Washington Commanders O-Line 'Work in Progress,' Says Ron Rivera

The Washington Commanders have had trouble protecting Sam Howell, and head coach Ron Rivera says the offensive line is a work in progress.

A quarterback's best friend is an offensive line that protects him, but for Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell, he is getting hit...and often.

Washington recognized the need to strengthen its offensive line in the offseason and acquired Nick Gates and Andrew Wylie, but those moves haven't fixed the glaring issues seven weeks into the season.

For head coach Ron Rivera, the line is still in the process of working itself out.

“I think that's a work in progress, and those are things that we are working to correct, and we'll continue to do that," Rivera said. "Again, being able to plug and play, we changed the system. We went from one style of offense to another style, and there's growing pains. There really are, trust me. It's one of the things that I went back and looked at, and that was what first-year starters had to deal with as quarterbacks. It's interesting, and that's something that if you go back and you look at what history tells you, it does tell you things gets better.”

Howell, who has only a handful of starts in the NFL, has guided Washington to a 3-4 record with his ability to scramble and make plays catching the eye.

Sam Howell has been sacked 40 times in seven games, which leads the NFL / © Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Unfortunately, Howell's reasons for scrambling are simply down to the offensive line's inability to protect him.

Through seven weeks, Howell has been sacked 40 times, which leads the NFL and is three more than the second-placed New York Giants.

Howell hasn't had a game where he hasn't been sacked less than four times, and looking at the last few weeks, it's been brutal.

The young quarterback has been a lamb to the slaughter. In the last five games, Howell has been sacked nine (Bills), five (Eagles), five (Bears), five (Falcons), and five (Giants) times. 

It's worth noting that before the Week 7 loss to the Giants, New York only had five sacks in six games...they got five in one afternoon against Washington.

What do the Commanders do? Can they make a trade before the deadline? Something has to be done; otherwise, Howell won't last a full 17-game season taking these kinds of hits.

There is only so much punishment a quarterback can take before they start taking their toll ... just ask Andrew Luck.