What are some lingering observations as the dust firmly sets on the Washington Commanders' loss against the Buffalo Bills in Week 3?
There's no doubt what Sunday's game against the Buffalo Bills represented for the Washington Commanders. Ron Rivera's men were given the harshest reality check imaginable from a potential Super Bowl challenger, who carved up his team on both sides of the football to bring the franchise crashing back down to earth.
It's only one game and there's a lot of football left. But the Commanders have to buck their ideas up to stand any chance of making their presence felt when it's time to decide which NFC teams will go into the postseason.
Things don't get much easier for the Commanders this weekend when they visit the Philadelphia Eagles. However, they won at the same venue last season, and providing lessons are learned by everyone across the franchise, they stand a decent chance of holding their own against the defending conference champions, at the very least.
Before we look ahead, here are three lingering observations from Washington's defeat versus the Bills in Week 3.
Commanders must get more from Sam Howell
Sam Howell and the Washington Commanders' offense started slowly during the first two games and had to mount comebacks to win both contests. Week 3 was a different task, playing a Buffalo Bills outfit that is Super Bowl caliber.
The Commanders needed to get off to a fast start. Through three games, Howell has been sacked 19 times, along with nine by the Bills' defense. Not exactly a recipe for success and resulted in another torrid opening.
This time, there were no late heroics.
Some of it is on Howell for holding on to the ball for too long and forcing it instead of checking down and taking what the defense gives him. Not only was he sacked nine times, but he also threw four interceptions and posted a passing rating of 41.5.
Entering the game, Howell had a 95.0 passer rating and 501 passing yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. While owning three victories from his professional starts to date, he was always fighting a losing battle in this one.
Howell brought the team into the red zone twice before going for it on fourth down and turning it over. This is truly a learning curve - these types of games will come, but how you handle them going forward is the question.
Many in the Commanders community know Howell doesn't get too high or too low. He'll need that mindset to continue at the Philadelphia Eagles.
Commanders OL remains a weak link
At the end of last season, the Washington Commanders coaching staff knew that they needed to beef up the offensive line, adding Nick Gates and Andrew Wylie. Looking at the 2023 campaign so far, it is still a glaring problem.
As previously stated, rookie quarterback Sam Howell has been sacked 19 times in three games. In contrast, the Houston Texans went out and prioritized protecting their young signal-caller C.J. Stroud, and the results are evident.
The Commanders won't have relatively soft games like the Arizona Cardinals and the Denver Broncos every week. To have an effective and efficient offensive flow of the game, your offensive line has to protect much better than Washington managed to accomplish last time out.
Let's go back to last season when Carson Wentz was the quarterback. In the game against the Philadelphia Eagles, he was sacked seven times before the Commanders made a change.
Wylie was victimized numerous times against the Buffalo Bills, allowing multiple pressures. The Commanders paid a lot for him to be their starting right tackle, but maybe it's time to move him inside at guard and allow backup Cornelius Lucas to man the edge.
The Buffalo defense was relentless the offensive line didn't stand a chance. If the Commanders are going to make changes, the time is now, because things are not going to get any better once Washington travels to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles next Sunday.
Commanders defense got a wake-up call
The Washington Commanders' defense was cooked by quarterback Josh Allen in Week 3. The front four did not record one sack against the signal-caller and only hit him once, which was pathetic given the talent at their disposal.
The Commanders' defensive front is one of the league's best units with four first-round draft picks. But it still seems outmatched and outclassed by a superior team and this must change quickly.
This defense still struggles with mobile quarterbacks. With Jalen Hurts up next, it could be another long day unless adjustments are made by defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio in the coming days.
Each time the defense pressed Allen, he found a way to move out of the pocket. This resulted in positive yardage running the football or finding an open man downfield.
Buffalo's wide receivers were also making the secondary look bad. Gabe Davis and Stefon Diggs did whatever they wanted and managed to come up with the goods in crucial situations consistently.
That is because the defensive line and edge rushers could never generate pressure, allowing linebackers and cornerbacks to be out of position. If you are playing elite teams, your pass-rushing options need to come up huge, which didn't happen at any stage.
Washington's defense isn't why they lost the game. However, their lack of production was a huge factor in the overall outcome.
Next week will be another measuring stick going against the reigning NFC conference champions. All aspects of the Commanders need to show up. If not, one cannot expect anything other than the same result.