Cowboys scouting report: Breaking down the Commanders offensive scheme.
This season, the Commanders came in full of hope. They had defeated the Cowboys in the season’s penultimate game after rookie Sam Howell made his first NFL start. They had concluded the previous campaign with an 8-8-1 record, their first winning campaign since 2016.
In order to revamp the offense, head coach Ron Rivera lured Eric Bieniemy away from the Chiefs to take over as offensive coordinator for Washington over the summer. There was anticipation that the Commanders may contend for the playoffs with Bieniemy bringing the Chiefs attack to Washington and the flash that rookie Howell had displayed in his one game.
Now, as Howell prepares to head into another Week 18 game against the Cowboys, it’s painfully evident that this optimism was misguided. Things started out promising with the Commanders jumping out to a 3-3 start with some solid, albeit inconsistent, performances from Howell. But as Washington’s defense began to falter, Howell proved incapable of keeping his composure when being relied upon to score. Furthermore, Bieniemy didn’t seem to have many answers to slow things down for his quarterback.
That brings us to this week, with a Commanders team that is 4-12, losers of seven straight, and ranks 25th in EPA/play and 24th in offensive DVOA. It is widely assumed that Rivera and his staff will be let go following this Week 18 game against Dallas, and Howell – not too long ago viewed as a foundational piece of the franchise’s future – once again has an uncertain future.
Bieniemy brought the same offense, more or less, from Kansas City to the nation’s capitol. The longtime Andy Reid lieutenant runs a version of the West Coast that has smartly incorporated elements of the spread offense from college. At its core, this is a pass-happy attack that prioritizes getting the ball out quick to players in space. Much like the changes Mike McCarthy implemented in Dallas this year, Bieniemy’s system requires a decisive quarterback with plus athleticism to move around in the pocket if the initial reads aren’t there.
That’s really where things have faltered for Washington. There’s no questioning Howell’s athleticism – he’s ninth among quarterbacks in scrambles – but the young signal-caller hasn’t been quick enough in the passing game. His 2.83 seconds per throw is far too high, and it’s played a part in Howell leading the league in sacks.
In addition, Howell has three more interceptions than Josh Allen, who is in second place in the league. He leads the league in turnover-worthy plays, which is not surprising. Nevertheless, Howell’s big time throw ranking of eighth accurately captures his gunslinger essence. This offense can utilize that style, but only if it is played in accordance with the passing game’s timing frameworks. Howell hasn’t done that nearly frequently enough this year, and as the season has gone on, he has become more unpredictable.
That’s one of the reasons why Rivera opted to bench Howell after their Week 16 loss, in which the Commanders were eliminated from the playoffs. The timing of the move never made sense, as backup Jacoby Brissett is a known commodity and not the kind of player you need reps for in a lost season, but it was a move that had been coming for a long time.
Naturally, Brissett’s injury sustained during practice prevented him from playing last week. This brought the team back to Howell, who started and had one of his worst games ever against the formidable 49ers defense. He will now receive one more start against the team that he started his starting career with. He will become the first quarterback to start every game for Washington in a season since Kirk Cousins in 2017. However, it signifies very little, just like with Cousins in 2017: nobody believes that Howell will continue to be the team’s long-term answer.
There’s a chance that a big game may ruin the Cowboys’ season, but it’s not likely. In their first meeting, this Dallas defense managed to reasonably well block Howell, which boxed up the Commanders offense and held them to just 10 points. It’s difficult to imagine a situation in which the Commanders surprise the Cowboys on Sunday, considering howell and this offense have only gotten worse since then.
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