Falcons expecting rested Commanders to be in a bad mood

The Commanders played Thursday and were pummeled 40-20 by the Chicago Bears. So, yeah, they’ll be a foul mood.

While going 7-10 in each of the past two seasons, Smith has lost twice to the Commanders, who defeated the Falcons 34-30 on Oct. 3, 2021 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and 19-13 last season at FedEx Field on Nov. 27.

“We know them pretty well,” Smith said. “Have had two close battles with them that we’ve been on the wrong side of. We know how good this (defensive) front is they have. They’ll be ready to roll. They’ve got good skill players on offense.”

Quarterback Taylor Heinicke, who now is with the Falcons, led the Commanders to both of those wins.

Sam Howell, who was selected in the fifth round of the 2022 draft of out North Carolina, currently is the Commanders’ starting quarterback. He opened the season with victories over Arizona (20-16) and at Denver (35-33). But the Commanders have lost three in a row, to Buffalo (37-3), at Philadelphia (34-31 in overtime) and to Chicago.

Howell has completed 131 of 191 passes (68.6%) for 1,349 yards, six touchdowns and six interceptions. He has a passer rating of 86.1. Howell has been sacked 29 times.

Washington coach Ron Rivera wants to put Howell in better situations to succeed.

“As he grows and develops and gets better and better, so will we,” Rivera said to the Washington media Monday.

Howell was sacked five times and hit 11 times in the loss to the Bears.

“You see who he is, you see his grit, you see his toughness, you see his decision-making,” Rivera said. “Those are all good.”

The Commanders feature running back Brian Robinson, who has rushed 67 times for 271 yards and three touchdowns. They also have Antonio Gibson, who played at Eagle’s Landing Christian in Stockbridge.

The wide receivers are paced by Terry McLaurin, who has 25 catches for 261 yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver Curtis Samuel and tight end Logan Thomas also have been productive.

“They have a lot of guys they can rotate in the slot,” Falcons nickel back Dee Alford said. “A lot of different guys. I’ve got to study a little bit more, but I’m pretty sure they are going to continue do what they do.”

With Howell in his first season as a starter, the Commanders try to lean on Robinson and Gibson in the rushing attack.

“They’ve got two good running backs, so they are going to try to run the ball a lot,” Alford said. “If the run doesn’t work, they’ll pass it. I just have to study and see the type of route concepts they like to run.”

Washington hired Eric Bieniemy from the Chiefs as their offensive coordinator this offseason.

“The scheme change. I mean, look, you get information from everybody,” Smith said about Hienicke. “You take everything with a grain of salt. I promise you, when I was in Washington and was quality control, I had to debrief them the week of the game and give you all of this information and you go debrief the D-linemen, and he’s like, ‘Yeah, that would have helped, but I didn’t hear any of it.’ So, you take everything with a grain of salt. That gets a little overrated. Taylor, again, completely different offense.”

Washington has a stout defensive front that features defensive tackles Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen. They also have defensive ends Montez Sweat, who played at Stephenson High and Mississippi State, and Chase Young. Sweat leads the Commanders with 4.5 sacks.

Payne, who was named to his first Pro Bowl last season, signed a four-year, $90 million contract, with $28 million guaranteed, in March.

“Great front,” Smith said. “They’ve invested a lot in it, four first-rounders. They’ve doubled down on the interior two guys in Payne and Allen. Very talented football team.”

Smith knows the Commanders were not happy about being embarrassed by the Bears in a prime-time livestreamed game.

“When you come off a loss like that ... they’ve had to sit with it,” Smith said. “We’ll get their best shot here Sunday.”

This will be the 28th meeting. The Commanders lead the series 16-10-1.

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