The Washington Commanders dropped another heartbreaker on Sunday, falling to the Seattle Seahawks, 29-26. One thing we do know is you can’t blame quarterback Sam Howell.
While Howell wasn’t perfect, it was another phenomenal performance, especially in the fourth quarter. Howell completed 29 of 44 passes for 312 yards and a touchdown. His first touchdown was a Patrick Mahomes-like side-arm pass to Brian Robinson. Howell then led the Commanders on two fourth-quarter touchdown drives, tying the game late before Washington’s defense faltered.
After the game, Howell was in no celebratory mood, lamenting the plays he didn’t make.
“Yeah, it’s tough,” Howell said in discussing his third-quarter fumble.
“Obviously, I was kind of trying to go down. They were kind of trying to hold me up and get at the ball. Fumbling the football is unacceptable. I got to do a better job taking care of the football. I think I’ve done a pretty good job in the passing game taking care of it, but got to do it in the running game as well, especially if I am going to be aggressive like that as a runner.”
Washington’s defense stopped the Seahawks and the turnover didn’t hurt the Commanders.
Speaking of Washington’s defense, which struggled mightily, Howell praised the group.
“I thought, for the most part, our defense played a good game, and we had plenty of opportunities for us to take control of that football game; didn’t make the plays that were needed,” Howell said.
“I think the game was kind of tied there for a little while, and we were just kind of waiting. It just seemed like we were waiting; someone was going to take control of the game, and they kind of took control of it. I thought our defense kept us in the game, and we just got to find ways, when the game is tied, to go out there and make the plays and take control of the football game.”
Howell is right. The Commanders offense went into a lull after the first quarter and until the fourth quarter. And while Washington’s defense allowed almost 500 yards, it did limit some of the damage throughout the game until it broke late.
Finally, Howell took the blame for Terry McLaurin having only four catches for 33 yards.
“We kind of struggled to get all the receivers involved in today’s game, but I know in those situations, Terry is going to do everything he can to win and give me a little space to get the ball in there, and he came up big,” Howell said.
“I think there were two fourth downs on that last drive, so he’s a great player. I have to do a better job trying to get him the football and get him more involved in the game. Definitely, in those situations, he’s a guy I’m going to go to.”
Howell is showing excellent leadership here. In no way was the result of Sunday’s game on Howell.