The Commanders were not yet in command.
That is how Chris Simms host of Chris Simms’ “Unbuttoned” podcast on NFL on NBC summed up the Commanders performance in Week 1.
Buy Commanders Tickets“Sam Howell did some good things. He made a few young quarterback mistakes. Some sacks, misses a throw. A lot of people are saying it was Heinicke-esque. It’s a little of that. But this guy has more talent than Heinicke. ”
“He had the fumble, had the interception.” Simms felt Howell tried to put extra juice on the pass and it got away from Sam and was intercepted by Zaven Collins. (I thought it was tipped at the line of scrimmage. Will need to go back and watch the replay).
Simms also pointed to the Antonio Gibson fumble ending a nice drive. Yes, Washington had gained 59 yards, and that was a killer fumble.
“Jonathan Gannon (Cardinals coach) should be proud. His defense did some good things. Washington didn’t run the ball well, the Cardinals got pressure on Howell, and there were not a lot of big pass plays.”
Simms pointed to safety Kam Curl and defensive end Montez Sweat, who both made several plays on the day.
“Sam Howell looks like he belongs; he really does. Their offensive line, I think, is going to be better this year. Even though it was not their best showing here.”
The comparison was also made that Howell is a bit like Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield.
“I don’t think we can expect the Cardinals to win a ton of football games, I don’t,” said Simms. “I’m not trying to be disrespectful, but I think it was encouraging that they hung around today created some chaos on the defensive side of the ball.”
Washington’s offense will need to prevent defensive chaos next Sunday when they are the road team at Denver. They will also probably need to win the turnover battle, which they lost 3-2 to the Cardinals Sunday.
