The Commanders improved to 4-5 with a 20-17 win over the Patriots on Sunday. Here are four takeaways from the game.
After a week of change, Commanders get a win: With an eye toward the future after losing four out of their previous five games, the Commanders dealt starting defensive ends Montez Sweat and Chase Young for draft picks before Tuesday’s trade deadline. Meanwhile, Washington Coach Ron Rivera’s remaining players still have half a season to play, and they showed no intention of throwing in the towel on the 2023 campaign while earning a much-needed road win against the lowly Patriots.
Washington built a two-score lead early in the second quarter, watched it slip away, battled back and then hung on to avoid its second three-game losing streak of the season. The Commanders’ win snapped a four-game losing streak against New England and was the franchise’s first triumph in Foxborough, Mass., since 1996. Up next: a trip across the country for a date with the Seattle Seahawks, who fell to 5-3 with a 37-3 loss Sunday in Baltimore.
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Sam Howell passes test against Bill Belichick’s defense: Coming off a career-best performance, Howell had an up-and-down day against the Patriots but managed to secure only the 20th win in 84 starts by a first- or second-year quarterback against a Belichick-coached team since 2000. Washington’s final drive of the first half was Howell at his best and worst. He broke multiple tackles while scrambling for 24 yards on third and 23 and then completed a third-down pass to set up first and goal at the Patriots’ 5-yard line. On the ensuing snap, Patriots safety Kyle Dugger intercepted Howell’s pass in the end zone.
Howell bounced back in the third quarter, completing a perfect strike to Jahan Dotson for a 33-yard touchdown that tied the score. He set up Washington’s go-ahead field goal with consecutive completions to Terry McLaurin for a total of 62 yards. Howell finished 29 for 45 for 325 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Turnovers keep Patriots close: The Commanders outgained New England by nearly 100 yards and enjoyed a more than 13-minute advantage in time of possession in the first half, but they trailed 14-10 at the break. Turnovers were to blame. On a second-down run with Washington leading 10-0 early in the second quarter, Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai punched the ball out of running back Brian Robinson Jr.’s grasp. New England defensive lineman Davon Godchaux recovered at the Washington 25, and Patriots quarterback Mac Jones connected with Hunter Henry for a 14-yard touchdown three plays later.
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After the Commanders punted on their next possession, New England needed just two plays to take its first lead. On second down, running back Rhamondre Stevenson raced 64 yards to the end zone on the longest run of his career. The Patriots’ second touchdown in a little more than three minutes, coupled with Howell’s interception in the end zone before halftime, forced Washington to rally.
Defense steps up without Sweat and Young: Casey Toohill and James Smith-Williams started in place of the two defensive ends Washington traded Tuesday, and though the Commanders didn’t register a sack for only the second time this season, Jack Del Rio’s defense limited the Patriots to three points in the second half. It helped that Washington was facing Jones, who has struggled this season. He finished 24 for 44 for 220 yards, one touchdown and a costly interception.
With the Patriots driving for the potential game-tying field goal in the final minute, Jones’s pass over the middle slipped through JuJu Smith-Schuster’s hands and into the arms of rookie safety Quan Martin, whose first career interception sealed Washington’s win. The second-round pick out of Illinois wasn’t the only rookie defensive back to have a big day. First-round pick Emmanuel Forbes Jr., who was benched earlier this season, had one of the better games of his career, including a couple of pass breakups. Yet another Washington rookie, defensive end KJ Henry, appeared to have his first career sack on New England’s opening drive of the second half, but officials negated it with a baffling roughing-the-passer penalty on the fifth-round pick out of Clemson.
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