Through the first month of the 2023 season, we had no idea what the Washington Commanders’ offense would look like with new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, because second-year quarterback Sam Howell, in his first season as a full-time starter, couldn’t stay off the ground.
In Weeks 1-5, per Pro Football Focus, Howell was pressured on 38.1% of his dropbacks, and he took a league-high 29 sacks in five games. He threw two touchdowns and four interceptions under pressure.
In Weeks 6-9, Howell has been pressured on 36.2% of his dropbacks, and he’s been sacked just 14 times in four games. He’s thrown one touchdown and two interceptions under pressure, but he’s creating explosive passing plays under pressure all of a sudden.
It’s not because Washington’s offensive line got any better; it’s because Howell has upped his game with knowing how to bail to throw – both with movement outside the pocket, and pocket movement inside the pocket.
In late October, Howell talked about the pressure problem, and what he hoped to do about it.
“It’s one of those things where we want to… obviously the sack problem is definitely an issue and we want to try to avoid that and try to limit those numbers. But at the same time, I still want to go out there and play how I’m coached to play and still keep my eyes downfield and be able to locate those guys and not be too worried about the rush and let those guys up front do their job. There’s definitely a balance of trying to avoid sacks, but also trying to still play quarterback for sure.”
Now, Howell is doing both things at a higher level.
Pete Carroll, whose Seattle Seahawks face Howell’s Commanders at home this Sunday, clearly understands the challenge.
“He moves a lot,” Carroll said Wednesday of Howell. “They move him out of the pocket, so he can do all of that stuff. He’s not a runner but he scrambles; he’s got 157 yards and he’s got a five-yard average when he runs, but that’s not the feature part of it. He is in the mold of what Kansas City looked like; they’re using the quarterback in the same way. Everyone is familiar with seeing that and they’re counting on Sam to do his stuff. He’s a dropback guy, good rhythm, he’s strong and physical, and he can throw the ball all over the field. The main thing you can see with the young guy, the confidence that they have in him and how they’re calling their stuff. It’s impressive.”
Linebacker Bobby Wagner is also on the case.
“Teams have been able to get after [Howell] and been able to sack him a lot. For every sack or whatever, he’s able to escape some plays. There’s a play, he got a third-and-23 by using his legs. We need to be mindful and understand. They know that they’ve been getting pressured a lot, but he’s also getting comfortable with it and being able to trust his legs a little bit more and escape. We just need to be on our job and make the plays we’re supposed to make.”
Let’s start with the third-and-23 run Wagner mentioned; this was last Sunday against the New England Patriots. Given the situation, the Patriots were right to play with deep drops in coverage, but the pressure gave Howell an opening to run, and the void in the middle of the defense allowed him to gain 24 yards on the run to extend the drive.
Now, let’s get into two examples of Howell using pocket movement to beat pressure, starting with this 26-yard touchdown pass to Jamison Crowder against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 8. Crowder ran an over route as the inside slot receiver in trips right, and Howell moved to his left as Josh Sweat and Milton Williams collapsed everything inside. Crowder ran through Philly’s Cover-4, but that would have not mattered had Howell not adjusted his launch point in a subtle way to extend the play. Then, it was up to Howell to make a ridiculous throw to Crowder over Reed Blankenship and James Bradberry, and Howell’s got the arm to do that.
Then, there was this 24-yard completion to Jahan Dotson against the Patriots. Again, Howell faced pressure, and again, he moved subtly to extend the play. This time, edge-rusher Anfernee Jennings, end Deatrich Wise Jr., and DI Christian Barmore crashed the edge protections, overwhelming tackles Charles Leno and Andrew Wylie. Not a problem for Howell, who survived it by using that sense of pocket movement to make the outstanding throw.
And as he showed on this 22-yard completion to Terry McLaurin against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 6, Howell is perfectly comfortable moving outside the pocket against pressure, and recovering from that to make another bang-on throw.
In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys get into how Howell’s adjustments to pressure have put the Commanders’ offense at a new level.
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