They don’t put style points on the scoreboard, so if you ask Jay Gruden – like Grant & Danny did on his weekly Monday appearance – it doesn’t matter how you win, just that you do, especially on the road against a comparable team.
“There’s no question going to Atlanta is not easy; they’re playing pretty decent football, and any road win is a good win, pretty or not,” Gruden said. “Let's just get to 3-3 and then go to New York and beat the Giants. They did some good things, got Sam some easy completions and touchdowns, kind of stumbled a bit in the second half, but played pretty good.”
Struggling to get first downs in the second half maybe got the Commanders out of rhythm and play script in the second half, but they made it work. And once again, in the moment, Gruden saw in Sam Howell the potential to be the long-term franchise quarterback in DC.
“I think he's coming along pretty good. The thing about his performance this week is not a lot of yards, but he converted in the red zone and protected the ball,” Gruden said. “He’s coming along at a good clip, and as long as they stay close in games in the fourth quarter, they'll have a chance to win. He can make some plays and do some good things, as long as they don’t have to throe 45-50 times a game – that will hurt his progress and hurt the chances to win. But he’s coming along, making good decisions – that’s getting better – and making all kinds of different throws. He’s still holding the ball a little bit long, but that'll come with time.”
Grant isn’t quite there yet, at least with Howell still being on pace for 96 sacks this year, and that doesn’t seem to be going down much every week, which is a ‘fatal flaw if it’s not cleaned up.’
Gruden at least agrees with that part.
“It's a major issue for a couple reasons. One obviously is it puts you behind the chains, which is no good, and two, you're continuing to get hit in awkward positions, and your durability, your longevity will be in jeopardy if you keep getting hit and sacked five or six times a game,” Gruden said. “At some point you have to get rid of the ball and protect yourself – 94 sacks in a year would be unheard of, and if he continues at this rate, I don't know if he'll be able to finish the year. You gotta protect yourself a little better; he’s a tough guy, a strong physical kid, but you can’t get sacked five or six times a game and expect to play 17.”
That all said, when Grant played a game of ‘who would you rather have?’ with Gruden, naming eight other young starting QBs, coach said he’d take Sam over half: Desmond Ridder (‘I’d take Heinicke over Ridder!’), Mac Jones, Zach Wilson, and Jordan Love – leaving only C.J. Stroud, Brock Purdy, Justin Fields, and Bryce Young (‘I’m worried about that one though’) as ‘better’ options.
Take a listen to Gruden’s entire segment above, which includes thoughts on Jahan Dotson’s disappearance, Washington’s defense coming alive after some personnel changes (including benching Emmanuel Forbes), the Commanders’ balance, and more.
