Category: Around the NFC East

Commanders Casey Toohill making his case

Casey Toohill will be a free agent in 2024.

In three NFL seasons, Casey Toohill had accumulated only two quarterback sacks.

But Toohill has already registered three sacks in 2023.

The former Stanford Cardinal was drafted in the 7th round (233 overall) by the Eagles in the 2020 NFL draft.

Toohill signed his four-year deal in July, but then the Eagles released Toohill in October of 2020. The very next day, Washington claimed Toohill off of waivers. In on 8 Washington games, he contributed two assisted tackles and a QB hit.

The 6-foot-5, 254 defensive end registered two quarterback sacks and 12 quarterback hits over the next two seasons 2021-22 with Washington.

In this his fourth NFL season, Toohill is making the most of his opportunities. Appearing in each of the six games this season, Toohill has already registered three QB sacks, seven solo tackles, one assisted tackle, two tackles for a loss and four QB hits.

This past Sunday in Atlanta, Toohill collected his first two-sack NFL game.

Toohill is a free agent at the conclusion of the 2023 season. Might the Commander’s brass actually be wise to go ahead and resign Toohill to a veteran-friendly contract for something like three years?”

Commanders stink it up vs Bears, lose 40-20

Lots of ugly truths here.

The Washington Commanders are the dumpster fire, not the Bears.

Al Michaels mentioned during the 4th quarter of the television broadcast that the 0-4 Bears had been called a dumpster fire.

But the Bears set the tone in EVERY phase early and defeated the Commanders 40-20, Thursday night at FedEx Field.

They tackled better, blocked better, ran the ball down the Commanders’ throats, and had receivers so open that Washington’s pass defense had frankly never looked worse.

It was frustrating, then infuriating.

In the first quarter, the Bears totaled 199 yards, while the Commanders generated only 12 yards.

If that is not bad enough, the Bears were putting the whooping on the Commanders defense to the tune of 10.0 yards per play!

The Commanders defense did nothing to get off of the field, so the Bears enjoyed 10:21 time of possession in the quarter while the Commanders only kept the ball for 4:39.

The Bears earned 58 rushing yards in their seven carries, while the Commanders mustered a mere 8 yards on 4 carries.

The second quarter, in some ways, was even worse. The Bears ended the half with a 27-3 lead, 14 to 5 first downs, 307 yards to 84, 122  rushing yards to 13, and they averaged 6.8 yards each rushing attempt to 1.9 by the Commanders.

Unlike the first half, Commanders decided to compete in the second half. They took the second-half kickoff 75 yards in five plays. Then drove 70 yards for a field goal, and suddenly, the Bears lead was 27-14.

Following a Bears field goal, the Commanders again traveled 75 yards to narrow the deficit to 30-20. But that was as close as they would come.

The winless Bears had accumulated only two sacks, but tonight, they managed five. Sam Howell has now been sacked 29 times in five games.

Thursday night was embarrassing for the players and for the coaches. The team was not ready to compete at the beginning of the game.

Did they provide any evidence they are any better than any other Ron Rivera team here in the previous three seasons?

No, they did not.

Commanders’ Rivera feels ‘everybody is coming together’

Rivera is pleased with the team’s mindset heading into Thursday night.

Ron Rivera really liked how his players put the Buffalo fiasco behind them quickly.

“The execution was really good, I thought at times and so I think that really spoke well to the guys practicing, preparing all week coming off of the Buffalo game. I thought the guys came in and had a really good Wednesday.”

Rivera also thinks new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is still getting to know his offensive personnel and they are still learning the new offensive system.

“I think a lot of what’s happening is everybody’s kind of still learning. We’re still in that phase. I mean, you can say all you want about having OTAs, minicamp, training camp, preseason games, but now with the actual games itself, now you know exactly what you got, what you’re doing out there and you feel as if everything’s coming together”

One calendar year can be significantly better. You recall last year, the Chicago game in Week 6 is when Washington fans showed up in Chicago wearing bags over their faces, and many chanting, “Sell the team.”

Rivera said he feels “Very fortunate. Things have changed, and it’s been different. It’s been refreshing…It’s one of those things that we’re very fortunate to be where we are. What Mr. [Josh] Harris and his group have brought has been very different, and it’s allowed me, it’s allowed us, to keep the focus on football, the players, as it should be and what we do on the field.”

As the team couldn’t wait to get on the field against the Eagles, turning the page from the Bills embarrassment, Rivera is hoping the team wants to turn the page from the Eagles to the Bears exclusively.

“…I’ve tried to talk to as many of the players as I can and just touch bases, see where everybody is, and the responses have been terrific. They really have. They’ve been tremendous. There’s a sense of eagerness right now. You know, it’s funny; I felt that on Wednesday, and I know I told you guys last week that I thought we had a good Wednesday. I felt that way about yesterday, coming in, and just in less than 24 hours, they were back here, and you know, there is this little bit more maturity, I think, and kind of in a really good way.”

Jay Gruden ‘probably’ would have had the Commanders go for two

Gruden wasn’t being critical of Rivera, understanding what a tough decision he had to make, calling it a “gut feeling.”

Former Washington coach Jay Gruden said on Monday he “probably would have gone for the two-point conversion” against the Eagles Sunday.

Gruden was making his weekly appearance on the “Chris Russell Show,” broadcast on The Team 980, Monday through Friday, 1-4 p.m.

“I probably would have on the road. I think you need 2 and a half yards to get the victory. You put it in your players’ hands and let them do it.”

Gruden quickly countered that, on the other hand, you also put the game in the players’ hands when you determine to kick the extra point and go to overtime. Then Gruden went full circle, stating that coach Ron Rivera had said his guys were gassed, so Gruden felt that might be all the more reason not to have them have to play overtime against the Eagles but try to win the game with the one play.

All of that being said, the former Redskins head coach was not being critical of current Commanders head coach Ron Rivera. Gruden clarified there is not a simple correct or wrong answer about it. It is how the coach “feels” about that particular game at that particular time.

“It is a gut feeling. It is something you want to put your team in the best position to win the football game…It’s such a tough call for people to make. Nobody can really understand how hard it is in the heat of the moment to make a call like that.”

Gruden then pointed out the extra point is not automatic either, seeing the long snapper Camaron Cheeseman has had his own difficulties with his snaps back to Tress Way on kicking attempts. He also reminded listeners that the extra point is now the equivalent of a 32-yard field goal, whereas, for decades, it was a 20-yard kick.

“I am not going to stand on the table here and say Ron is an idiot for not going for two,” expressed Gruden.

Where Gruden did feel free to question was the final Eagles pass completion on a 3rd & 17 at the Washington 45. Gruden questioned why defensive backs were playing so far off, allowing a 9-yard completion, which allowed the Eagles to attempt the game-winning 54-yard field goal.

 

 

Chris Cooley on Commanders loss: ‘It didn’t have to be that ugly’

The former Washington tight end with some excellent analysis on QB Sam Howell.

“It was so ugly, top to bottom, and it didn’t have to be that ugly.”

That was how former Washington tight end Chris Cooley began his film review with “The Kevin Sheehan Show” Wednesday concerning the 37-3 loss to Buffalo.

Here are some of Cooley’s observations from his film review. When he says it didn’t have to be that ugly, Cooley then begins showing how the very first drive of the game for the Commanders could have been so different.

“I do see a lot of confidence when he (Sam Howell) knows where his one read is. And I see some gamer in him.”

“Dude, if you are not going to throw that check down, you have to get out of the pocket. You can’t just stand there, eyes down the field, waiting for it to come open. You have to make that decision quicker.

“The Bills were saying, ‘Dude, throw it underneath. We dare you. You’re not going to do it. Your eyes are downfield too long. We’ll play soft. We will give you some of these early check-down throws and see if you can do it.’ And he is not going to. So, he ends up taking sacks.”

“You’re on the 34-yard line. It’s 3rd & 19. You do not have to be a hero on the 3rd & 19 on the first series of the game. He has his tight end out in the flat for an easy gain of 9 to 14 yards. I don’t think Bates is going to get it (first down), but it puts you down to the 25-yard line. It’s an easy field goal. Let’s take the points and have some success early.”

That is an example of some of the details of Chris Cooley’s film review on the first drive alone.

There is much more. Here is the link again.

Commanders Sam Howell: ‘I don’t make any excuses for myself’

For Howell, being young is no excuse either.

Think of your worst moment in public; how did you respond?

Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell led his team to FedEx Field Sunday with a 2-0 record to face the Buffalo Bills.

What followed was lousy, horrendous, awful. Sam Howell looked completely in over his head, clueless.

We’ve all looked lousy and awful in various avenues in life. Few of us, however, will ever be on anything close to such a huge stage for the public to observe.

What is our natural reaction? To blame someone else, of course. Just watch politicians. They create their own policies, reject those of the past administration, make their own choices, and select their own appointments. And then, they blame the other side when their own program does not get the job done.

Sam Howell Sunday attempted to throw 38 passes. He completed 19 of the 29 passes he actually threw. Four of his passes landed in the hands of Buffalo Bills defenders. He was also sacked nine dreadful times. He concluded the game with a passer rating of 41.5. Remember how he often struggled against the Cardinals? Well, in that game, his passer rating was much higher at 77.6. 41.5 against Buffalo is terrible!

So, how did Howell respond when he appeared before the media Wednesday?

“I don’t make any excuses for myself. I expect to play much better than I played Sunday. My teammates and this organization deserve for me to play better.”

Howell might have only appeared in four NFL games thus far, but we can easily recall some former Washington quarterbacks who had played in many more games who did not possess the courage, the manhood to respond as Howell did Wednesday.

Howell even added, “I can’t make the excuse I’m young. The team we’re playing doesn’t care; the scoreboard doesn’t care.”

Sure, Howell has a long way to go in reading defenses and getting rid of the ball. But he sure took a step forward Wednesday, winning the respect of his teammates and coaches.

Eagles ahead of the NFC East in Week 3

Not a good week for the NFC East overall as three of the four teams lost by double digits.

The Eagles were the only NFC East team to look good in Week 3.

The Commanders were drilled at home by the Bills 37-3. While the Cowboys and Giants both lost on the road. The Cowboys defense was run over literally by the Cardinals 28-16, while the Giants couldn’t keep up with the 49ers 30-12. The Eagles went on the road and exhibited they were clearly the better team than the 2-0 Bucs, winning 25-11

  •  Eagles 3-0
  • Cowboys 2-1
  • Commanders 2-1
  • Giants 1-2

Eagles: Quarterback Jalen Hurts made NFL history when he recorded his 29th rushing touchdown in only his 48th game. Even more noticeable is the fact that Hurts was a backup for the first 12 games of his career. Hurts and Cam Newton are the only NFL quarterbacks to rush for 10 or more touchdowns in multiple seasons. Hurts is the only one to do so in consecutive seasons. Hurts also connected with AJ Brown on nine receptions for 131 yards. D’Andre Swift accumulated 130 yards on his 16 rushing attempts.

Defensively, the Eagles limited the Buccaneers to only 174 total yards. Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield was held to only 146 yards passing with one touchdown and one interception.

Cowboys: It was a rough week for the Cowboys. They spent the early part of the week talking about how they should be respected more as a dominant team. Then, they lost cornerback Trevon Diggs to a season-ending knee injury during practice.

Running back Tony Pollard gained 122 yards on 23 carries. However, the defense permitted Joshua Dobbs (hardly a proven NFL QB) to complete 80 percent of his passes. While the rushing defense allowed RB James Conner  98 yards on only 14 carries, including a touchdown. Dobbs added a 44-yard run, and the Cardinals embarrassed the Cowboys with 222 rushing yards.

Commanders: It was ugly. One of the worst games in the Super Bowl era for the franchise. The Commanders were sacked nine times, had five turnovers, including four Sam Howell interceptions and the defense did not sack Bills quarterback Josh Allen one time in 32 dropbacks. The Bills registered 15 quarterback hits. How long does Sam Howell survive at this rate? Washington only registered one quarterback hit.

There was plenty of blame to go around, both offensively and defensively. In particular, perhaps the game was a wake-up call for Eric Bieniemy as he further realized Howell is the first starting quarterback Bieniemy has had as an OC not named Mahomes. He knows he will need to make more adjustments immediately.

Giants: The Giants miss their stud athlete/running back Saquon Barkley. The Giants again went without a 100-yard rusher for the 13th consecutive game. Barkley went over 100 rushing yards in four games last season, all wins for the Giants. His open-field ability is elite and greatly helps Daniel Jones in the passing game.

Linebacker Micah McFadden led the team with 10 tackles and four tackles for a loss against the 49ers. Defensive tackle Leonard Williams had a good game with six tackles, two QB hits, and a half-quarterback sack to his credit.

 

NFC East goes 4-0 in Week 2

What a week for the NFC East.

The NFC East won all four of it’s games in Week 2.

The Eagles on Thursday defeated the Vikings 34-28. Sunday, saw the Commanders top the Broncos 35-33, the Cowboys roll the Jets 30-10 and the Giants come back to defeat the Cardinals 31-28.

  •  Commanders 2-0
  • Cowboys 2-0
  • Eagles 2-0
  • Giants 1-1

Commanders: Being down 21-3, Washington stormed back to lead 35-27 and hold on despite a Hail Marry as time expired by the Broncos. The Commanders quarterback Sam Howell has won each of his three NFL starts, Chase Young made his first 2023 appearance a good one and new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy again displayed much confidence in the offensive personnel, calling for the ball to be spread broadly. Washington’s two new guards, Saahdiq Charles and Sam Cosmi, thus far are marked improvements over the 2022 starting guards Andrew Norvell and Trai Turner.

Cowboys: Dallas has outscored its first two opponents 70-10. The defense is intimidatingly good, and the offense dialed it back in the second half of both games, not needing to show much or risk injury. While Dallas was converting half of its 3rd-down plays (9-18), the Cowboys defense severely limited the Jets to a mere 1-10.  The dominant Cowboy defense accumulated three quarterback sacks and won the turnover battle 4-0.

Eagles: The Eagles’ pass defense allowed Kirk Cousins to pass for 364 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. Yet, the Eagles won the game. How? Their offense was both explosive and efficient. Jalen Hurts finished 18 of 23 passing for 193 yards. D’Andre Swift rushed for a very impressive 175 yards on his 28 carries (6.3 yards per carry) for one touchdown and a long of 43 yards. The Eagles ran the ball and then ran the ball, generating 259 rushing yards on 48 carries.

Giants: New York found itself down 20-0 to the Cardinals. This meant that in six quarters, the Giants had been outscored by their two opponents 60-0. That is not a typo. But the Giants managed to generate a comeback in which they scored 14 third-quarter points and 17 in the final quarter to obtain their first victory of the 2023 season. Bouncing back from his horrendous Week 1 game, Daniel Jones completed 26 of 37 attempts for 321 yards, two passing touchdowns and rushed for 59 yards in 9 carries, including a rushing touchdown.

Commanders: When did Washington last begin a season 2-0?

It’s been a while.

Sunday, when the Washington Commanders travel to Denver they will be seeking unfamiliar territory.

Sure, Washington has won season-opening games. Ron Rivera’s first game in Washington was a 27-17 victory over the Eagles. However, the team proceeded to lose their next five contests to fall to 1-5.

Just last season (2022), Washington defeated the Jaguars 28-22 at FedEx to launch the season. The next four weeks, they proceeded to lose to the Lions, Eagles, Cowboys and Titans.

In 2018, Alex Smith led the Redskins to a road win over the Cardinals 24-6. However, back at home the next week, the Colts clearly outplayed Washington 21-9.

For five consecutive seasons 2013-2017, the Redskins lost their season opener. The previous season (2012), Washington went to New Orleans for the season opener and surprised everyone by winning a 40-32 shootout. But the next week, they fell to the Rams, as Washington was on their way to a 3-6 record before winning their final seven games.

We have to go back to 2011 to find our answer. Washington faced the Giants at FedEx to open the season and defeated the Giants 28-14. Some may recall Ryan Kerrigan intercepted Eli Manning and returned the pass 9 yards for a touchdown.

The following week, again at FedEx Field, Washington trailed the Cardinals 21-13 in the final quarter. Rex Grossman connected with Santana Moss from 18 yards to narrow the deficit to 21-19. Then Graham Gano kicked a 34-yard field goal to give Washington the 22-21 win.

THAT was the last time Washington’s NFL franchise was 2-0 to start an NFL season.

Sunday’s game at Denver will be the opportunity for the Burgundy and Gold to accomplish the feat for the first time in 13 NFL seasons.

NFC East goes 3-1 in Week 1

A good week for the NFC East — except for the Giants.

Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington picked up victories launching the 2023 season.

The NFC East which finished with the best record in the NFL in 2022 did lose one game in Week 1, but that was due to the fact the Cowboys and Giants played each other.

Dallas crushed the Giants 40-0, the Commanders survived the Cardinals 20-16 and the Eagles outlasted the Patriots 25-20.

  •  Cowboys 1-0
  • Commanders 1-0
  • Eagles 1-0
  • Giants 0-1

Dallas: The Cowboys embarrassed the Giants, and that was only in the first half. It was a total domination by the Cowboys.

The defense not only shut out the Giants, but they collected seven sacks, two interceptions, including one pick-6, one blocked field goal TD return and forced five fumbles.

The Cowboys defense registered 23 quarterback pressures on the 37 snaps the Giants dropped back to pass.

Washington: The Commanders offense was supposed to be much better with Eric Bieniemy taking over from Scott Turner. But in their opener, the Commanders converted only 4 of 12 third downs, averaged only 3.8 yards per play, averaged 4.2 yards per pass, turned the ball over three times and allowed six quarterback sacks for -46 yards.

The Commanders defense registered 11 tackles for a loss and allowed only 3.6 yards per play and nine offensive points by the Cardinals.

Philadelphia: Quarterback Jalen Hurts completed 22 of 33 passing for 170 yards and 1 touchdown. He also rushed 9 times for 37 yards. He did lose a fumble.

The biggest play of the day for the Eagles was when Darius Slay notched a pick-6.

Defensive tackle Jordan Davis was a beast as he registered six tackles, 1/2 sack, one QB hit, one TFL, and one forced fumble.

New York: See Dallas above. It was a horrible night for the Giants. Quarterback Daniel Jones completed 15 of 28 passes for 104 yards and two interceptions for a passer rating of 32.4.