Sam Howell rescues crappy outing with two TD runs; should you worry?

Commanders QB Sam Howell threw for just 127 yards on 12-of-23 passing with 1 INT and 0 TD passes in Sunday's blowout loss to Miami. He took a modest 3 sacks from a Miami defense playing its first game since losing Edge Jaelan Phillips to an Achilles' tear. But the Dolphins still managed 9 QB hits on a day that found Howell consistently pressured. The QB saved his fantasy line by running for the team's only two TDs -- including one from 13 yards out. He also connected with TE Logan Thomas for a 2-point conversion after the second. The positive view: Howell's rushing ability is worth factoring into his fantasy outlook. He entered the day ranked 10th among QBs in rushing yards on just the 16th-most carries. And Howell now has 5 rushing scores for the year. But we can't expect him to score on the ground most weeks. The passing yardage against Miami marked a season low. And the 23 attempts matched his low. So we probably shouldn't worry too much about this outing. After a Week 14 bye, though, Howell gets a rough closing schedule. The Rams in Week 15 look fairly neutral for QB scoring. The Jets and 49ers present two of the position's worst scoring matchups. Altogether, it's the second-worst QB schedule over the final three fantasy weeks (for most leagues). Look for not only a Week 14 fill-in for Howell, but consider potential platoon partners for the fantasy playoffs.