Commanders' Sam Howell 'Ain't Far Off' From Bills' Josh Allen, Says Analyst
The Washington Commanders (2-0) are set to welcome Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills (1-1) this weekend at FedEx Field.
A key storyline in the game comes with the quarterback battle, as Commanders second-year pro Sam Howell looks to remain undefeated going into his fourth NFL start. Howell hasn't faced a quarterback as strong as Allen, but he himself isn't too far off from the former Pro Bowler according to one of the league's high-profile analysts.
"He has an absolute cannon for an arm," ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky said on One Bills Live. "Josh Allen has one of the best arms in football — certainly down the field. Sam Howell, it's not that good, but it ain't far off (from Allen)."
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) looks to throw the ball against the Las Vegas Raiders during the second half at Highmark Stadium.
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That's certainly high praise for Howell, who completed 69 percent of his passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns in Washington's Week 2 win against the Denver Broncos. On both of his touchdowns in Sunday's win, Howell was able to place the ball in exactly the right spot in order to land the score.
"I think it's both, a guy's mindset that he can go ahead and he can make those plays and then his ability to anticipate to see where the defender is," coach Ron Rivera said. "He obviously saw that Terry [McLaurin] was in position to run by these guys, and if he laid it out, Terry would go get it and that's exactly what I thought happened...as far as [Logan Thomas's] was concerned, the one that I saw was a separation between the two defenders and so the ball was thrown in front to lead him just in the position to catch it."
Howell looks to get the Commanders to 3-0 on Sunday for the first time since 2005 when the Bills come to town. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
