Commanders News: Eric Bieniemy, Chase Young, Sam Howell and Week 9 upset

Commanders QB Sam Howell praised

It was another superb outing from quarterback Sam Howell in Week 8 against the Philadelphia Eagles' talented defense. The former fifth-round selection had his way once again versus the defending NFC conference champions and had it not been for a costly late interception, the result may have been different.

There's nothing Howell can do about that now, but his encouraging growth isn't going unnoticed. Ron Rivera sure sounded like the North Carolina product had ended the Washington Commanders' long search to find a franchise quarterback, with two future Pro Football Hall of Famers also lauding the young gunslinger this week.

Jason and Travis Kelce were highly complimentary of Howell's production in Week 8 on their New Heights podcast via USA Today Sports. The former had to watch from the sidelines as Washington's signal-caller diced up the Eagles' defense for almost 400 passing yards, which the center claimed was down to surgical precision.

"Sam Howell, man, when he’s on, it was impressive, it was methodical. He was very on-point, he was executing it, he was taking some shots occasionally, but a lot of it was, it felt like it was death by a thousand slants. I’m like, ‘What are we doing here?’ Can we get into something for a slant?’ All I do know is that Sam Howell has played two really good games against us. The Commanders have played two really good games, offensively, against us. I asked Eric Bieniemy after the game, ‘I’m like, yo brother, what do you seeing, EB? How do we stop this thing? What are you doing to us?’ They’ve kind of had our number."

- Jason Kelce via USA Today Sports

Howell's overall production this season had been better than advertised. Building on this will be the most important thing moving forward - especially considering Josh Harris' wheels of change are firmly in motion.