The Washington Commanders got beat badly on Sunday at FedEx Field and Jay Gruden, who spent five years patrolling the sidelines as Washington's head coach told Team 980's Chris Russell that the Commanders took "major steps back in a lot of positions, that's the biggest concern."
"They were still in the game for most of the part, they had plenty of opportunities to get back in the game but just couldn't do it offensively. Nine sacks, four picks, that's not gonna cut it," Gruden continued. "And I really didn't see a lot of separation out there by the receivers. Buffalo did an excellent job of matching the routes and playing tight coverage."
One of the knocks on Washington quarterback Sam Howell has been the young passer holding onto the ball for too long in the pocket, Gruden said it was hard for Howell Sunday because "when he went back to pass there wasn't anybody open."
"There were a few times where he coulda reset his feet and gone back, like the play first-and-goal from the six where he forced the ball into coverage if he had reset his feet and worked backside there's a guy wide open in the end zone," Gruden said. "He got stuck on receivers too long, waiting for them to uncover, waiting for them to get open instead of getting off to his next progression or checking it down to the back really quick understanding that the pressure is coming and it's for real, especially a rush like Buffalo."
On Washington's first drive of the game, Howell was intercepted on a third-and-19 pass from the Bills' 34-yard line. Gruden said it should have been relayed to Howell to play a bit conservatively to ensure you at least get the chance at a field goal attempt on fourth down.
"That should be relayed to him, especially a young quarterback. You probably wouldn't have to do that with Tom Brady 'cause he understands management of field position and where you are. It was 3-0 at that time, if you check it down to the backer, tight end in the flat, whoever it was in the flat... it's probably a 45-yard field goal and it's 3-3. So that was a critical mistake in a tough spot," he said.
The former head coach also discussed the ways to change up the drop-back passing to get the ball out of Howell's hands a bit faster to take some of the pressure off him and the offensive line which has had its struggles (schematically it wasn't Washington's best day but Buffalo had a great game plan and executed it well, Gruden added).
In the second half, the Commanders did appear to get to a more even run-pass mix, on the first two drives it was seven called runs eight called passes, the first one ended in an interception. But the next two drives were just four plays: An Antonio Gibson fumble on a run and three Howell dropbacks, the last of which was a pick-6 and a 30-0 Buffalo lead.
Overall, Gruden said it "is kinda a head-scratcher" that more run calls weren't made, especially since Brian Robinson had 70 yards on 10 carries.
"When you have a young quarterback and he's taken some unnecessary sacks, you have to take some pressure off of him," he said, "throw in a screen pass, release screen to the receivers, a bubble screen, get back to some of those [run-pass options] that they had success with in the third quarter. It was a little mind-blowing, really the biggest problem I had was when they were down 30-0 and they kept him in and they kept getting [Howell] killed.
"They gave up four sacks and two quarterback hits and they were down 30-0, that's not a way to build your quarterback's confidence and your line's confidence when it's a known passing situation and you just let him continue to get blistered in the back of the head. It was hard to watch."
Gruden said he "for sure" would have gone to back-up Jacoby Brissett at that point in the game.
Russell and Gruden ended the conversation with a discussion about how Washington could start crystalizing a game plan to face the Philadelphia Eagles on the road next Sunday. Listen to the full conversation on the audio player above.
