There were similarities.

The Commanders and Patriots selected franchise quarterbacks with consecutive picks in the 2024 NFL Draft. Both organizations tabbed new leaders for their front offices and brought in new coaching staffs to lead the team on the field. Washington and New England simultaneously stepped to the starting line in a race many figured would resemble a marathon.

The Commanders, though, sprinted out in front and dusted the Patriots.

New England now holds the No. 4 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and Washington is one of four teams still fighting for the Lombardi trophy.

There are two ways to look at that. Glass-half empty? Washington, arguably the NFL’s biggest dumspterfire during the Dan Snyder era, is now the one pointing and laughing at teams like New England. The Commanders’ new ownership group ran circles around the Patriots with their hiring process and figured out a way to rebuild in one offseason, something Robert Kraft and company have been trying to do since Tom Brady’s exit.

However, there’s also the glass-half-full. The Commanders proved with the right mix of general manager, head coach, offensive play-caller and quarterback, longtime cellar-dwellers can quickly become the ones drinking martinis on the roof top. That’s not to say New England is a longtime cellar-dweller either. It’s been an underwhelming four or five seasons, sure, but there’s still six Super Bowl banners hanging at Gillette Stadium that we captured this century.

Rebuilds don’t have to take half a decade, they can be completed in one or two years if you do it correctly. That should provide some encouragement.

Commanders general manager Adam Peters not only has an eye for talent, but can identify players who fit head coach Dan Quinn. Washington rebuilt its roster by adding veterans like Bobby Wagner, Zach Ertz, etc., who lead their respective position groups. They signed undervalued players like linebacker Frankie Luvu (three years, $31 million) and running back Austin Ekeler (two years, $8 million) to contracts which didn’t break the bank.

Quinn hired offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, whose top priority was to fit his scheme and game-plan to rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. Daniels, who had arguably the best season ever for a rookie quarterback, took that coaching and elevated those around him. It was a trickle-down effect and it started from the top.

The Patriots feel closer to that now than they did at the midway point of the season. New England replaced first-year head coach Jerod Mayo with 2021 Coach of the Year Mike Vrabel. Vrabel will collaborate and build out his roster with Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf and Ryan Cowden, who’s headed to Foxboro, Mass., at Vrabel’s request. Those two should come together to add players who fit what Vrabel is looking for.

New England has both the draft capital and financial means to overhaul the roster this offseason, as well. Washington proved the obvious benefit of hitting a home run (Daniels), but having the right people in charge all while hitting singles and doubles elsewhere are equally important.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk's losing streak continued on Wednesday.

Hours after Republicans in Wisconsin lost a state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin where Musk spent tens of millions of dollars of his own money, shares of his flagship electric car company fell upon news that it had badly missed Wall Street estimates for the number of vehicles it had delivered in the first quarter of 2025.

As reported by Market Watch, Tesla revealed that "it delivered more than 336,000 vehicles during the first quarter, down from 387,000 deliveries a year ago."

To put this number into context, Market Watch notes that it "was well below the average analyst estimate compiled by FactSet of 404,000 vehicles" and it "was also lower than the 'whisper' number, or what Wall Street was quietly expecting, with even the most bullish analyst projecting a number in the 360,000 range."

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Although Tesla blamed the disappointing deliveries on what Market Watch describes as "the changeover to refreshed Model Y production lines" that "led to several weeks of lost production," it's also a reality that the company has been the target of a concerted boycott campaign led by progressive groups to protest Musk's role as the head of President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency.

Sales of Tesla in Europe have fallen off a cliff in recent months, as car buyers on that continent have revolted against Musk's support for far-right political parties such as Germany's Alternative für Deutschland.