Commanders News: Sam Howell, Antonio Gibson, Jason Kelce and Week 12

Commanders QB Sam Howell's opportunity

Sam Howell picked a bad time to have arguably his worst performance of the season. The quarterback didn't look like the same player that had taken the NFL by storm in recent weeks against the New York Giants, which is part of the former fifth-round pick's learning experience as the Washington Commanders starting option under center.

What's important for Howell is dusting this off, learning from the film, and putting together a better outing this afternoon at the Dallas Cowboys. Something Ron Rivera saw as a big opportunity for the North Carolina product based on comments via Sports Illustrated.

"He learns from those mistakes. He stacked several good games in a row, so somewhere along the line he was going to have one that he was going to struggle with. So, just anticipating him to get an opportunity to reset himself and get himself ready to go and just got a lot of confidence in who he is."

- Ron Rivera via Sports Illustrated

Relying on the run early would be a preferred approach in the circumstances. But if the Commanders get behind at any stage, the onus will be on Howell to produce the goods en route to potentially cementing his status as Washington's starting signal-caller in 2024.

Dallas' defense is opportunistic and more than capable of dominating inferior opposition - especially in the trenches. Therefore, Howell cannot put a foot wrong in pursuit of an upset.