Washington Commanders 'Deserve Some Credit' Following Loss vs. Philadelphia Eagles

For the Washington Commanders, there are no moral victories, but it doesn't mean there are positives to take away from the team's second straight loss.

The Washington Commanders lost a heart-breaker to the Philadelphia Eagles falling 34-31 in overtime on Sunday. 

Commanders quarterback Sam Howell said all week that his performance against the Buffalo Bills wasn't who he is as a player, and he proved it with a much better effort against an arguably better team in Week 4. 

According to Washington coach Ron Rivera, his quarterback showed solid growth this weekend and wasn't the only one. 

"That's a hell of a football team we played out there, but I think we have a hell of a football team in this locker room," Rivera said. "They deserve some credit."

Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr. (8) celebrates his touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles during the fourth quarter at Lincoln Financial Field / Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

After getting just 10 carries last weekend, running back Brian Robinson Jr. got 14 this week and added two catches for a total of 51 yards including a big 15-yard touchdown run that came during a critical drive for the team.

Looking back at Howell, who left the Week 3 loss to the Bills with a 41.5 quarterback rating, four interceptions, and just 170 yards throwing, having a bounceback week was an absolute must for the young quarterback.

He leaves Philadelphia having successfully bounced back with 290 yards passing, one touchdown, no interceptions, and a 98.6 quarterback rating in the losing effort. 

Certainly not perfect, and he won't pat himself on the back for any loss, but it was the exact type of performance we wanted to see from Howell in his fifth NFL start. 

"I think I did some good things out there but at the end of the day we didn't win," Howell said. "It's my job to go out there and get wins for this organization."

Players and coaches will never celebrate losses, but at the beginning of the season if we told most Commanders fans the team would be 2-2 at this point a lot would have been happy to hear it.

If one of those losses was a narrow overtime loss against one of the best in the league, it would be disappointing, but encouraging.

And that's what we're working with after four games.

The team has now shown they can hang with one of the best the NFC has to offer and did in their beloved home stadium.

Washington will get another crack at the Eagles at the end of the NFL's second quarter as well, and this time it'll come inside FedEx Field following what looks to be three very winnable games until then.

But that's getting a little too far ahead of ourselves. 

For now, even if the team won't celebrate any moral victories, confidence in what the Commanders are capable of should be as high as it has been all season.