Washington Commanders QB Sam Howell on Historic Pace Through 7 Starts

Leading the Washington Commanders to a 4-3 record in his starting career, quarterback Sam Howell is producing more than any quarterback we’ve seen before him.

In the first half of their 24-16 win over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 6 the Washington Commanders advanced to 3-3 this year and quarterback Sam Howell advanced to the top of the franchise history book in passing yards. 

With 109 yards through the air in the first half on Sunday, Howell became the passing yards leader in franchise history for the Commanders through seven starts, the team announced. 

Helping him get there was eight first-half targets to star receiver Terry McLaurin who brought in five of them for 63 yards and got the offense rolling early as it put up 17 points in the first two quarters of play. 

“We script plays and we (knew) Terry had a good opportunity to be the primary on a lot of those plays and get the ball,” Howell said about making a focused effort on getting the ball to his primary target. “We knew we were going to see a lot of man match type coverage…and Terry’s a guy that excels in man coverage. We always want to get Terry going, we want to get everyone going.”

Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell (14) passes over Atlanta Falcons linebacker Bud Dupree (48) during the first quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

In the second half Howell only threw five passes and added 42 yards to his first half total with two completions.

While the numbers were relatively small after the break one of those completions went for a 25-yard touchdown on a screen pass to running back Brian Robinson Jr.

In fact, two of Howell’s three touchdown passes went to running backs with Antonio Gibson also finding the end zone via reception.

Receiver Curtis Samuel added one as well and Howell was able to produce his first career three-touchdown passing performance in his third multi-touchdown performance through the air. 

In those multi-scoring performances Howell has combined for seven touchdown passes compared to just one interception proving that when he and the offense are connecting, they can be lethal.

This latest effort has Washington at 3-3 through six weeks with another road contest coming up in MetLife Stadium against the New York Giants in New Jersey next weekend.