Commanders See 'Decision-Making Growth' From QB Sam Howell

The Washington Commanders have started the season with consecutive wins, and coach Ron Rivera has liked the improvement from his young quarterback Sam Howell.

All offseason, the Washington Commanders' decision to make Sam Howell the starter was one that was met with some question marks. Howell only had one career regular-season start (Week 18 last season vs. the Dallas Cowboys) and now he was trusted with the starting role.

Well, two games into the season, Howell has led Washington to a 2-0 record and perhaps just as importantly, he has gotten better with each week.

Against the Denver Broncos, Commanders coach Ron Rivera detailed how he liked Howell's growth from what was a poor first half, to lighting up the scoreboard in the second.

“As far as Sam was concerned, he did some really good things early on, a couple mistakes, he could've gotten rid of the ball sooner," Rivera said. "But in the second half, that's the things that we saw that were really positive, was that you saw him make that decision to throw the ball away, you saw him make the decision to be very forward in terms of just tucking it, running and sliding, doing those things are starting to show us the growth that we're looking for in his decision making. That's always good to see.”

That kind of in-game growth will no doubt please the Washington coaching staff as Howell saw what needed to be fixed, and then made the necessary adjustments to make it happen.

Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell throws a pass against the Denver Broncos / Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Against Denver, Howell threw for 299 yards and two touchdowns as he completed 27 of his 39 throws. 

The two touchdown throws to tight end Logan Thomas and Terry McLaurin are evidence of the progression Howell is making in just his third NFL start.

“He threw some really good balls," Rivera said. "The touchdown he threw to [TE] Logan [Thomas] was as good as it could be, the touchdown throw he threw to [WR] Terry [McLaurin] was as good as it could be. I mean, those are the things that you see because now he's anticipating, he's throwing people to the ball in terms of the one he threw to Terry, you could almost say he helped throw Terry open into the area, that he needed to be.”

Howell is showing everything that Commanders' fans and the coaching staff would have hoped for at the start of the season. He's resilient, he makes plays and perhaps more importantly, from game to game, he is showing growth as a player.

The Commanders are 2-0 for the first time since 2011 and are tied for the NFC East lead (who would have thought). 

Up next, is a Buffalo Bills team that wiped the floor with the Las Vegas Raiders as Washington looks to make it three consecutive wins to start the season.