There are many, many NFL statistics, but not all statistics are equal.
For instance, it is understandable that Commanders fans get excited when seeing that Sam Howell is currently fifth in the NFL in passing completions (145).
Correspondingly, Howell is also fifth in passing attempts currently (214). So does it stand to reason that if Howell is fifth in attempts, one would hope he would be at least fifth in completions?
How about passing yards thus far in 2023? Howell with 1500 passing yards is currently ninth in the league. Passing touchdowns? Currently Howell is tied for 9th place with 9.
More importantly, Howell’s passer rating is 90.1 (16th). So he is directly in the middle of the league only having played seven games in his career. That’s encouraging. His QBR is 46.8 which comes in at 20th.
Unfortunately, Howell has thrown six interceptions in six games this season which is tied for 4th highest. A bright side here may be that four interceptions occurred in one game (Buffalo).
Clearly the most troubling numbers are that Sam Howell leads the NFL in being sacked 34 times and also in sacked yards lost (215). These are not merely problematic. They are huge, can’t be avoided, and if he doesn’t get a handle on getting rid of the ball earlier, these two statistics alone could be what keeps him from keeping his job down the road.
Being sacked after only six games 34 times means, if Howell remains on this pace, he will break the record with multiple weeks remaining in the season. As much as we would like to gloss over it, we simply can’t.
Howell is completing 67.8 percent of his passes (10th). So when he is actually passing the ball, Howell is really exceeding expectations this early in his career. Yet, he is next to last in sacked percentage (13.7).
Gaining 7.0 yards per passing attempt, Howell is 20th. His adjusted yards per attempt (includes interceptions) understandably drops to 6.6 and is 18th. However, at Net yards gained per pass attempt Howell is 29th, because this includes sacks and sacked yardage lost.
In conclusion, Sam Howell is passing the ball better than any Washington quarterback since Kirk Cousins. That is encouraging and should be noted. His sacks and sacked yards lost are also costing the team dearly and cannot be ignored.
Sometimes in life, it is not an “either…or” situation.
Such is the case with Sam Howell.
He is both the best thing going for the offense and at times the worst.
We hope for more of the best…