The Washington Commanders are 1-0 after Sunday’s 20-16 hard-fought win over the Arizona Cardinals to open the 2023 NFL season.
The Commanders jumped out to an early 7-0 lead after quarterback Sam Howell found running back Brian Robinson Jr. for a seven-yard touchdown pass.
Buy Commanders TicketsHowever, three turnovers would keep the Cardinals in the game, including Howell’s fumble near the goal line that an Arizona defender picked up and ran in for an easy touchdown. It was Arizona’s only touchdown of the day.
Ultimately, the Commanders won the game, and no one cares about the score. Coaches would much rather study bad tape after a win than after a loss. So, who shined in the win?
And who struggled?
Here are Washington’s studs and duds from the 20-16 win.
Stud: Josh Harris and his fellow owners
Let’s start with the obvious. What Josh Harris and his partners have done to FedEx Field in such a short amount of time is remarkable. Check out this tweet from longtime Washington writer Rick Snider.
How hard did the new ownership work getting FedEx ready? They washed the two concrete ramps from tunnel to concourse. Never been done in 26 years. Was black and nasty. Now that’s attention to detail.
— Rick Snider's Washington (@Snide_Remarks) September 10, 2023
Doesn’t sound like much, but it is huge. Harris has been here less than eight weeks, and they’ve already invested wisely in improving what is known as the NFL’s worst venue. If you weren’t in attendance at FedEx Field, just look at some of the videos from Sunday online. That’s a legit home crowd. Big things are on the horizon for the Commanders.
Stud: QB Sam Howell
Bear with me here. Sam Howell belongs on this list. He did a lot of good things despite the two turnovers — more on those later. He’s tough. He took a lot of hits, including a nasty one on the sideline that should’ve gotten the Arizona linebacker removed from the game. Yet Howell kept getting up. He kept firing downfield. And when his team needed him the most, on a third-and-goal down six points, he didn’t flinch. Howell saw nothing open, moved out of the pocket and made a sprint for the end zone for the decisive score.
There will be plenty of things from this game that Howell can learn from. That’s good. Remember, this is his second career start. As tough as Howell is, though, he can’t keep taking these kinds of hits weekly. But Howell was a big part of the win for the Commanders.
Dud: QB Sam Howell
Howell was sacked six times and turned the ball over twice. Both turnovers were bad. His interception didn’t hurt the Commanders, but his fumble led to a walk-in touchdown for the Cardinals. Those are things Howell needs to clean up. On the sacks, some were because he held onto the ball for too long, waiting for something to come open down the field. Howell needs to either take off or throw the ball away.
Stud: DE Montez Sweat
SWEAT STRIPS IT, PAYNE RECOVERS!
📺 #ARIvsWAS | FOX | #HTTC pic.twitter.com/8yLJO43DDB
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) September 10, 2023
This play changed the course of the game for good. But this wasn’t Montez Sweat’s only standout play. His final line of the day: 5 tackles, 2 for loss, 1.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. Sweat took over the game when his team needed it the most. What a performance from the soon-to-be free agent.
Dud: Offensive line
WHAT!!! @AZCardinals
📺: #AZvsWAS on FOX⁰
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/G4uoYVOqQn pic.twitter.com/ob3yKCbVQt— NFL (@NFL) September 10, 2023
Pay close attention to right tackle Andrew Wylie right here. Yes, the fumble is on Howell, but your right tackle can’t keep getting beat inside like this. This is similar to what happened from Wylie in the preseason, where Howell took responsibility for the sack. Not all of the sacks were on the offensive line, but overall, the protection wasn’t good. Washington’s offensive line didn’t open a lot of holes for the running game either.
Stud: DT Daron Payne
• Daron Payne on 1st
• Jon Allen on 2nd
• Montez Sweat strip sack on 3rdThis series flipped the momentum for Washington in the 4Q. pic.twitter.com/LBNK3CMUYP
— Ryan Fowler (@_RyanFowler_) September 10, 2023
Daron Payne picked right up where he left off last season. He recorded two tackles, both for loss and recovered a fumble. Payne was a problem for Arizona’s offensive line all night. People forget just how young Payne still is.
Dud: RB Antonio Gibson
Antonio Gibson struggled with fumbles in 2021. It led to the Commanders losing some faith in him. However, Gibson appeared to clean up some of his fumbling issues last season, and Washington was preparing him for a larger role in 2023. On Sunday, Gibson fumbled in the first half, in the red zone, ending a promising drive and taking points off the board. Inexcusable.
Stud: DT Jonathan Allen
Do we notice a theme here? Allen joined Sweat and Allen on this list in recording two tackles for loss. He also had a sack, three tackles and three QB hits. Another dominant performance from Allen. The defensive line won this game for the Commanders.
Dud: The secondary's hands
The Commanders had plenty of miscues. Most are fixable. Two more stand out. Safety Percy Butler made an outstanding read on one pass break-up but dropped the would-be interception. Late in the game, rookie cornerback Emmanuel Forbes made a great play on the ball, breaking up a pass. He also dropped a would-be interception. Forbes isn’t going to drop many, but you have to catch these. These were easy turnovers.
