Washington Commanders vs New England Patriots: Everything you need to know for the Week 9 game

The Washington Commanders season, and future, might have been different if they had kept their halftime lead over the Philadelphia Eagles last week. That didn’t happen, and they lost 38-31, and dropped to 3-5. The NFL’s trade deadline was on Tuesday, and Washington traded away both of their starting defensive ends that were set to hit free agency next year. Montez Sweat went to the Bears for their 2nd round pick, and Chase Young was traded to the 49ers for a compensatory 3rd round pick.

The Washington Commanders quickly moved on after the trades were made, and started preparing for a road game against the New England Patriots on Sunday. They opened up as 1 1/2-point underdogs, but that line has climbed to 3 since then. The Pats are 2-6, and look like they’re in for a rebuilding season. Mac Jones isn’t lighting it up this year, and his top receiver tore his ACL last week.

Sam Howell looked sharp for the Commanders last week, throwing for 397 yards and four touchdowns. He threw one bad interception, but was only sacked once by Philly’s defense. Howell will need to be on top of his game against this week against Bill Belichick’s defense.

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