Commanders key numbers: Washington takes another loss in La La Land

The Bad: Sam Howell, snaps, and defensive lapses

10: Whether it’s Jack Del Rio or Ron Rivera calling the plays, this defense doesn’t seem to have a clue. Another week and another defensive breakdown, this time resulting in a wide-open 62-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp.

Overall, the Washington Commanders' defense gave up 10 big plays, allowing passes of 16, 18, 21, 23, and 62 yards, and runs of 11, 12 (2), 23, and 27 yards. 

50.5: Sam Howell has had back-to-back games with a 50.5 passer rating against two top-tier defenses. Over the last two contests, he has 23 total completions, which is less than he has had in every game, dating back to the Week 7 loss to the New York Giants.

He has completed only 47 percent of his passes and averaged 114.5 yards through the air over the past two games. Howell had multiple near picks against the Los Angeles Rams and turned down short gains for riskier throws throughout the contest.

Will a new general manager think twice about handing the keys to the franchise over to Howell next season? Only time will tell. 

4: At least 4 times in the game, there were issues with snaps by Camaron Cheeseman. This has been a continuing trend throughout the campaign.

One led to a fumble on a punt attempt where Tress Way was leveled and had to leave the game. That play allowed the Rams to start in the red zone, where they added a field goal to their point total.

Later in the game - after the Commanders got within eight, the bad snap led to a blocked extra-point attempt. The sad part is this isn’t a new issue, and Ron Rivera has made countless excuses for his draft pick.

Even Cheeseman is surprised about how long he has lasted on the team. This speaks volumes. 

56.25: The Commanders are already in the bottom tier of teams for third-down defense. That metric got even worse on Sunday.

The defense allowed the Rams to convert 56.25 percent of their third down attempts. At halftime, Los Angeles had converted on 77% of their attempts compared to Washington’s 14%. 

3:01: How much game time does it take to score from the one-yard line? Apparently, for the Commanders, it takes over three minutes.

After Jacoby Brissett hit Terry McLaurin for a 48-yard pass, the Commanders ran nine plays to get into the end zone.

After two failed running plays, Brissett found Logan Thomas for a touchdown that was nullified for pass interference. On 4th and goal from the seven, the Commanders benefited from a defensive pass interference, bringing the ball back to the one.

Another negative running play and two incompletions later, the Commanders finally got in the end zone on a three-yard pass to Curtis Samuel.

The Commanders had poor time management, using no timeouts and letting 3:01 in time elapse when they knew they needed two scores to tie. If that doesn’t epitomize the type of season this team has had, I don’t know what does. 

Being seen as an underdog going into a game against a New York Jets team that just lost 30-0 and has Zach Wilson or Trevor Siemian starting at quarterback, tells you the sad state of the Commanders. For those hoping for a higher draft pick, the next three weeks should provide hope, as Washington is all but guaranteed two losses with games against the 10-4 Dallas Cowboys and 11-3 San Francisco 49ers.

The offseason can't get here fast enough.