Week 9 had the Commanders traveling to Foxborough to face Mac Jones and the New England Patriots. Washington walked away with a close, non-convincing 20-17 win. The Commanders have struggled all season to put away an opponent early, they have yet to win a game by more than 8 points, their 24-16 W over Atlanta in week 6. In their other 3 wins, New England included, their largest margin of victory is a 4-point week 1 win vs Arizona. This has led to now 9 straight weeks of stressful football for the Commanders and their fans. Let’s dive into week 9 shall we.
Sam Howell: B
Sam had a decent day after a slow start to the afternoon. He finished the game with 325 passing yards completing 29 of his 45 attempts. He tossed 2 touchdowns and 1 interception while being sacked 3 times and finishing with a QBR of 65.2 and a Rating of 84. While it could just be the offensive scheme, Sam once again did an excellent job of spreading the ball around, finding 9 different receivers on the day. Many will complain that top targets Terry McLaurin (8 total targets) and Jahan Dotson (8 total targets) should be seeing double digit targets per game, and I do not necessarily disagree. However, Sam is atop the league in many passing stats, he excels at spreading it around. While I would like to see more monster games from Terry and Jahan, if the offense is producing then I’m fine with how the target shares add up at the end of the game. The team is still struggling in the redzone and sustaining drive but overall, the passing attack is night and day from seasons past, and if it aint broke? With targets out of mind, we continue to see weekly improvements from Sam, and that is highly encouraging if you have been paying attention to his progress since week 1. He still throws some questionable passes, and he has had quite a few INTs dropped, as all QBs do, and this has kept him atop the league in INTs. We have not seen a ton of progression in cutting back on those, he still tries to be too aggressive at times, and other times his eyes let him down whether its locking into his read or missing a DB hiding/baiting the throw. Rome was not built in a day however, and we have seen tremendous improvement in how he navigates the pocket and determines defensive looks pre-snap. If Sam can continue to work on his knowledge of the game, pre-snap identifications, and processing he will be well on his way to being an elite QB in this league for years to come.
O-Line: C+
Many will look at the sack numbers slowly declining as of late and attribute it to Chris Paul taking over at LG and Tyler Larsen taking over at C. It has helped at times, Larsen has been better than Gates, but only slightly. Larsen is a better pre-snap identifier and communicator, and that certainly helps the line and Sam Howell. Chris Paul on the other hand has been a downgrade more times than not over the injured Saahdiq Charles and I think overall it has balanced out to about the same results. The lower sack totals are almost exclusively tied to Sam Howell’s improvement, largely because the high sack totals were attributed to Sams mistakes. This explains why my grading for the line is remaining about average despite less sacks. That is what this line is, about average. They are not nearly as bad as some fans on social media make them out to be, social media fans will tell you they are the worst line in the league despite all metrics having them about 12-16th. They are far from elite but will get you by, the unit needs to be improved drastically, but they also are not losing you games. Charles Leno Jr. is usually solid for most of the game but will give you some bad reps and possibly a flag. I love Leno but I think the age (32) is starting to show. The bad reps feel more often, and I feel like I’m hearing his number on more false starts and holds than usual. He is dealing with personal issues in life, so it is possible he just needs time to heal and reset mentally, and I could fully understand and respect that. The human side of sports is often forgotten, but these athletes are humans just like you and I, they hurt like we hurt and that can affect things in your daily approach to life, let alone your job. While I extend my love to the Leno family, the sports business is shrewed, and I would assume the team is looking to upgrade at LT this off-season. I did like some of the tape that Saahdiq Charles put together, he also had some bad tape as well. At just 24 years old, I think Charles has some real potential at LG and may be worth continuing to develop. Both former starter Nick Gates and current starter Tyler Larsen are solid backup centers, but nothing more. The Commanders need a legit starting C for next season, they do have rookie 3rd rounder Ricky Stromberg that they just place on IR with a knee injury, but do you believe in him enough to forgo the position again? There are a lot of holes that this team needs to fill, so maybe you ride with Stromberg. At RG I love Sam Cosmi, he has not put together a probowl or all-pro level season in his first year at guard, but at 24 years old Cosmi certainly has potential to develop into a stud at RG, much like the guy he replaced. Andrew Wylie continues to be awful at RT, he puts together solid stretches of play, but ultimately will get beat like a drum more than once per game. If I could make any one move this coming offseason, I would cut Andrew Wylie as soon as possible, eat the 7-10mil in dead cap and find a high-end replacement either by rolling the dice on a top prospect or spending some of that projected 90M in cap.
Running Backs: A
The backs are starting to pick up steam both in the run and passing game. Brian Robinson Jr. finished the game with 63 yards on 18 carries. While 3.5 yards per carry is not game changing, Robinson continues to make chunk plays and wear down defenses, he also scored a touchdown on the ground this game. Antonio Gibson got a little extra burn in the run game this week finishing with 34 yards on just 6 carries, 5.7 yards per carry. No scores for Gibby this week but he did also catch 5 passes for 42 yards. He looks like he is having a bit more fun in his new role as of late, would be nice if we also were winning more games, but a win today makes us all happy. Sam Howell got to show off the wheels and the dog in him rushing for a 24-yarder. Sam is not a huge QB at just 6’1, but at 220 lbs. the kid is mini tank, and it is sneaky. Just watch his rushing tape from this season, you hate to see it from a health and longevity standpoint, but the dude will lower that shoulder and initiate or flat out eat the contact and keep on trucking.
Wide Receivers: A
I was pleased with the WRs performance this week, its been an inconsistent ride this season for this group. Terry and Jahan tied for the most targets this week with 8 each. Terry finished the game with 5 catches for 73 yards while Jahan had 4 catches for 69 yards and a touchdown. Byron Pringle, a guy we have talked a good bit about these last few weeks, was 3rd on the team with 3 catches for 52 yards. If the Commanders do not resign Curtis Samuel (out with an injury this week), they should certainly consider bringing Pringle back. Dyami Brown caught 2 passes for 33 yards and Jamison Crowder grabbed 4 passes for 23 yards. It was good to Dyami make some plays, he has had a rough season so anything that may get him going is encouraging, the season is far from over.
Tight Ends: C
The tight ends were ok this week. Logan Thomas caught 4 passes for 31 yards and John Bates caught a pass that lost 5 yards. Tight ends also block, and John Bates is one of the best at it, so he usually keeps the TE grade from dropping below the C-C+ range. TE is not atop my list of needs for the Commanders this off-season, but it is no secret that they do not get any type of game changing production from this group. I do like Logan Thomas, he is reliable and tough, but at 32 years old and without ever being a real game changer, it is time for an upgrade sooner rather than later. Bates is a guy who you want on your roster due to his superb blocking ability, but he is nothing more than a situational/rotational backup.
D-Line: D
The Commanders played their first game today since trading Montez Sweat and Chase Young, it was not pretty. I would like to first say that the defense was at the bottom of the league in almost every category with them, but it could have been worse and now it is. The team produced 1 tackle for a loss and the d-line hit QB Mac Jones just once, zero sacks, little to no pressure all day. Washington was saved today by Jones just being awful, more on that in the DB recap. I was not a fan of the trade, and while the sky is not falling, it was ugly out there today. Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne still man the interior, so they share just as much blame for the lack of production today, but they are interior guys and rushing the passer is not their strong suit.
Linebackers: F
Personally, I am tired of it. I know many fans are as well, so I am not going to waste much time here. This LB group stinks, Jamin Davis has tools and talent, but he is all alone out there and would be better suited bringing pressure more than he’s dropping back . Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson caught 4 passes for 42 yards and Hunter Henry also caught 4 passes but for 39 yards. Stevenson also ripped off a 64-yard touchdown run. While that is more so on the gaping hole the d-line allowed, but the LBs were of no help per usual. This team needs 3 new linebackers in the building next year with Davis.
Defensive Backs: C
I do not like this group either, part of it stems from running predominantly man coverage when our guys excel in zone and rookie Quan Martin got a game winning INT, so they get a curve on their grade today. Mac Jones was awful today, he missed several throws to open receivers and if he connects on just 2 of them, the Commanders lose this game. Kendall Fuller is a good CB but he does turn 29 next year and his contract is up after the season. Will they bring him back, does he even want to be back? If not, the Commanders need at least 2 new corners. Assuming Forbes would take one outside spot, that leaves the other outside spot and the slot. Benjamin St-Juste is a bit over hated, he is prone to commit a penalty but talent is there. I am just not sure if he’s good enough to roll the dice on at CB2. Kam Curl is a guy that the team must resign, he and Fuller are the only guys playing at a high level each week. It would be nice to get Forrest back to see if he can continue to develop, but the Commanders also need some safety help, especially if they let Curl go.
Special Teams: A+
Another week and another top-notch performance for the STs unit. Joey Slye went 2/2 and made both of his PATs. Slye also continues his streak of 0 return yards for the opposition. Tress Way punted 5 times today, 4 of them landed inside the 20 and 1 was a touchback. Jamison Crowder returned 5 punts for 31 yards, nothing special today. Antonio Gibson showed up returning kicks, he fielded 3 of them for 72 total yards, one going for 37.
I am not down on the team today, but I am not convinced. The Patriots are not good, but then again neither are the Commanders. Mac Jones had a real stinker today and you would not think it by checking his box score stats. That is how bad this Commanders defense can be, on a day where a relatively bad QB had a bad day, he still had a decent stat line due to the ease in which his targets got open. Combine that with an offense that is inconsistent, leading to a lack of points scored more often than not despite usually high total yardage gained. Then you end up with a 4-5 team that looks alive but really, they’re dead in the water. I am happy with a W today and I always will be happy with a W. However, I have said too many times in these wrap-ups this season that the team needs to ‘click’. Winning close games early on is fine, if you improve on your weaknesses and start to win more decidedly. The Commanders look the same every week, they look like a team that gets lucky when they win. After 9 weeks of this I do not expect improvement, this is who they are and their schedule is about to catch up to them.