What huge disappointments emerged from the Washington Commanders' convincing loss against the Buffalo Bills at FedEx Field in Week 3?
Well, it could have been worse. It could have been the Denver Broncos at the Miami Dolphins.
The Washington Commanders' first loss of the 2023 season was a pretty dismal one nonetheless. The fact that they lost to the Buffalo Bills is not a big surprise. But the fact that they were so thoroughly dominated in every facet - outplayed on the field and outcoached off it - clearly requires attention.
Nothing seemed to click, the Commanders got off to a slow start and paid the price. This wasn't a team on the slide like Denver - the Bills exploited weakness and kept their foot on Washington's neck from start to finish en route to an almost blowout triumph.
We have already harped on several obvious problems, all of which were on display on Sunday. So we’re not going to rehash Andrew Wylie’s disastrous lapses, Antonio Gibson’s fumbling, the inability of Cody Barton and Jamin Davis to make consistent plays anywhere near the line of scrimmage, or this team’s continual poor first halves.
Those are barely disappointments at this point. Unfortunately, they have become weekly occurrences for the Commanders and don't seem to be getting better anytime soon.
Here are new things that count as this week’s biggest disappointments.
Sam Howell - Commanders QB
This is the most obvious one, so I won’t belabor the mistakes. But let’s be honest - we all knew Sam Howell was going to have bad games at stages during the 2023 season and this was undoubtedly one of them.
No young quarterback escapes these kinds of games. Maybe Howell made all of his bad plays in this one outing and can come back strong. Maybe I'm looking at this through burgundy-tinted glasses. Maybe it'll be a combination of both as the campaign progresses.
Howell’s pocket awareness is not good, and playing behind a suspect offensive line exacerbates that particular failing. This week, he made a ton of bad decisions, and several poor throws as well, and he paid dearly against a Buffalo Bills defense that smelled blood and made the signal-caller pay for almost every error in judgment.
He also made several very good throws and one outstanding run. Hopefully, he can build on that rather than focus on the many negatives that came from this particular performance.
All of his picks came on late or underthrown balls. Often, he was under pressure and trying to make something out of nothing. That’s fairly typical for young quarterbacks.
We will see how he responds. That matters far more than how he played against Buffalo and starts this weekend at the Philadelphia Eagles - one of the most intimidating environments around.
Commanders offensive game plan
I have praised Eric Bieniemy to the hilt so far this season. So I think it’s only fair to say that this week, his game plan did Sam Howell no favors.
It was obvious early on that Howell looked uncomfortable. But instead of leaning on a fairly effective running game, Bieniemy had him dropping back and throwing far too much.
To be fair, this game looked a lot more like offensive games from the last several seasons because the Washington Commanders had no legitimate downfield threat. The difference between this and previous campaigns is that this was not due to a weak-armed quarterback, but instead due to an offensive line that simply could not protect the passer long enough to take those deep shots.
No matter, this is the least creative the offense has looked in Bieniemy’s short tenure.
It was especially bad on the two plays run near the goal line with the Commanders trailing just 10-0. On third down from the one-yard-line, a dive up the middle by Brian Robinson Jr. was completely bottled up. Then on fourth down from the two, somehow the running back was tasked with blocking defensive end Greg Rousseau in space while the rest of the offensive line focused on three pass rushers.
Saahdiq Charles didn’t touch a defender on the play, but Robinson was left alone on Rousseau. That’s a design problem and it cost the Commanders their best shot of making this a competitive game.
We have come to expect Bieniemy to outmaneuver his opposite number in these situations, but he was constantly bested by the Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator. And by the way - they don’t have a defensive coordinator. Head coach Sean McDermott handles that role.
Commanders defensive game plan
Despite giving up 30 points - the final touchdown was scored by the Buffalo Bills' defense - the Washington Commanders' defense did not lose this game. It’s hard to contain a team with as much firepower when your offense turns the ball over five times. Still, Jack Del Rio's unit did nothing to win the game either.
The most obvious failing came on third down. Early on, the Commanders were stuffing Buffalo on first and second down. But they looked helpless on third. It stemmed from an anemic pass rush. And when they did manage to pressure Josh Allen, he easily scrambled for huge gains.
It is not easy to use a spy on an NFL quarterback. It usually removes a central defender from pass coverage. But Washington’s failure to find some way to contain Allen cost them dearly early on when the outcome was still in doubt.
Cody Barton and Jamin Davis did make a couple of nice plays on Sunday, but for the most part, they were making tackles way too far downfield. If the linebackers are not going to make plays near the line anyway, why not let one of them spy on a mobile quarterback like Allen?
Coverage in the secondary was confusing at times. On Buffalo's first touchdown, Darrick Forest was essentially left alone in the deep left corner with two Bills receivers. He didn't cover either, so Gabe Davis scored an easy touchdown.
Even if Allen had not spotted Davis deep, tight end Dalton Kincaid was running alone about seven yards shorter. This was not the only time the secondary seemed confused. Just the most damaging.
It would be fairly easy to say the single most disappointing aspect of the game was the defensive line's inability to generate pressure. Though I don't let the players off the hook, I think this has a lot to do with the game plan.
On the game's first big play - Allen's 30-yard bomb to Stefon Diggs on the opening drive - you could see how tentative Montez Sweat was in pursuing Allen. The line obviously was made aware of how important it was to contain the quarterback and I suspect that significantly hindered the ferocity of the rush.
Perhaps the security of a spy would have let the linemen play with more freedom.
Commanders punt coverage
It seems like a minor point, and in a game like this, it is in fact a minor point. But this is something that the Washington Commanders need to clean up.
Tress Way punts the ball a long way. Christian Holmes, who has become Washington’s best gunner, has been adequate this season. But too often, there is not another player within 20 yards of the returner when he fields the punt.
If he can elude Holmes, there will be a big return. This is exactly what happened late in the first quarter.
That play was exacerbated by a second mistake - a holding penalty on David Mayo. That gave the Buffalo Bills the ball on Washington’s 35-yard-line. They scored a touchdown one play later.
We’ve been told that players like Percy Butler and Khaleke Hudson are outstanding special teamers. Jeremy Reaves was the special teams All-Pro selection last season. But on Washinton’s punt coverage this year, I see a lot of uncomfortable-looking scrambling coming from players like Cole Turner and Chris Rodriguez Jr.
The Commanders cleverly covered up for this weakness by turning the ball over five times, thus eliminating the need for punts, but that doesn’t seem like the best strategy going forward. This is something Nate Kaczor needs to fix before it causes trouble in a game that is actually close.
You rule
I could have singled out struggling right tackle Andrew Wylie. Or left guard Saahdiq Charles, who had his worst game of the year by a considerable margin after such a promising start to the 2023 season.
I could have treated the third-down failures as a separate entity - apart from the defensive game planning. But I didn’t, because I really wanted to vent about this.
I can’t stand the new viral Burger King jingle, which has intentionally inane lyrics and is performed by someone who cannot sing. I keep the remote nearby so I can mute the sound whenever it comes on. So to have to listen to that insipid drone in the middle of a humiliating defeat just added insult to injury.
I guess I cannot blame the Commanders for this one. But that doesn’t make it any less of a disappointment.
Washington is 2-1 with their first NFC East division game at the Philadelphia Eagles next week. Put this embarrassment behind you and move forward, which might be easier said than done going up against the defending NFC Conference champions on the road.
Still, this is a time for big characters and frank assessment. It's only one game and there's a long way to go, but this was a stark reminder of how far away the Commanders are from legitimately contending.