlanta on Dec. 28 or 29 and then the season finale at Dallas on Jan. 4 or 5.

They've already been playing a big role on and off the field to get to this point. Wagner, Chinn and Luvu are the top three tacklers on the roster, Fowler leads the team with 8 1/2 sacks and Ertz is second in yards receiving and touchdown catches.

That would have mattered so little if the losing streak stretched to four and playoff hopes that looked solid in early November were fading. Except for Ekeler, on injured reserve because of a concussion, every other experienced newcomer played a key role in beating the Titans and getting a much-needed win.

“It’s really just to steady the ship, honestly,” said Ertz, whose TD pass from Daniels was his fourth of the season. “I’ve played in this league a long time, and three games don’t define you as a football team by any means. It’s really just making sure guys don’t overreact. Guys didn’t need to do anything they weren’t capable of doing. It really was to play within yourself, trust each other and believe in one another.”

The Commanders have drastically improved on defense from 2023, when they ranked last in the league, and even from the start of the season. That is not a huge surprise given the six new starters at 11 spots.

Wagner, a six-time All-Pro linebacker, leading the way at age 34 has been a major factor. His success has come in concert with Luvu, who has stood out as one of the best players on the field in recent weeks.

"I knew what the ballplayer would bring: blitzing, pass rushing, and that was on tape — I’d seen that," Quinn said of Luvu. “What I didn’t know was the energy and love he brought as a teammate. And so that has been almost as impactful, about the way that he cares for one another, the way he looks after his teammates, the way he goes so hard. They see that in him.”

That was the goal way back in the spring, when the external expectations were very low. Even before Week 1, BetMGM Sportsbook set the Commanders' over/under win total at 6 1/2, which is long back in the rearview mirror thanks to veteran leadership keeping things from snowballing out of control.

One more victory would clinch Washington's first winning season since 2016, and well within reach is just the organization's sixth playoff appearance this century. All that is left is to finish the job.

“There’s still a lot of things we can fix, but winning is always better than losing,” Wagner said. “I think it will be fun these last four games.”

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

Tennessee Titans wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (15) catches a touchdown pass in the end zone against the Washington Commanders safety Jeremy Chinn (11) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)

Washington Commanders tight end Zach Ertz, left, celebrates his touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)

Washington Commanders running back Austin Ekeler rushes for a 1-yard rushing touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis, left, recovers a fumbled snap as he is tackled by Washington Commanders linebacker Dante Fowler Jr. (6) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Tennessee Titans offensive tackle JC Latham (55) is tackled after catching a tipped pass by Washington Commanders safety Jeremy Chinn (11), defensive tackle Jer'Zhan Newton (95) and linebacker Frankie Luvu (4) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)

Washington Commanders tight end Zach Ertz (86) celebrates the team's 42-19 win against the Tennessee Titans in an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Washington Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner (54) and Washington Commanders defensive end Dorance Armstrong (92) celebrate after a sack during an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Nov. 14, 2024, in Philadelphia, PA. (AP Photo/Peter Joneleit)

HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong judge on Thursday convicted seven people, including a pro-democracy former lawmaker, of rioting during mob violence at a subway station at the height of the city’s anti-government protests in July 2019.

Prosecutors accused former legislator Lam Cheuk-ting and the six other defendants of provoking members of a group of about 100 men armed with wooden poles and metal rods who attacked protesters and bystanders at a train station. The men, all clad in white shirts, in contrast with the black worn by protesters, claimed to be protecting their homeland in Yuen Long, a residential district in Hong Kong's New Territories.

Dozens of people, including Lam, were injured in the violence, a key chapter that escalated the protest movement as the public criticized police for their delayed response. The landmark ruling could shape the city's historical narrative of the incident.

Judge Stanley Chan ruled that Lam was not acting as a mediator as he had claimed, but rather was trying to exploit the situation for political gain.

He said Lam's words directed at the white-shirted men had “fanned the flames."

The seven defendants are expected to be sentenced in February. Several members of the public sitting in the gallery cried after hearing the verdicts. Others waved at the defendants, with one shouting to Lam, “Hang in there, Ting!” Lam appeared to be at ease.

The prosecution alleged the defendants had either berated the white-shirted men, used obscene hand gestures, hurled objects or shot jets of water at them with a hosepipe.

The defendants had pleaded not guilty to the rioting charge.

During the trial, Lam said he chose to go to Yuen Long because he hoped his then position as a lawmaker could pressure the police to act quickly. He said he could not leave the scene while fellow residents were in danger. Some defendants who targeted the white-shirted men with a hosepipe argued that they were just trying to stop the attackers from advancing.

Chan, the judge, rejected the arguments of some defendants that they acted in self-defense.

The 2019 protests were sparked by a proposed extradition law that would have allowed criminal suspects in Hong Kong to be sent to the mainland for trial. The government withdrew the bill, but the protesters widened their demands to include direct elections for the city’s leaders and police accountability.

The social movement was the biggest challenge to the Hong Kong government since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. In response, Beijing imposed a national security law in 2020, leading to the arrest of many activists. Others were silenced or went into exile.

In November, Lam was sentenced to six years and nine months in jail in the city's biggest national security case.

More than 10,000 people were arrested in connection to the protests for various crimes, such as rioting and participating in an unauthorized assembly. About 10 white-shirted men were convicted in other cases related to the mob violence in July 2019, local media reported.

Journalists wait outside District Court in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, ahead of its verdicts on a landmark riot case involving a former pro-democracy lawmaker on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Kanis Leung)

FILE- A pro-democracy lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting, center, gestures with five fingers, signifying the "Five demands - not one less" as he is surrounded by riot police during a news conference to mark one-year anniversary of the Yuen Long subway attack at the subway station in Hong Kong, July 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)