Commanders, Sam Howell Face 'Adversity' in Win vs. Cardinals
The Washington Commanders (1-0) were trailing in the fourth quarter during yesterday's game against the Arizona Cardinals (0-1), but their resiliency propelled them to a 20-16 win in front of their fans at FedEx Field.
Despite three first-half turnovers and rain preventing the offense from moving the ball, the Commanders were able to withstand the adversity and come out with a season-opening win in order to get their season off on the right foot.
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“Yeah, obviously it’s hard, we faced a lot of adversity," Sam Howell said. "I thought in the first half we moved the ball well, we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot, so we knew we could come out and move the ball, and then it started raining and just a lot of things were in the way of our success. But you know, me as a leader of this offense you know we’ve just got to find a way to push through that stuff as long as we do our job and not worry about anything else, we’ll be successful. So, we’d definitely like to be better next week.”
It was only Howell's second start, but he was able to calm the offense down in the second half and lead the fourth-quarter comeback. He completed 19 of 31 passes for 202 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He also ran for 11 yards and a touchdown.
While there certainly is a lot more Washington can do to decrease the amount of adversity it faces, it's still early in the season and it's beneficial for the Commanders to win these games even when there's a lot that can be improved upon.
The Commanders face more adversity next week when they visit the Denver Broncos (0-1). Kickoff is set for 4:25 p.m. on Sunday.
