FOXBORO, Mass. — The first thing, before the final score, is oy, has New England fallen by the wayside.
Who knows if it’s just Mac Jones being garden-variety bad at the most important position in U.S. pro sports, or the Patriots suffering any number of injuries, or Bill Belichick no longer having Tom Brady (or Tedy Bruschi, or Richard Seymour, or Rodney Harrison, or Troy Brown) on which to lean? Whatever the reason, the Patriots are … awful.
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The fact that Washington hung on for a 20-17 win over the now 2-7 Patriots on Sunday should take nothing from the Commanders’ effort, which was substantial and dominant for long stretches. But, wow, how the mighty have fallen.
The Commanders are nowhere near mighty. But they hung in there Sunday. Most importantly, their young guys, from Sam Howell on down, and particularly their 2023 draft class — heretofore invisible for much of the season — finally made their presence felt across the board.
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After Washington moved on from Chase Young and Montez Sweat this week (lemme hold a dollar, Tez), Ron Rivera said the deals were done in part to give some of the Commanders’ young guys more run. Sunday, many of them ran. Sometimes they ran the wrong way; sometimes they ran into each other. But they were going fast when doing so.
Let’s start with Washington’s 2023 first-round pick, cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr., famously benched a few weeks ago after multiple torchings, mostly at the hands of Philly’s A.J. Brown. Rivera and Jack Del Rio have brought him back slowly the last couple of weeks, a few plays at a time. Against the Patriots, Forbes saw the most playing time he’s gotten since Week 4, and he recorded three tackles and two passes defensed. And he was out there on the field on New England’s last drive to preserve the win.
“Honestly I just put my faith in God, and He helped me get through,” Forbes said. “And I just stayed level-headed and focused, and stayed the course, honestly.”
Hell of a game by #13 don’t call it a come back #httc
— Benjamin St-Juste (@Benj_Juice) November 5, 2023
Forbes could have had an interception, too, in the third quarter, except the Patriots’ Jalen Reagor grabbed both of Forbes’ arms to keep him from securing the ball. (That wasn’t the only thing that referee Adrian Hill’s crew, uh, struggled with Sunday. More below.)
“Obviously, we have a lot of young guys on this team,” Howell said. “And obviously, with Tez and Chase gone, a lot of young guys had to step up and make plays. And they did that today. I was very happy for Forbes. He’s been someone I’ve talked to a lot throughout this year, trying to help him continue to grow, ’cause he’s such a good player, and we all know he is. He’s just been in some bad situations.
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“It was cool to see him go out there and play well today. He had a really good game today.”
Many other young Commanders were in the mix, too. Running back Chris Rodriguez Jr., a sixth-round rookie, made a big hit on special teams in the fourth quarter on a punt return to back New England up at its own 5. Second-year man Chris Paul again started at left guard and again helped keep Howell clean most of the day. Defensive back Quan Martin, a second-round rookie who had played only 17 defensive snaps all season entering Sunday, secured the game with an interception when Jones’ pass went off the hands of JuJu Smith-Schuster with 30 seconds left.
first career INT for @JartaviusM_ was a big one 😤
📺 #WASvsNE: FOX pic.twitter.com/7IODQZz87U
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) November 5, 2023
“E-man (Forbes) came back, and he bounced back really well,” Terry McLaurin said. “I know he wants to have that interception back. But to see him playing confident, flying around, getting his hands on the ball … KJ (Henry), (Andre Jones Jr.), and Quan with the interception at the end of the game, that’s what we need. I feel like when your young players, the guys you bring in to be contributors — not only contributors but difference-makers — that really bolsters the foundation of your team.”
And there was defensive end KJ Henry, the Commanders’ fifth-rounder, who’d been in mothballs before the Sweat/Young trades this week, but who, along with seventh-rounder Andre Jones Jr., was promoted into the mix behind Casey Toohill and James Smith-Williams.
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On the Patriots’ first drive of the second half, Henry — whose edge-rushing skills at Clemson were part of what attracted Washington to him — tattooed Jones on a blindside hit, leading to a fumble and recovery by Washington defensive end Efe Obada (although Jones might have been ruled down upon review). Except, the officials — somehow — called Henry for roughing the passer, if “roughing the passer” means “a perfect hit between the 1 and the 0 on Jones’ jersey, without using your helmet, for a game-changing sack.”
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Dean Blandino explained the penalty on TV, and from what I could piece together in the press box, it involved the league wanting defensive players sliding to the side to make the sack — which is exactly how a big, strong kid like Jones avoids getting sacked in the first place — or not completing the sack by landing on the QB. So you’re basically saying defensive players have to be magicians, making AI-fast decisions about where to put their hands and helmets and pads, to somehow bring a quarterback to the ground in this league without getting flagged. It was plainly preposterous.
“They thought it was full body weight,” Rivera said, shrugging. He didn’t say anything else.
And there was, of course, Howell, who made his 10th career start Sunday. His numbers were solid: 29 of 45 for 325 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The TD pass, 33 yards to Jahan Dotson on a post that tied the game at 17 in the third, was sublime; the interception, which killed a 15-play, 75-yard drive that reached the Patriots’ 5 late in the first half, was ridiculous. Howell rolled right, saw no one open, saw Dotson flash for a second in the end zone, and tried to force it to him — despite there being about seven Pats’ defenders in the way. Safety Kyle Dugger was the lucky man.
But Howell recovered from it. He made a half-dozen really good throws, some under pressure, in the second half. By being able to move the sticks, the Commanders dominated time of possession over the Patriots, 37:10 to 23:50.
“Sam Howell, like, he’s our future,” Jonathan Allen said. “He’s our quarterback. I think we’ve found our quarterback for the (next) five, 10 years. And I truly believe that. … Not only does he make great plays on the field, his demeanor after bad plays, and not playing well, he’s always able to bounce back. And I’ve seen a lot of great quarterbacks in my time, played against a lot of them. And I think he has the potential to be one of them. I can truly say this team is behind Sam Howell, 100 percent.”
Judgment on Howell will take the rest of this season, maybe longer. There’s no guarantee he’s the guy. But he’s had two strong performances in a row after that clunker in New York against the Giants. And he had a lot of help from his young brethren Sunday in keeping the Commanders’ rickety 2023 jalopy on the road, pointing toward their far-from-certain future.
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'He's our future': Commanders' belief in Sam Howell soars after win over Patriots
(Top photo of Quan Martin, 20, Emmanuel Forbes Jr., 13, and teammates: Adam Glanzman / Getty Images)
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