Chris Cooley had high praise for Washington offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy’s preparation of Sam Howell for the Eagles game.
Cooley was a guest on the “Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast Monday, sharing his observations of having watched the Commanders fall to the Eagles 34-31 on Sunday.
“Bieniemy does a phenomenal job getting a young quarterback going in this game,” declared Cooley. “Keeping the quarterback going by changing the spot, the location of the pocket, mixing in more run. It was literally everything we talked about last Wednesday.”
Indeed, Cooley, a week earlier, had questioned Bieniemy’s game plan in repeatedly having Howell in predictable locations for the Bills defense. “You can’t simply drop a young quarterback into the pocket, leaving him in the same spot to fend for himself.”
“To me, it was an excellent game. It’s a huge bummer not to come out with a win. But it was an excellent game against a good team,” expressed Cooley.
Regarding the overtime non-catch by Terry McLaurin, Cooley was very confident that replay demonstrated McLaurin’s second foot indeed coming down on Blankenship’s arm, which was inbounds. Consequently, in Cooley’s view, the ruling of an incompletion should have been overruled, giving Washington a first down rather than punting the ball back to the Eagles.
What did Cooley think when Howell connected with Jahan Dotson for a touchdown on the game’s final play, making the score 31-30 Philadelphia?
“In the moment, I thought it’s Ron Rivera, and they are on the road; he is going to go for the two points. Personally, I think a young quarterback, you play it into overtime, so I didn’t mind Rivera’s call.”