This is familiar territory for the long-suffering fan base, but the late-July ownership change from Dan Snyder to a group led by Josh Harris eliminated the wash-rinse-repeat vibe. Those who think these closing games will be a brutal slog are not wrong — unless you consider them for what they are: The real start of the Harris era.

Howell continues to exceed preseason expectations — but the bar has now changed on two fronts.

It’s no longer a question of whether he can start in the league. Rather, does Howell have the goods to become elite or reach that “we can win with him” level occupied by Kirk Cousins, Ryan Tannehill and others in recent years?

Howell has a solid baseline with poise, mobility, grit and a talented right arm. We can blame some of the mistakes — 13 interceptions, holding the ball too long in the pocket — on youth. Combined with the 23-year-old’s minuscule contract — he has a cap hit of less than $1.1 million — Howell is worth projecting as QB1 next season.

But this is where the second change comes in. Suddenly, Washington is in position for the fifth selection in April’s draft and has one of the more challenging remaining schedules — there is a good chance the Commanders won’t be favored in any of them. That would give the team a chance to target any QB in the 2024 class with a small trade-up or perhaps by standing part.

“I’ve already talked to all the defensive coaches, talked to the entire coaching staff, and then I talked to the defensive staff, then I talked to each defensive coach individually and talked about what I was looking for, what I want, what I wanted to get accomplished,” Rivera said.

Rivera did not delve into how things would look from a personnel standpoint with him taking on a larger role in the defense, but he did say “we’re going to do things differently though. I will tell you that much.”

As for how those changes are going to be implemented, Rivera said he will work with the staff, particularly Rodgers, on how to put the players in the best position to succeed.

“Richard will work with the defensive backs, but he’ll also work with me on some of the game planning issues as well,” Rivera said. “And then everybody else will remain in their positions as we go forward and see how these things go. We’re going to work today, we’ll work tomorrow, and we’ll talk about how we’re going to do things as a defense, and we’ll go from there.”

Whatever the changes, Washington’s last five games are going to be a challenge. They return home to take on the Miami Dolphins before heading to Los Angeles to play the Rams. That’s followed by the Jets on Christmas Eve, the San Francisco 49ers on New Year’s Eve and a home matchup against the Cowboys to wrap up the season.

Against the Cowboys, Howell completed 28 of 44 passing attempts for 300 yards with an interception. He also scored a touchdown that he ran in himself. Those stats aren’t exactly anything to brag about but I don’t think they provide the correct context for this performance. Howell had a lot put on his shoulders on a short week to try and deal with the pass rush of the Cowboys.

After a bumpy start with having to use his legs quite a bit, the offense settled down a bit and started to find a rhythm. Howell, like he has for most of the season, looked comfortable with the various quick game concepts the Commanders call each game.

Here are two examples of Howell finding first downs with quick game concepts. The first is a concept the Andy Reid coaching tree likes to call Missile. The concept calls for three receivers on one side of the field, with the inside receiver running a shallow cross designed to drag coverage inside with him and open things up for the slant from the slot. The outside receiver then runs what’s called a pirate or under route behind the slant. You can see Howell processing information quickly here, working inside to out as he progresses from the slot slant out to Dotson on the perimeter. He does so efficiently and gets the ball to Dotson for a first down.

On the second play of the clip, the Commanders run a twist on their normal slant-flat combination. Instead of just two receivers executing a slant flat, they have three receivers on the same side of the field. The two outside receivers, McLaurin and Dotson, both run slants while the inside receiver runs out to the flat. In the west coast offense, a slant-flat combination is typically called Dragon, while double slants are known as Lion. So when you combine Dragon and Lion, you get what the Reid coaching tree calls Monster. The Cowboys sink into Tampa-2 coverage, but the slot defender and the outside corner appear to play man. Howell looks outside at the snap and reads man, so fires the slant to McLaurin for another first down.