- The Washington Times - Monday, October 31, 2022

Ron Rivera didn’t sound like a coach Monday whose team was in the midst of a three-game winning streak. Instead, the Washington Commanders coach appeared — for a lack of a better word — grumpy.

Rivera seemed frustrated over mistakes that nearly cost Washington a win in Sunday’s dramatic 17-16 come-from-behind victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Just as he was the night earlier.

“At the midway point of the season,” Rivera said, “you would like to think that we’re going to do what we’re asked.” 

The Commanders (4-4) have won three straight to climb back to .500 and insert themselves in the thick of the NFL’s playoff race. But in that span, Washington’s victories have come by a combined eight points — with two of the games requiring a fourth-quarter comeback. 

The Commanders will take any win they can get, but winning ugly can only get a team so far in the NFL. And against the Colts, Rivera took issue with how some players “did their own things” at critical moments, and not in a good way. NFL teams are too good, Rivera said, to get away with freelancing.

“If you got 10 guys doing their job (and) one guy not, that one guy, they’re gonna find you,” Rivera said, “and you can’t have that because that hurts.” 

Last season, Rivera often lamented the lack of discipline along the team’s defensive line — with the group not sticking to their gaps and pass rush lanes. But this year, that issue has mostly been fixed while other problems have popped up in their place. 

Sunday’s breakdowns against the Colts didn’t just happen on defense. In fact, Indianapolis got back into the contest because of how Washington’s offense fell flat in the second half. Even with their rally over the final two drives, the Commanders finished just 2 of 12 on third down — and 0 of 6 on the down in the second half. The team’s last third-down conversion came with 1:18 left to go in the second quarter.

The hot-and-cold nature of Washington’s offense started with Heinicke. After going 8 of 11 for 108 yards and a touchdown in the first half, the 29-year-old went just 3 of 5 for 20 yards in the third and threw an interception to start the fourth. But Heinicke heated up again on the final two drives — throwing for 151 yards on 12 of 14 passing, including 5 for 5 on the final series. 

A week earlier against Green Bay, Heinicke had the opposite problem: He started slowly before finding his rhythm to help lead Washington over the Packers.

“It’s the intangibles that really keep this team together,” said Heinicke, who ran in the game-winning touchdown against the Colts. “A lot of the wins aren’t pretty, but it’s a win nonetheless. The guys have a lot of heart. They keep battling. … It’s my favorite team I’ve ever been on, favorite locker room I’ve been with and I can’t say enough good things about all the guys in here.”

Heinicke’s teammates feed off the quarterback’s energy. For the third season in a row, Heinicke has come off the bench to lead Washington — doing so this time in place of an injured Carson Wentz. Safety Jeremy Reaves tweeted after the win that Heinicke was a winner, adding “I don’t give a (darn) what y’all say about him!”

Rivera said he doesn’t view Heinicke differently than last year, when the signal-caller stepped in for an injured Ryan Fitzpatrick to start 15 games. But the coach said that the 29-year-old’s timing in his progressions has improved. Heinicke, he said, looks more comfortable.

Elsewhere, the happiest Rivera sounded Monday was when he noted that pass-rusher Chase Young is expected to practice this week for the first time since tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament last November. The Commanders will have 21 days to activate Young off the Physically Unable to Perform list, so there’s no guarantee that the former Defensive Rookie of the Year will make his season debut next weekend against the Minnesota Vikings.

In the Vikings, the Commanders will likely face a stiff test. Former Washington offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell, in his first year at the helm of the Vikings, has Minnesota off to a 6-1 start with quarterback Kirk Cousins. Next Sunday will mark Cousins’ first game at FedEx Field since leaving Washington in 2018.

The Vikings are part of a tough two-game stretch for Washington as the Commanders will then have to face the undefeated Eagles on “Monday Night Football” on Nov. 14.

“We’ll have to match those guys,” Rivera said. “That’s one of the things that we’re going to find out — Can we match a team like that? Can we stand toe to toe? … I do like our guys. I like how resilient they are.”

• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.

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