Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell had a performance Sunday he’ll never forget. The second-year quarterback threw four interceptions, was sacked nine times and hit 15 times in a 37-3 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
It’s a performance that Howell hopes he learns from and uses to get better.
Buy Commanders TicketsAfter the loss, Howell met with reporters and immediately took ownership of his play.
“Just got to be better,” Howell said. “You know, there’s a lot of things; obviously, it starts with me, and I got to take better care of the football. Do a better job of just leading my offense. Obviously, a lot of things didn’t go right today, and it starts with me. But, you know, the sun will come up tomorrow, another opportunity to get better and go to work.”
Dating back to the preseason, one of the knocks against Howell is he holds the ball too long at times, leading to unnecessary sacks. It’s something Howell has acknowledged multiple times. It’s also a problem many young quarterbacks face.
After such an ugly loss, it would make sense just to burn the tape of such a bad performance. As the son of a coach, that’s not Howell’s mindset.
“The reality of it is you go back, you watch the film, and you don’t flush it,” Howell said. “You watch the film and try to learn from it because that’s the only way you’re going to get better. You can’t just forget about it because it happened.”
Watching the film will be difficult for all of Washington’s players. But it’s necessary to move forward.
Next up for the Commanders is the Philadelphia Eagles. And while it is much too early to call a Week 4 game a must-win game, next Sunday’s game is big for Howell and the Commanders. How will they respond?
Howell has been praised for his unflappable demeanor. He was flustered on Sunday, and rightfully so, but we’ll learn a lot about him over the next seven days.
