FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Sam Howell made one of the worst decisions of his young NFL career on Sunday. He also made sure that decision didn’t define his day.
Howell threw a pre-halftime interception, then marched out of the locker room and logged back-to-back scores, securing a 20-17 Commanders victory over the New England Patriots.
During the halftime break, Washington backup Jacoby Brissett was right next to Howell in the locker room, and watched him shake off the mistake — a pass straight to a Patriots defender when both potential receivers were double-covered.
“In those situations, some people can tense up and be like, oh s—, I did something wrong,” Brissett said. “And I think he did the total opposite. He was just like, ‘Whatever. The play’s over now.’ So I was very happy to see that.”
Commanders coach Ron Rivera came over to check on Howell before the second half began, and said the quarterback gave him a smile, a sign that things were going to be just fine.
They were. Howell was decisive and determined as he built on the concepts the team installed last week to help him negate pass rushes that have been overwhelming at times.
Rivera said earlier in the week he believes the team has found its franchise quarterback of the future. Sunday night, Jonathan Allen agreed.
“He’s our future. He’s our quarterback,” Allen said. “I think we found our quarterback for the next 5, 10 years. And I truly believe that. … I can truly say this team is behind Sam 100%.”
Howell said he was flattered by the talk, but has no interest in big-picture thinking with eight games still to play.
“Obviously I want to be the quarterback here for a really long time,” he said. “But at the end of the day, you know, how I’m going to get to that point is taking it one day at a time and doing everything I can on a day-to-day basis.
“That’s kind of the way I look at it — I never worry about the future, I take it one day at a time, and I try to give every single day everything I’ve got.”
Howell finished with 325 yards and a touchdown to go with his interception. He led the team to an early 10-0 lead, which should have been the cue for Commanders fans to take the week off from sweating out another tight finish.
That’s not how this team works, though.
After the Patriots rallied, Washington kept its season from going off the rails thanks in part to uncharacteristic gaffes from the Patriots at key moments — bad throws from quarterback Mac Jones and a late offsides call on a punt against New England’s special teams unit.
Safety Quan Martin sealed the victory with an interception after a pass was deflected by Kendall Fuller.
Martin was one of a handful of rookies with a major impact on the game, as rookie cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr. also had a bounceback showing after being benched four weeks ago.
It was KJ Henry who stole the rookie spotlight, though for unenviable reasons. Henry logged a big third-and-10 sack/fumble of Jones, but was flagged for roughing the passer.
Replays showed it was a textbook hit by Henry, and teammates were vocal in their disappointment after the game. Henry took it in stride, though.
“Once they made the call, no matter how upset I was, it wasn’t going to change the call,” he said. “My mom said I’ve got to do better, so I’m gonna do a little bit better.”
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