Sam Howell’s sack issues are nothing new

Can he get better before they get worse?

Much has been made of Washington’s league-leading 19 sacks allowed through 3 games this season. Various attempts have been made to assign them to, in order, a “terrible offensive line with players who couldn’t start on any other team in the league,” Eric Bieniemy’s lopsided play calling, and Sam’s own proclivity to hold onto the ball too long.

We’ll take them in order to try to best get to the bottom of what is, obviously, a multivariate issue.

Offensive Line Performance

It no secret, Washington’s offensive line – which was riddled with injuries – wasn’t very good last year. This offseason, Washington took a number of steps to improve its line, both in free agency and in the draft. The team added right tackle, Andrew Wylie, with whom Eric Bieniemy was intimately familiar from his time in Kansas City. Wylie wasn’t the flashiest tackle prospect on the market, but he was a middle tier target that seems to be performing about as advertised. Also added was center Nick Gates, a fan favorite from his time with the Giants, as the team sought to stabilize the position as Chase Roullier left the organization.

Rivera and company also added Ricky Stromberg and Braeden Daniels in the draft. Stromberg is essentially a depth center/guard, and Daniels was put on season-ending IR before Week 1.

A few things are indisputable about Washington’s offensive line so far this season: 1) The move to right guard has been great for Sam Cosmi, who has been the team’s most reliable lineman. 2) The line has been up and down through three games. 3) At times, most of the players on the line have had a very good game (Leno (Week 1); Charles (Week 2); Cosmi (Week 3)).

It’s controversial in some circles, but several third party rating services also score Washington’s line from good (#3 in run blocking) to average (#14 in pass blocking)

Regardless of what the outside (and inside) experts are saying, many fans remain unconvinced, and it’s undeniable that Sam Howell is getting sacked a great deal more than he should be. What could be some other factors?

Eric Bieniemy’s Play Calling

New offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is a huge fan of passing the football. He liked it a lot in Kansas City and he seems infatuated with it so far in Washington.

And as much as it pains me to say it, he’s passing too much.

I’m not clamoring for a return to Bill Callahan or Martin Mayhew’s mythical 2:1 run/pass ratio, but passing nearly two-thirds of the time is putting an inordinate amount of pressure on Sam Howell to carry this offense, and he’s not capable of it – at least at this point. It’s also not necessary when your lead back has been incredibly productive.

I’m certain we’ll see a more balanced attack from Bieniemy moving forward, which should take pressure off both Howell and the line. But are there any other factors at work?

Howell’s Internal Clock

I said it after watching pre-season games in August: Despite having a hell of a lot of time in the pocket, Howell was holding the ball too long.

At the time, I assumed Howell was being a bit leisurely, going through his reads because it was basically glorified practice. Three weeks into the season, it’s clear that’s just where he is in terms of his mental processing.

Worryingly, looking back at his time at UNC, that’s where he’s been for several years now.

And the Tarheels’ offensive line took a ton of heat in Howell’s time at North Carolina, not unlike what we’re seeing in DC now.

No. 10 North Carolina returned all of its starters on the offensive line from last season and it was supposed to be one of the strengths of the offense heading into the season opener against Virginia Tech.

“The sacks were a surprise — and disappointing,” UNC coach Mack Brown said. “That’s something that we’ve got to really look at. We’ve been talking about that for two years.” Carolina was 13th in the ACC in sacks allowed last season totaling 34 in 12 games.

Quarterback Sam Howell admitted he was culpable for some of those sacks for holding onto the ball too long.

He never seemed to have that chance against the Hokies. And their pressure mainly came from their down linemen so they didn’t have to blitz a lot.

It all sounds very familiar at this point. The reality is – again, by outside measures – Howell has had a lot of time, by NFL standards, to throw the ball so far this season.

Does this realization mean that I’m giving up on Sam? No. Is it my goal to “blame” Sam singularly for the offenses’ woes? No.

This is my attempt to diagnose the actual root of the offense’s problems, and to focus the cure squarely on those issues so that they can improve. To my eyes, there are some pretty straightforward fixes that can be implemented immediately: Fold more runs into the mix (according to Chris Russell, they haven’t run the ball at all this year on second and 10); Strongly encourage Howell to speed up the clock in his head, and give him quick hit options in the pass game.

If the Eagles want to, they could deploy the Bills’ game plan against Washington and dare the Commanders to try to counter it. The question is, if they do so, will Washington have a different answer this time?