The Commanders lost to the Seahawks 29-26 on Sunday afternoon, but the postgame chatter about their quarterback was all positive.
Head coach Ron Rivera said Sam Howell put the team “in a position to win” and right guard Sam Cosmi said “it’s like, wow” when discussing Howell’s development in his first year as the starter in Washington. Howell finished the day 29-of-44 for 312 yards and three touchdowns, but his assessment of his play was a bit harsher than the other voices in the locker room.
The Commanders only had 12 points through three quarters and Howell focused on missed chances in the early part of the game instead of celebrating their late success.
“Obviously, we did some good things there at the end, but . . . we had plenty of opportunities for us to take control of that football game; didn’t make the plays that were needed. . . . It just seemed like we were waiting, [like] someone was going to take control of the game,” Howell said, via Ben Standig of TheAthletic.com. “We made some plays down the stretch, but got to be better throughout the game to beat good teams like that.”
The Commanders are on the fringes of the playoff race at 4-6 and new ownership means there aren’t any guarantees about what will happen in the future, but Howell has shown a lot of good things so far this year. If that continues, he figures to be part of the next chapters in Washington regardless of who else sticks around.