New Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris and his band of saviors are in rarified air in their early days as Washington NFL owners.
After Sunday’s 35-33 win over the Denver Broncos, the Commanders are off to a 2-0 start — the team’s first two-game winning streak to open a season since 2011.
But for Harris and company, it means they have yet to experience the pain of losing as a Washington franchise owner. It’s game balls, so far, for everyone.
After all, two wins to start an ownership tenure is a feat unrivaled in franchise history.
Team founder George Preston Marshall lost his first game as Boston Braves owner when the franchise was born in 1932 by the score of 14-0 to the Brooklyn Dodgers. If you don’t want to count Boston, after moving to Washington in 1937, the Redskins won their season opener at Griffith Stadium, 13-3, over the New York Giants but lost the following week at home to the Chicago Cardinals, 21-14.
After Edward Bennett Williams took over as controlling owner of the franchise in 1965, he didn’t get a chance to savor a regular season win until Week 6, as his team started 0-5 before beating the St. Louis Cardinals, 24-20, on the road.
When Jack Kent Cooke finally took over as the prime decision-making owner in 1980, they lost the opener, 17-3, to the Dallas Cowboys at RFK Stadium. After he passed away and his son, John Kent Cooke, took over in 1997, the Redskins, after beating the Carolina Panthers, 24-10, in Charlotte, lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 2, 14-13, in Pittsburgh.
Finally, you’ll be glad to know that the exiled one, Dan Snyder, lost his first game as franchise owner in 1999 in overtime, 41-35 to the Cowboys at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium. Of course, many of you suffered along with that loss as well. Little did you know how much suffering was ahead.
Harris has only known winning as Commanders’ owner — heck, 5-0, if you want to count the three preseason victories (I’m not sure what the preseason records were for each respective owner when they took over. But did you know that the Redskins first preseason game in Washington was a 50-0 win over the American Legion All Stars at McCurdy Field in Frederick?).
What does this mean? Probably as much as gaining those two wins over two of the worst teams in the league.
The Arizona Cardinals are bad. They blew a 28-7 lead over the New York Giants Sunday to lose, 31-28. The Broncos are bad. They lost, 17-16, to the Las Vegas Raiders in their home opener. Those Raiders lost, 38-10, to the Buffalo Bills Sunday. The Bills come to FedEx Field this weekend.
Washington had to come back from a 16-10 deficit against Arizona to win, 20-16. They had to come back from a 21-3 hole to beat Denver, 35-33. Like coach Ron Rivera said, “We can’t keep putting ourselves in those situations.”
The win over Arizona was a nice conclusion to a day of celebrating the end of the Snyder years and the beginning of a new era of Harris ownership. But if you were looking for legitimate reasons to be optimistic about the season, you didn’t see them on that day.
The Denver win, though, said a few things. The Broncos may not be very good, but Denver is a tough place to play under any conditions — especially for a young, untested quarterback picked in the fifth round making just his third NFL start.
The comeback win may have told you Sam Howell isn’t intimidated by the moment. He isn’t one to fold under pressure. And, given the right conditions, he looks like he can make all the throws, going 27 for 39 for 299 yards and two touchdowns — and, significantly, no interceptions.
It also told you that Eric Bieniemy can call some plays. The Commanders’ new offensive coordinator picked apart the Denver defense with a mix of screen pass plays and running calls that backed off a Denver defense that was pummeling Howell early and often.
Sunday’s win also reinforced the reputation of a strong defensive unit that, after the adjustment to a five-man front, shut down the Broncos and gave Bieniemy’s offense a chance to climb back into the game.
Howell’s performance was the most promising. How he continues to perform depends primarily on how well a shaky offensive line can protect him.
The Buffalo defense will present a much tougher test than Arizona and Denver.
With all the Howell celebration, let us not forget that Rivera admitted recently he had no idea how good his young quarterback was despite his presence on the roster last year.
Rivera had to be talked into starting Howell in the season finale against Dallas after Carson Wentz had soiled himself the week before against the Cleveland Browns and Taylor Heinicke let Rivera know he had no intention of taking the field for the Dallas game after being benched. You can’t just ignore the possibility that last season might have had a different outcome if Howell had been on the field more.
I bring this up because the undefeated Harris presented the game ball Sunday to Rivera because it was the coach’s 100th career victory. He now has a record of 100-90-2. But he has managed to do this despite just three winning seasons in 13 years. He’s 24-27-1 in Washington. That’s a slippery game ball.
The ones that should be awarded to the newcomers — Harris, Bieniemy and, for all intents and purposes, Howell — seem more secure for the future.
⦁ You can hear Thom Loverro on The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
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