The Washington Commanders are no longer undefeated. After a strong start to the new season that saw them go 2-0 in their first two games, Washington suffered their first defeat of the season on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. It wasn’t just any loss, though, with the Commanders being utterly humbled by Josh Allen and the Bills in a 37-3 blowout win.
Washington Commanders WR Terry McLaurin Reacts to Bills Massacre
After the game, Washington star wide receiver Terry McLaurin spoke about his team’s disappointing performance against Buffalo. The Pro Bowl QB did not hold back:
“They came in here and whupped us,” McLaurin said, via Ben Standig of The Athletic. “You have to give them credit for that. … You never want to go out there and put on that showing. That’s not the team we are, but if we want to make sure that’s not who we are, we have to come back better next week.”
McLaurin did not pull any punches here as he expressed his frustration on the eye-opening loss. As he said, though, the Commanders are ready to put this defeat behind them and move on quickly.
Sam Howell Crashes Back Down to Earth
Quarterback Sam Howell has played an integral role in Washington’s first two wins of the season. The same can be said about Sunday’s blowout loss as the 23-year-old finished with 19-of-29 completed passes for 170 yards, zero touchdowns, and a very disappointing four interceptions.
Howell knew that he came up way short in this one, and he wasn’t going to make any excuses about it:
“I gave up some situations where I was trying to get the ball out of my hands and trying to avoid a negative play, and I kind of forced something,” he said.
It wasn’t all on Howell, though. As right tackle Andrew Wylie expressed after the game, the o-line is also as much to blame for their quarterback’s poor performance. After all, they have allowed a league-high 19 sacks through the first three games of the season.
“We take that personally,” Wylie said. “We got to do a better job keeping (Howell) upright. We got to do a better job getting him that extra tick, because he’s a baller. He’s trying to make plays; that’s what we need out of him.”
Hopefully, the Commanders‘ offensive line will be able to provide much better protection for Howell in Week 4. They get a tough, tough matchup against an undefeated Philadelphia Eagles side on Sunday.
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