Sam Howell benched as Commanders playoff hopes officially vanish with 28-20 loss to Rams

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Many NFL players take a brief vacation during their bye week, and in Washington’s first game since enjoying last weekend off, it appeared many people involved in Sunday’s game remained on vacation. At least in their minds.

The weather was beautiful; Southern California flexed its best muscles for the Commanders visit to SoFi Stadium. But the game was never in doubt.

The Rams won 28-20, and convincingly despite two first-half turnovers. Los Angeles will continue its playoff race.

Contrast that to Washington, a team now officially eliminated from playoff contention. And frankly, just watching the play on the field is enough to know that this is not a playoff team.

Football is comprised of three phases: offense, defense and special teams. Sunday, all three were bad.

At halftime, Washington’s offense generated just three first downs. Three. Sam Howell and the Commanders offense converted 14.3% of their third down chances in the game’s first 30 minutes.

The defensive numbers were almost inverted from the offensive stats. The Commanders defense, famously simplified by Ron Rivera after the Thanksgiving firing of Jack Del Rio, surrendered a staggering 242 yards in the first half. L.A. converted seven of nine third downs. The Rams almost doubled up the Commanders in time of possession.

And if that first half wasn’t bad enough, on just the second Rams snap of the second half, QB Matthew Stafford delivered a 62-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp, who was wildly wide open even for Commanders defense standards.

Making matters worse, Washington also had a major special team’s blunder that could have resulted in an injury to one of the Commanders' best players. Long snapper Cameron Cheeseman wobbled a low dribbler back to punter Tress Way, who made a very athletic play to field the snap, and then got blasted by the Rams defense. Way was evaluated for a concussion and treated for a back injury, but was able to stay in the game.

Rivera’s refusal to address the long snapping woes of Cheeseman has been a problem all season, and though the list is long of what needs to change this offseason, that position is definitely on the list.

Washington has three games left before an offseason expected to be a full overhaul. The Commanders have now lost five games in a row and six of their last seven. Rivera’s squad really hasn’t been competitive in a contest since early November.

There was a stretch of the year where the losses seemed less important than the development of the young quarterback. That stretch has ended too, as Howell has sputtered against increased competition. Against the Rams, Howell came out in the fourth quarter after a series of injuries along the offensive line. There was no injury.

Before he was pulled, Howell completed just 11 passes on 26 attempts for 102 yards with a touchdown and an interception. There were a number of batted passes and balls that could have been picked off, too.

Backup QB Jacoby Brissett immediately breathed new life into the Washington offense, completing his first four passes, including a 29-yard touchdown throw to Terry McLaurin. The offense with Brissett looked immediately better, and while sure, the Rams were running soft shell defense, still the performance might raise some tough questions. Or provide real answers.

All signs point to Washington landing a top five draft pick in the spring, and with that type of draft position, the conversation about a quarterback needs to be real.

For months as the losses have piled up for the Commanders, Ron Rivera has stressed how important developing a young QB is for the franchise. He’s said it over and over, almost like a crutch.

Well, after benching Howell in L.A., that’s going to be harder to rely on, and there might not be any other crutches left.