Commanders' Terry McLaurin Sets Season Highs in Loss vs. Rams

The Washington Commanders have yet to get star receiver Terry McLaurin a quarterback he can consistently produce with, but that isn't stopping him from being an important part of the team.

When Washington Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin first stepped on a regular season field in September of 2019 he put up 125 yards, caught one touchdown, and his team lost to the Philadelphia Eagles, 32-27. 

The quarterback throwing the ball to the Commanders' best skill player to this day was Case Keenum. Nine quarterbacks and four seasons later most of the events of that day have remained consistent.

McLaurin has 24 touchdown catches to date for Washington, 15 career 100-yard receiving games, and has been part of 29 wins, 47 losses, and one tie. Eight of those losses have come to the Eagles.

Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin (17) catches a pass against the Los Angeles Rams during the second half at SoFi Stadium / Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

While the quarterbacks around McLaurin have been inconsistent he has remained just that, which makes it surprising that it took 15 weeks for him to notch his first 100-yard receiving game of the year.

In addition to that, he averaged 19.4 air yards/target and accounted for 64% of the Commanders air yards, according to Zebra Technologies. Both of those are season highs.

Culture and chemistry are two of the most used words in football these days and the connection between quarterback and receiver has been inconsistent at best this season.

“I think it's still developing," coach Ron Rivera said of the connection between McLaurin and Howell. "I think, again, early on when they had it rolling together, it was really about Sam getting the ball fed to Terry. He saw a couple opportunities early on in the game and he took them.”

McLaurin didn't receive a target on the first Washington possession in a 28-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams this past weekend. Instead, his first came during the second drive, and the duo connected for a 13-yard gain.

Unfortunately, the reception was wiped out by a holding penalty on left tackle Charles Leno Jr. and it took two more tries for Howell to get the ball to his top receiver.

When he did, however, it worked well and the Commanders gained 24 yards on fourth and two, moving the ball into field goal range.

That catch was McLaurin's only one that counted in the first half and he was targeted three times.

He finished the game with five more receptions and 117 more yards to go with a touchdown catch. 

Three of those, 93 yards, and the scoring play all came from backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett. 

That means just three of McLaurin's receptions and 48 yards came from Howell.

Ron Rivera Still Positive Despite Losing Streak

Work in progress is one way to put it, but if the only way McLaurin and Howell can produce is by the quarterback feeding the receiver then perhaps there's a better way to go about making him available.

Whether by scheme or by function it appears early on that Washington has another mismatch between its star playmaker and pass distributor.

And it has three weeks to figure it out before that storyline becomes one that echoes throughout the offseason.