Grit, heart, and a certain amount of nastiness take your pick. We learned plenty about the Washington Commanders in the 35-33 heart-stopping win against Denver. At 2-0, Washington won a game experts thought they could win, but weren’t sure they would win.
What else did we learn?
1. Defensive End Chase Young is Back
Young is back, or at least on the way. The former defensive rookie of the year was all smiles in the locker room after the game and with good reason. Young had three tackles, one and a half sacks, a tackle for a loss, and two quarterback pressures.
With Young back in action, the opposing team’s problems have gone from bad to worse as you can only double-team so many linemen. The only person with a bigger problem than an opposing coach is Washington’s salary cap person.
2. Defensive Tackle Daron Payne is a One-Man Wrecking Crew
To think, there was a discussion about trading him last year. Payne’s performance was encapsulated in three plays to start the third quarter. Payne sacked Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson on first down, blew up a run for lost yardage on second down, and batted down a pass on third down, forcing a Denver punt.
Payne’s pff.com overall grade of 86 was tops on the defense.
Guess who was number two, Chase Young!
3. QB Sam Howell has the “It” Factor
His stats were impressive enough, 27 of 39 for 299 yards, 2 touchdowns, and no interceptions but it was the way he did it that should have Commanders fans excited. Howell never looks rattled even when under duress. He made several throws with defenders bearing down on him and made the throws look easy. The second-year quarterback still needs to get rid of the ball quicker but a few more outings like Sunday should put to rest the issue of whether Washington has finally found a quarterback.