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Every week, across several sports, players around the DMV (D.C./Maryland/Virginia) shine in individual performance. Every Monday, I’d like to take a minute to highlight some of those performances, including what I view as the best performance and name that athlete the “DMV Star of the Week.”
This week’s DMV Star of the Week is Washington Commanders Quarterback Sam Howell.
Midway through the second quarter in Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos, Howell found his team trailing 21-3.
From there, Howell led the Commanders on a 32-12 run the rest of the way to snatch a win on the road and improve the team's record to 2-0 through the opening two weeks.
Howell struggled to take care of the ball last week against Arizona, but turned things around on Sunday, never turning it over against Denver.
Howell finished with 299 yards on 27/39 through the air with 2 touchdowns, including a 30 yard strike to Terry McLaurin and a 4 yard touchdown pass to Logan Thomas on a 4th and goal.
“This is a resilient team,” Howell said after the 35-33 win. “The thing I’m proud of is we had each other’s back on both sides of the ball.”
The NFC East now has three undefeated teams, the Commanders, Cowboys, and Eagles.
Up next, Washington hosts the 1-1 Buffalo Bills in Landover and will look to move to 3-0 before its first divisional game at Philadelphia in Week 4.
The DMV saw seven teams in action this past week, including the Washington Commanders, Washington Nationals, D.C. United, Washington Spirit, Washington Mystics, and Maryland and Howard football teams.
Here are some honorable mention performances for DMV Star of the Week:
Maryland football Quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa had 342 passing yards on 19 completions and a touchdown in Friday’s 42-14 victory over Virginia
Nationals Shortstop CJ Abrams went 2-4 with 2 HR’s and 3 RBI’s in Monday’s 6-2 win over Pittsburgh
Commanders Running Back Brian Robinson Jr. ran for 87 yards on 18 carries, scoring 2 touchdowns while hauling in 2 catches for 42 yards in Sunday’s win over the Broncos
Maryland football Defensive Back Tarheeb Still had 2 interceptions in Friday night’s dominant win over Virginia
Here’s what’s coming up this week in DMV Sports:
Washington Commanders (2-0 overall, 0-0, T-1st in NFC East)
9/24 vs. Buffalo
Washington Nationals (66-84, 5th in NL East, 30.5 GB)
9/18 vs. Chicago White Sox
9/19 vs. Chicago White Sox
9/20 vs. Chicago White Sox
9/21 vs. Atlanta
9/22 vs. Atlanta
9/23 vs. Atlanta
9/24 vs. Atlanta
Maryland Terrapins Football (3-0 overall, 0-0, T-2nd in Big 10 East)
9/23 @ Michigan State
Howard Bison Football (1-2 overall, 0-0, 1st in MEAC)
Bye Week
D.C. United: (9-8-12, 35 points, 9th in Eastern Conference)
9/20 vs. Atlanta
9/23 vs. NY Red Bulls
Washington Spirit: (6-8-5, 26 points, 6th in NWSL)
Off this week
Washington Mystics: (19-21, 4th in Eastern Conference)
9/19 @ New York (WNBA Playoffs - 1st Round - NYC leads series 1-0)
9/22 vs. New York (WNBA Playoffs - 1st Round - if necessary)
*Denotes games I will be covering in-person