By james art The Washington Commanders handed out a few more game balls after a big Week 7 win over the Carolina Panthers, and outside linebacker Dante Fowler Jr. certainly got one of them.
Quarterback Marcus Mariota is likely another recipient of one of those Commanders game balls, as he stepped in after starter Jaden Daniels left with a rib injury.
Unfortunately for Washington fans, in our post-victory gameball poll, they can only pick one, so they were left to decide between the two – and it was Fowler who came away with the emphatic victory.
“Dante Fowler needs a game ball for that pick six that was wrapped in a bow by Andy Dalton,” one fan responded.
In the first quarter — actually, the first drive of the game — Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton tried to screen running back Myles Sanders, who wasn’t ready to receive the pass.
Under pressure from the Commanders defense, Dalton threw the pass anyway, and Fowler was waiting to take advantage after correctly diagnosing the play and holding his pass to be in place to defend the play.
67 yards later and thanks to a clutch chase block by defensive tackle Darren Payne, Fowler ended the play in the end zone for what he says was his first pick of six.
“He set the tone for a dominant game,” said another Washington fan who voted for Fowler.
Fowler added two tackles, including a sack, to his final tally, and the Commanders added their fifth win in seven tries to the current win-loss record.
The pick six also came at a great time as Carolina was working its game and had gotten into field goal range. In fact, if Dalton had simply thrown the pass in the dirt or out of bounds to an eligible receiver, his Panthers likely would have come up with three points. Not that anyone in Washington was upset to see the veteran make the decision he did.
“For a second I’m like, ‘There, they’re running efficiently,'” commented a Commanders fan. “The next second it’s game over. Just like that. And that’s what 6 did.”
The voting was close, however, and quarterback Marcus Mariota finished just behind Fowler.
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