Commanders Sam Howell 'A Little Indecisive' in Loss vs. Bills

Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell was handed a brutal reality check on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, with Ron Rivera stating that he was a little unsure of what was in front of him.

Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell was always going to have ups and downs in his first year as an NFL starter.

On Sunday, against a brutal Buffalo Bills defense, Howell was a lamb to the slaughter as Sean McDermott, who took over the defensive play-calling duties, tormented Howell.

For Ron Rivera, Howell was rather unsure of his footwork and where to go with the ball in the face of Buffalo's relentless pressure. 

“I think the biggest thing is just, again, sometimes he gets a little indecisive," Rivera said. "He gets through his progression, and he's a little bit of a hiccup, and sometimes he's just got to trust it and go ahead and go with it, and other times just get rid of the ball.”

To say the Bills defense got after Howell is an understatement.

In the 37-3 win, Buffalo sacked Howell nine times and grabbed four interceptions. On top of that, the Bills' defense had 15 quarterback hits, 10 tackles for loss, and a forced fumble as the Commanders' offenses couldn't do anything.

The Bills' defense also only allowed a single third-down conversion. Yikes.

While ups and downs were undoubtedly going to come with Howell's inexperience, as he will be better in the long run, but being down 37-0 in the fourth quarter, there was some calling for Howell to come out of the game.

Sam Howell had a day to forget against the Buffalo Bills / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

But he didn't, and he would finish the game, as he managed to put together a nine-play, 42-yard drive that ended in a Joey Slye field goal.

For Rivera, taking Howell out of the game wouldn't have accomplished anything. Instead, he left the young quarterback in to learn by getting competitive reps.

“Well, right now we are 2-1," Rivera said. "Sam's won three games in four starts. So, we'll just continue to go from there and see how things go. We kept Sam in because we felt the only way he's going to grow and get better is to play. That's why we did what we did.”

The sky isn't falling for Washington off the back of the loss to Buffalo, but it did highlight the things that the team needs to work on and also shined a light on the issues that some teams face with a young quarterback.

It isn't doom and gloom, and Rivera will hope that Howell and the team learn from the butt-kicking they got on Sunday and use it as motivation to make sure it doesn't happen again.

And what better way to show the NFL world than with a divisional matchup at Lincoln Financial Field against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday?