New Owner's Nothing-to-Do-List

There are two teams whose football zeitgeist reminds me of the spirit of the 2023 Washington Commanders. One is the 1999 St. Louis Rams. The other is the 1984 Miami Dolphins. On both of those teams, second year Quarterbacks took their teams to the Super Bowl.

The 1998 Rams were abyssmal. The franchise was like Washington's in trouble. They had a veteran Head Coach in Dick Vermeil who would go 4-12. Vermeil, once George Allen's special teams coach, changed his offensive coordinator, appointing Mike Martz, formerly Quarterbacks coach for the Washington Redskins, to that position.

Former Redskin Trent Green had been the plan at QB. He would quarterback one of Vermeil's Kansas City teams to a 13-3 record. But he was injured. And in strode gunslinger Kurt Warner in only his second year in the League. He tossed 41 touchdowns. Five of those TDs were collected by Marshall Faulk who caught 87 passes and rushed for nearly 1,400 yards. Faulk had changed the rules of football, according to Vermeil.

Martz became Rams Head Coach and for three years torched the league with his offense. Does Eric Bieniemy have the same career track? EB has talented receivers. Like the Rams did. And a pass catching running back. And a second year Quarterback. 

The great Jim Hanifan, coach of the Best Offensive Line in History, the 1991 Washington Redskins, coached the Rams Offensive Line. The jury is still out on this Commanders Offensive line.

Dan Marino tossed 48 TDs in his second year. Led the Dolphins to a 14-2 mark before losing to a 49ers Team people were already calling the Team of the Decade in the Super Bowl. 

Is Sam Howell Dan Marino? Is Sam Howell Kurt Warner? No. But he doesn't have to be. In today's NFL, Sam Howell could toss 48 TDs and still not come close to Marino or Warner. They were sackable pocket passers. Howell is of the RPO Age. But he could put up similar numbers to relatively similar effect.

He's potentially that explosive. I'm saying the NFL may be walking into a minefield with Howell. And Howell has a comparatively better defense.

Yes, he could be a bust. But it doesn't take a lot of guts to make that prediction for any NFL Player. Just as an aside, better football times are going to take some getting used to by the negative Nancies.

This is why I anticipate a soft landing for the New Owner.

He can do a few fan friendly things. But from a football standpoint, for the time being, the Owner has a Nothing to Do List.