For about 45 minutes on Sunday, the Washington Commanders went toe-to-toe with the San Francisco 49ers. However, on the second play of the fourth quarter, Washington quarterback Sam Howell was intercepted at the San Francisco five-yard line, and any chance of the Commanders pulling off an improbable upset was gone.
The 49ers drove 95 yards for another touchdown, giving them a 27-10 lead, meaning the Commanders went from making it a one-score game to being down three scores.
Unfortunately for Washington, the offense failed to deliver again, and the Commanders dropped their seventh straight game.
So, who shined for the Commanders? Who struggled?
Let’s review the studs and duds from Week 17.
Stud: 1st-half Sam Howell
Sam Howell was excellent in the first half. On Washington’s touchdown drive, Howell’s 42-yard completion was a dime and put the Commanders in position for his touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin a few plays later. He completed nine of 13 passes for 100 yards in the first half. The game plan wasn’t too pass-heavy, was helped by the run game and McLaurin was involved. It makes sense that Howell played well against a good defense when all of the above occurred.
Dud: 2nd-half Sam Howell
While Howell was excellent in the first half, he was completely the opposite in the second half, specifically in the fourth quarter. Both of his interceptions came in the fourth quarter, with the first on the second play of the quarter when he was picked off at the San Francisco five-yard line with the Commanders down 10 points. That essentially ended the game. And he never recovered.
Stud: RB Brian Robinson Jr.
The Commanders missed running back Brian Robinson Jr. over the past two weeks. No, Robinson doesn’t have elite numbers this year, but don’t blame him. His first two touches went for 12 and 22 yards, and he was instrumental in Washington’s first scoring drive. Robinson runs hard. And on the screen pass, he showed excellent patience in waiting for his blocks. It’s inexcusable he only had nine carries. He finished the day with nine carries for 44 yards and four receptions for 32 yards.
Dud: OC Eric Bieniemy
Much like Howell and Robinson, Eric Bieniemy was excellent in the first half. It was one of his better halves of play-calling this season. Outside of the first drive, where he called three pass plays on a three-and-out, Bieniemy was excellent in Washington’s other first-half drives.
In the second half, however, Robinson had just four rushing attempts. The Commanders’ second-half struggles trickle down from Bieniemy’s play-calling to Howell’s struggles. No, Bieniemy didn’t throw the interceptions, but why not follow a similar plan as he used in the first half? It was working. You can’t help but wonder how much Howell would have been helped with more support from the running game this season.
Stud: WR Terry McLaurin
In the first half, McLaurin caught four passes for 61 yards and a touchdown. Thanks to the aforementioned offensive struggles, he’d finish with that on Sunday. McLaurin was terrific, beating the 49ers on a 42-yard reception. It was a beautiful throw from Howell, but McLaurin won at the line of scrimmage. McLaurin has come alive recently after the offense failed to feature him enough throughout the season. Good things have always happened for this offense when McLaurin gets the ball. When he doesn’t, the offense struggles.
Dud: HC Ron Rivera
Rivera almost deserves a permanent place on this list. He completely fumbled the quarterback situation — again. But on Sunday, it was his weird use — or lack of use — of Washington’s timeouts. As the 49ers were driving to score late in the second quarter, Rivera had timeouts remaining. His offense was hot. Instead of taking a couple of timeouts to see if his offense could drive the field and at least get into field-goal range, he sat on the timeouts. Who knows what would have happened, but it was another missed opportunity.
Honorable mention
This isn’t necessarily a stud or a dud, but we should mention Washington’s defense and its offensive line. The defense wasn’t outstanding, but considering how many players were lost from the secondary and the replacements played better than most of the starters against an explosive offense, it was a good effort. The defense played hard. Cody Barton’s facemask in the second half was a killer, though.
As for the offensive line, they were without three starters, faced one of the NFL’s best defensive lines, and Howell was sacked only once. That sack wasn’t a traditional sack, as Howell went out of bounds trying to make a play. Additionally, the Commanders ran the ball well — when they chose to run.
Overall, a solid effort from the defense and the offensive line when you consider everything.
