The Commanders may be 3-4 through seven games but it’s been an ugly go of it recently. Washington has lost four of its last five games after starting 2-0. A lot of that has to do with their offensive line.
Former Washington lineman and three-time Super Bowl champion Mark Schlereth ripped the Commanders offensive line on his Audacy original podcast “Stinkin Truth” this week.
“I was watching the film and I wanted to be sick for Sam Howell,” Schlereth said (16:51 in player above). “They are awful. They cannot pick up a blitz. They cannot snap a game off. It is unreal.”
The Commanders have allowed a total of 40 sacks through seven games. Only four NFL teams have allowed more than 20 sacks this season.
Schlereth acknowledged that usually, sacks have something to do with the quarterback play or other factors, but this falls squarely on the offensive line.
“They should dress up for Halloween as vampires because I ain’t ever seen so many neck-sucking bloodsuckers that don’t see anything going on around them,” he continued. “Pull your head out and actually look for the twister. Pay attention to the blitzer. It’s as bad as it gets.”
Howell has been sacked at least four times in every game including a season-high nine times against the Bills. He’s trying to make the most of it but it’s not that easy behind this o-line.
“They can’t run it. They can’t throw it,” Schlereth said. “You know when you play the Giants, Wink Martindale is their defensive coordinator, Wink Martindale blitzed 59% of the time in their game that they lost 14-7 against a team in the Giants that’s setting football back by a decade, two decades, they’re that bad, and they couldn’t pick up a blitz. They couldn’t shake loose from man-to-man coverage. They couldn’t do anything.”
Howell threw for 249 yards on 22 of 42 passing with one interception and six sacks against the Giants last Sunday.
A rematch against the Eagles is on tap for this week. Philadelphia sacked Howell five times back in Week 4 as the Eagles beat the Commanders 34-31 in overtime.