Scrambling to his left, quarterback Sam Howell saw a slight opening and slid the ball into it with a sidearm throw. He found receiver Curtis Samuel sprinting down the sideline for an impressive 25-yard completion that moved the chains on third down.
Two plays later Howell was sacked, leading to a Washington Commanders punt.
Those were the rhythms of Sunday’s 45-15 Commanders loss to the Miami Dolphins, a game that revealed deficiencies on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, and was put out of reach well before halftime. Once again, the opposing offense appeared to spend their practice time working on celebrations instead of techniques.
Howell might be a good quarterback. He might be a career backup. With this team, it’s simply impossible to know.
The Commanders entered the year aiming to contend for the playoffs, gassing up the car despite warning lights flashing at several key positions.
Since then, pretty much everything that could go wrong has. Predraft chatter focused on how the Commanders needed to upgrade their offensive line. They instead chose to use their first two selections on defense, and have watched the offensive line slowly disintegrate throughout the season.
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Howell was equally responsible for sacks early in the year, but has largely cleaned up his play since, releasing the ball quicker and putting himself in better positions.
At receiver, they don’t have game-breaking players like Tyreek Hill, meaning they have to move the ball five yards at a time instead of 50.
“We missed a couple opportunities,” coach Ron Rivera said after Sunday’s loss. “We’ve got to be better up front in certain areas.
“We’ve done some good things. We do enough to move the ball, then you get a little bit behind, and how the opponent attacks you is different.”
Sunday against the Dolphins, the duct tape failed to hold, and Howell was left on the run most of the day. Howell finished with 127 yards and was sacked three times, putting him on pace to tie David Carr’s NFL record of being sacked 76 times in a season (Howell is now at 58).
That’s to say nothing of issues at other positions. Washington isn’t good enough or deep enough to be competitive at cornerback, linebacker, tight end, or even long snapper. It all reflects back on Rivera, who is responsible for the roster construction, and is now playing out the string of his tenure in Washington.
But with four games left, Howell provides just enough to keep reeling the viewers back in.
He ran for each of the team’s touchdowns on Sunday, the second a dazzling 13-yard scramble that showed his elusiveness.
Howell was largely inaccurate early in the game as the pressure was bearing down on him, and had one of his worst days in the air, but also had a handful of throws that only the best NFL quarterbacks can make.
So is he good? Is he bad? Is he mediocre? It’s impossible to know under these circumstances.
“I think the honest thing is, we know that we’re a way better team than what we’ve shown, especially the last few weeks,” Howell said. “We know with the guys we have on this team we’re definitely capable of winning more games than we’ve won. So for us, we want to show who we can really be these last four games.”
There’s a film reel full of throws and sacks that show that Howell won’t ever be considered one of the league’s top signal callers. There are plays like Miami’s pick-six interception, where Andrew Van Ginkel clearly knew exactly what the play would be before the snap — a good offense can’t give that away.
There are also moments where Howell dazzles with his feet or his arm.
“Sam’s a dynamic athlete, man,” tight end Logan Thomas said. “He makes plays with his legs, makes plays with his arm. He’s a talented kid. Going forward, people have got to be ready for that, and as he continues to progress, I think he’s going to be one heck of a quarterback - I think he is one heck of a quarterback.”
As long as the Commanders don’t end up in the draft’s top three or four picks, Howell will be back under center next year, with a better opportunity to prove himself. Because you can call this debacle a lot of names, but one thing it isn’t is a fair shake for Howell.
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