ATLANTA — Football is a team game in every sense, and on Sunday, Washington played team football en route to an important 24-16 win.
A stud 61-yard punt return from Jamison Crowder put the Commanders in position for their first touchdown. Special teams checked the box.
A diving interception on a smart read from Jamin Davis effectively finished the game and sealed the victory. Defense checked the box.
And a balanced offense that at least attempted to run the football along with the aerial attack from quarterback Sam Howell did enough for the Commanders to get the win.
It was about the opposite of Washington’s last display, a terrible 40-20 loss to the previously winless Bears. In that game the defense generated no turnovers, the special teams were sloppy and the offense was completely one-sided.
Howell played efficient football against the Falcons, completing 14 of 23 passes for 151 yards and throwing for three touchdowns. This marks the first 3TD game for Howell’s young NFL career, but probably won’t be the last. Washington offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy did a much better job at mixing up the play calls and effectively deployed the screen game again.
Things got close late in the game after the Falcons received a few favorable calls from the referees, but again the defense held up. Late in the fourth quarter of a one-score game with Atlanta near the Washington goal line, Falcons QB Desmond Ridder lofted a ball towards the corner of the end zone and Commanders cornerback Benjamin St. Juste jumped in to make the interception.
Not everything was perfect. Howell still takes too many sacks and the run game wasn’t particularly effective, but on the day the Commanders snap a three-game losing streak, imperfections can be looked past. Just for today.
Washington was also helped by a bizarre fourth quarter decision by Atlanta head coach Arthur Smith when he elected to go for a two-point conversion. The Falcons trailed by 14 before the touchdown, so the two-point conversion could have cut their deficit to six points, which would still require a touchdown to complete the comeback. Perhaps some analytical minds can argue it works, but given the flow of the game, it made little sense. And Atlanta could not execute on the play and got no points.
It also didn’t hurt that Ridder is kinda bad. Excuse the sophomoric language in describing the Falcons QB, but it’s the appropriate description. He threw three interceptions in the game and generally missed his targets throughout the contest.
It’s a Sunday that Commanders fans can feel happy about. Their young quarterback continues to show signs that he’s the real deal, a franchise cornerstone in making. Defensively they got big stops at big moments and perhaps reminded themselves how good that group can be.