Commanders' Sam Howell 'Ain't Far Off' From Bills' Josh Allen, Says Analyst

"He has an absolute cannon for an arm," Dan Orlovsky said on One Bills Live. "Josh Allen has one of the best arms in football — certainly down the field. Sam Howell, it's not that good, but it ain't far off (from Allen)."

Jeremy Brener | Sep 20, 2023

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Washington Commanders

The Washington Commanders (2-0) are set to welcome Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills (1-1) this weekend at FedEx Field.

A key storyline in the game comes with the quarterback battle, as Commanders second-year pro Sam Howell looks to remain undefeated going into his fourth NFL start. Howell hasn't faced a quarterback as strong as Allen, but he himself isn't too far off from the former Pro Bowler according to one of the league's high-profile analysts.

"He has an absolute cannon for an arm," ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky said on One Bills Live. "Josh Allen has one of the best arms in football — certainly down the field. Sam Howell, it's not that good, but it ain't far off (from Allen)."

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) looks to throw the ball against the Las Vegas Raiders during the second half at Highmark Stadium. — Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) looks to throw the ball against the Las Vegas Raiders during the second half at Highmark Stadium / Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

That's certainly high praise for Howell, who completed 69 percent of his passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns in Washington's Week 2 win against the Denver Broncos. On both of his touchdowns in Sunday's win, Howell was able to place the ball in exactly the right spot in order to land the score.

"I think it's both, a guy's mindset that he can go ahead and he can make those plays and then his ability to anticipate to see where the defender is," coach Ron Rivera said. "He obviously saw that Terry [McLaurin] was in position to run by these guys, and if he laid it out, Terry would go get it and that's exactly what I thought happened...as far as [Logan Thomas's] was concerned, the one that I saw was a separation between the two defenders and so the ball was thrown in front to lead him just in the position to catch it."

Howell looks to get the Commanders to 3-0 on Sunday for the first time since 2005 when the Bills come to town. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Published Sep 20, 2023

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.