Throwing his name into mix
As Commanders eye future, Howell makes a case to be part of it
LANDOVER — It didn’t take long for Terry McLaurin to realize the ball he had just thrown into the stands — the one he had caught from Sam Howell and taken into the end zone, turning the rookie’s first NFL pass into his first NFL touchdown — was actually a priceless memento.
“I was trippin’,” McLaurin said.
A few minutes later, Howell was sitting on the bench when Drew Curls, a member of the Washington Commanders’ equipment staff, sidled up and asked him to sign a football. Howell did, and not long after, he was told the staff had negotiated a deal, trading the autograph to the fan who had caught the ball in return for the keepsake.
“Shout-out to that fan,” McLaurin said. In a 26-6, season-ending victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, Howell provided a succinct encapsulation of the state of his game. The 22-year-old rookie showed his potential as a passer (a 52-yard rope down the right sideline) and as a scrambler (a nine-yard touchdown run) while flashing the costs of inexperience (an ugly interception in the end zone). He also beat the team he grew up rooting for as his family watched from Carson Wentz’s suite, loaned to the rookie for his debut.
“My dad is a big Cowboys fan, so it was a cool moment for us as a family,” Howell said.
Howell completed 11 of 19 passes (57.9%) for 169 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He ran five times for 35 yards, picking up one third down and scoring one touchdown. In his postgame news conference, Howell sounded like a franchise quarterback — thanking God, praising his teammates, claiming responsibility for his three sacks and emphasizing there were things he needed to improve (but adding that he couldn’t offer specifics until he had watched the film).
Coach Ron Rivera said he was pleased with Howell’s performance, but it would be premature to label his role for next season. The fifth-round pick out of North Carolina is the only passer sure to be back — Wentz probably will be cut, and Taylor Heinicke is headed for free agency — but throughout this week, Rivera maintained the team probably would explore all of its options this offseason. In the coming days, Rivera, the coaching staff and the personnel department will assemble an offseason plan, and it’s likely to revolve around the quarterback position.
“[Howell] anticipated pretty well a couple times,” Rivera said. “He got behind his reads and delivered the ball a little late, but for the most part, what you really saw was how he was anticipating and was delivering [the ball] on time and putting it where it needed to be put. He really did a nice job in terms of handling some of the play-calling.”
For his first NFL series, Howell got a rare gift. Washington’s offense had the worst average starting field position in the league this year — and it ranked 30th in drives started in opponent territory — but early in the first quarter, Dallas punter Bryan Anger fumbled the snap. Washington got the ball at the Dallas 20-yard line.
On the second play of the drive, Howell hit McLaurin across the middle. The star wideout raced into the end zone and, perhaps caught up in the moment, did his usual celebration of tossing the ball into the stands.
“I didn’t care,” Howell said. “I was just happy for the moment, and that’s [McLaurin’s] thing, throwing the ball into the stands. Luckily, we were able to get the ball back.”
Early in the second quarter, Howell appeared to be in a rhythm. He ran play-action from under center — a new test; his college offense ran almost exclusively shotgun — and contorted his body on the run to throw a dot to McLaurin and convert a third and six. But a few plays later, he faded back and tried to loft a pass into the back of the end zone, where three Cowboys waited. Safety Malik Hooker picked it off and Howell went to the sideline, where he slammed his helmet down on the bench.
“Certainly a bad decision that I’ll learn from,” he said.
Late in the third quarter, offensive coordinator Scott Turner leaned into Howell’s running ability by calling a zone read. Howell started right, but when he saw defenders flowing hard, aware the quarterback could pitch the ball to wide receiver Curtis Samuel, he cut back left. He evaded two arm tackles and ran through a defender near the goal line for the touchdown.
Defensive end Chase Young ran over to Howell and — as he had done with Heinicke two years ago — pointed at the name on the back of his jersey. The scale of the moment wasn’t the same — it wasn’t the playoffs, and there was no iconic pylon dive — but it was a reminder of the Commanders’ continuing quarterback search, how much and how little had changed.
In the locker room after the game, Howell spoke to the team.
“Dallas had everything to play for, man, and we beat them,” he said, according to a video posted to the team’s website. “We beat them bad, too. It could’ve been a lot worse. We left a lot of things out there, man. So let’s carry this momentum into the offseason, and let’s roll these boys next year.”
Perhaps the game’s most lasting moment was a throw Howell made on the last play of the third quarter. He launched the ball 60 yards down the right sideline into McLaurin’s hands. It was beautiful — and reminiscent of Wentz’s strike in the same location to the same receiver in Week 1 against Jacksonville.
Both throws, 17 weeks apart, were introductions, intriguing and incomplete. It is too early to tell if Howell could fill the quarterback void that has plagued this franchise for so long, or even if the current regime will let him try. But in a surprisingly upbeat season finale, the throw offered enough hope that, as Young’s jersey-pointing suggests, Howell one day could become a name to remember.