Backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett nearly pulled off a stunning comeback victory for the Washington Commanders against the New York Jets, who came back with a go-ahead field goal in the final seconds after blowing a sizable lead.
But Brissett did enough to possibly take the starting quarterback job from Sam Howell. That was also the case last week, but coach Ron Rivera decided to stick with Howell for Sunday’s game.
Pete Carroll went back to Geno Smith six days after Drew Lock completed a comeback victory for the Seattle Seahawks against the Philadelphia Eagles. The move paid off, with the Seahawks defeating the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
We’ll examine the quarterback situations in Washington and Seattle for this week’s “Fact or Fiction.”
Manzano’s view: Fact
The Commanders benched Howell for the second consecutive game during the 30–28 loss to the Jets. It’s time for Washington to officially pull the plug on the Howell experience and make Brissett the starting quarterback for the final two games of the regular season. Similar to last week against the Rams, Brissett gave Washington a spark to erase a 20–0 deficit against the Jets. Howell had his flashes earlier in the season, but they usually occurred when the team was trailing by double digits. The second-year quarterback is a competitor, but makes too many costly mistakes, including turnovers and taking bad sacks. Washington (4–11) needs to give offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy an opportunity to game plan with a different quarterback under center. Bieniemy bet on himself by leaving the shadows of Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City. It hasn’t worked out in Washington, but maybe Bieniemy can end the season on a high note with Brissett at quarterback vs. the 49ers and Cowboys.
