Why the Commanders are benching Sam Howell for Jacoby Brissett
Breaking down Brissett’s performance against the Jets to show why the Commanders are replacing Sam Howell as the starting quarterback.
The Washington Commanders have opted to bench quarterback Sam Howell in favor of Jacoby Brissett after a turbulent few weeks for the offense. Yesterday I broke down Howell’s struggles against the Jets where he was failing to take the layups that the defense gave him and looked a bit rattled. Today I thought I’d look at how Brissett played and why the coaching staff have opted to make the switch at quarterback.
The first thing that stands out with Brissett is that he was taking the easy layups that Howell was missing. He was very decisive in getting the ball out of his hands quickly and taking things that were open underneath to keep the chains moving.
The two plays in this clip are both very similar with some slight changes to the concepts. However, Brissett plays them almost identically. As he drops back to pass, Brissett scans the safety rotation to see if there is any surprises but as soon as his back foot hits the top of his drop, he’s immediately getting rid of the ball and finding his tight end on a quick little hook route for a short gain. He does this on both plays and only gets four of five yards on the first one, but that’s enough to keep the Commanders ahead of the chains. On the second one, he gets the ball out so quick that the receiver is able to turn up the field and pick up a first down before being tackled.
This is stuff Howell was doing very well earlier in the season, but lately he’s really struggled to stay in rhythm and hit these throws on time. As a veteran, Brissett knows these quick hitters are a foundational piece of the offense and doesn’t get distracted looking for bigger plays. He understands the situation requires getting the ball out as soon as he can and letting the playmakers make plays, thus sticking to the script and delivering throws quickly.
Even when Brissett made mistakes with his reads or got caught by surprise, he had the awareness to correct himself during the play and knew where other options would be so that he could adjust and reset instead of taking a bad play.
On this play, the Commanders have another similar concept to the left that we’ve just seen in the previous clip. The tight end runs a little stick route while they also have a slot fade concept to that side. To the right of the formation, Brissett has a basic cross from the outside receiver with Jahan Dotson running a pivot route underneath. Dotson’s route is designed to create a high-low read for the quarterback, hoping to bait a zone defender underneath to create an opening for the deeper route behind it, but if the defense sinks deeper Dotson can pivot back outside and run into space as a back up option.
At the snap of the ball, Brissett looks to hit the tight end on a stick route to his left, like we saw in the first clip. His back foot hits the top of his drop and he begins his throwing motion to hit the tight end. However, during that throwing motion, Brissett spots the slot defender peeling off and ready to drive down on the stick route. With that threat there, Brissett does a terrific job holding onto the ball and pulling it back down instead of throwing into danger.
Brissett then shows great awareness and understanding of the concept. He knows his next best option is Dotson on the other side of the field, so he quickly resets his feet the best he can before firing the ball under pressure out to Dotson in the flat. Dotson makes the catch and then turns up the field to pick up the first down.
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