LANDOVER, Md. – With the collapse all but complete, Josh Harris should put Ron Rivera out of his misery after the Washington Commanders were soon shelled by the Dallas Cowboys just outside Dallas on Thanksgiving afternoon. Or after the Commanders’ unexpectedly narrow defeat against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving afternoon outside Dallas. Or after the Commanders’ surprising victory over the Cowboys on Thanksgiving afternoon just outside Dallas. It no longer matters what happens outside of Dallas.
Harris should thank Rivera for trying to resurrect the once neglectful culture under Jay Gruden, for keeping Washington competitive despite COVID-19 and some really unfortunate injuries (not that every team doesn’t suffer injuries), and for that he made it -field product that was palatable throughout most of the end of Dan Snyder’s reign. He should thank him and the front office for helping prepare the team’s financial books for a potentially significant free agent effort this coming offseason and for now biting the bullet with the Chase trade Young and Chase Young are making a deposit on future Montez Sweat – giving Washington a real chance to quickly strengthen the team with five picks in the top 100 of next year’s draft.
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Most importantly, Harris should thank Rivera for selecting Sam Howell in the fifth round of the 2022 draft, giving a beleaguered fan base real hope for the first time in a generation that Washington has its quarterback of the future.
But this has to come to an end. It’s time for this franchise to move on.
Commanders quarterback Sam Howell scores a touchdown as Micah McFadden (right) and Xavier McKinney (29) rush toward him in the second quarter. (Geoff Burke/USA Today)
This is written without joy or talk radio fury. It’s mathematics. The Commanders are 4-7 after being defeated by the New York Giants again in the regular season following Sunday’s 31-19 loss at FedEx. They still have to play twice against the Cowboys, the Miami Dolphins and the San Francisco 49ers. There will be no late-season Rivera run this year, meaning Washington will almost certainly finish winless for the fourth straight season under its head coach. Therefore, there is no reason to keep him on the sidelines longer than necessary.
Rivera is in the middle of his tenure and the same things that have always happened every time his team has a chance to take a step forward are happening again and again. More explosive plays from one of the worst defenses in the league; more turnovers and sacks by an offense that can never get the ball to its best players nearly often enough. Most damning: more inexplicable performances against subpar opponents. On Sunday, Howell threw three interceptions against a struggling New York defense, Logan Thomas and Chris Rodriguez killed two more drives with fumbles and Byron Pringle fumbled at the end of his kickoff return early in the second half.
On the other side of the field, Tommy DeVito, the Giants’ third-string quarterback, certainly got beat up and collected nine sacks. He also completed 18 of 26 yards for 246 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions and left with a 137.7 rating.
The lack of hot running water in the locker rooms in Washington and New York was a ridiculously apt metaphor for how failed the commanders had been and the changes that needed to be made.
“It goes back and forth,” Jonathan Allen said. “One game the offense will play well, the next game the defense will play well. Until we play together, this result will remain like this. It sucks. I don’t really have much to say.”
Washington will play again in 96 hours. It will fly to Dallas on Wednesday. There simply isn’t enough time for a coaching change before the Turkey Day spectacle. So wait until the team gets back from Texas and has a short week off and do what needs to be done. Because commanders need to get started as quickly as possible to figure out who they will be next, and they need to be able to turn to who they think best reflects that vision of ownership. And contacts with the best assistant coaches in the league must be expanded as quickly as possible.
You might want to make the change right this second, after Sunday, when the home team’s offense and special teams had nearly as many turnovers (six) as their defense had quarterback sacks. (If there aren’t more Commanders values, man.) The final turnover came when Howell, looking to score a touchdown drive in the final two minutes, came under pressure and tried to throw the ball out of bounds. However, he only got the ball to the hands of Giants linebacker Isaiah Simmons, who intercepted it and returned the pick 54 yards down the sideline for the final score.
“The most frustrating thing is I think we have a really good football team,” Howell said. “We have so much potential in this locker room. The disappointing thing is that we’re not getting the results that we think we’re definitely capable of… it’s definitely not what we expected. We know we are a better team than we showed this year.”
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But that’s just it. The commanders are not a good team. They have talent on both sides of the ball. But you can’t see it on Sundays, not nearly enough.
Whether it’s the players not doing what they’re supposed to do or the coaches not putting them in the best positions to succeed, the Commanders have never played anything close to 60 minutes of supplemental football with regularity this season. It’s amazing that this team lost twice to a Giants team that had Tyrod Taylor and DeVito at quarterback, respectively. It’s ridiculous that this team was beaten on their home field by the hapless Chicago Bears.
Rivera insisted his team was ready to play on Sunday. On his fourth offensive attack, Howell threw a no-chance pass to Dyami Brown in coverage, who was blocked by cornerback Nick McCloud. Midway through the first quarter, Saquon Barkley hit Jamin Davis for a 24-yard touchdown catch. Yes, the defense kept Barkley in check on the ground for most of the day. They were also hurt by him on runs of 36 and 31 yards in the second half. The Commanders also allowed a 40-yard score from DeVito to a wide-open Darius Slayton on another missed coverage.
I asked Rivera afterwards if anyone needed to be benched due to another defensive glitch.
“There are things we need to look at, we just need to continue to discuss it and then move forward,” Rivera said.
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Owners are generally reluctant to make changes during the season, mainly because they never work. (It’s also about promoting an assistant coach from the existing team to the head coaching position, which almost always means a raise for the new boss during the season.) But no one should expect them to start late in the season becomes. It’s about finishing this season as quickly as possible and moving on to the next one. And – I mean this – I thank Rivera for the work he’s done here. It was hard and necessary. But it’s time to turn the page.
An hour after the game, the public address system suddenly came to life in the empty stadium and – I swear – the theme from “Curb Your Enthusiasm” played over the music as a message over and over again: First and 10 at the 44… First and 10 at the 44 … First and 10 at the 44 … First and 10 at the 44 …
The metaphors of failure flowed through FedEx while the hot water did not.
(Top photo: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)