UNC Football: No “moral victories” for Sam Howell

The former UNC football star had a bounce-back performance on Sunday, but it wasn’t enough to lead the Washington Commanders to victory.

Young quarterbacks go through their growing pains, and former UNC football star Sam Howell is no exception.

In a Week 3 blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills, Howell had a rough outing, throwing four interceptions while being sacked 9 times.

A true testament to how a quarterback is developing is how they respond after a tough week. For Howell, he responded in a very strong way.

Overall, Howell threw for 290 yards, but the two major takeaways were the amount of sacks he took and the drive he led that forced overtime against the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles.

Howell has struggled holding onto the ball a bit too long, which is a major factor in him being the most sacked quarterback in the NFL. He took a step in the right direction on Sunday; even though he took five sacks, the film shows he made smart decisions in a timely manner throughout.

With 1:36 of game time left, Howell and the Commanders got the ball back, needing to drive 64 yards to tie the game. Howell and company did just that, as a last-second touchdown forced overtime in Philadelphia.

The Commanders unfortunately didn’t win the game, but Howell’s strong performance was a true bright spot. However, the former UNC football star isn’t one for moral victories, as he knows his job is to help lead his time to victories.

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