Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera was asked last week what he appreciated about playing in the Thanksgiving Day game. He cited the downtime that would come on the other side.
“It’ll be a couple extra days to relax a little bit,” he said.
That’s not exactly how it played out.
Rivera fired defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio on Friday after a humiliating loss in Dallas, and will assume that post when the staff reconvenes on Monday.
If there was any glimmer of hope remaining after Thursday’s meltdown, it was extinguished on Sunday. Even if the Commanders win out, computer simulations do not predict they would make the playoffs.
The New York Giants edged past the Commanders into third place in the NFC East with a win over the Patriots, and the Commanders, now last in the NFC East, would hold the No. 5 overall selection in the draft if it were held today.
This isn’t the first time a season has been lost before the calendar turns to December, but the quirks of this year’s schedule will give Rivera lots of time to reflect on what went wrong.
The Commanders face the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, then depart for their bye week before the home stretch.
That also gives Rivera time to prepare for the job ahead of him. Rivera will take over calling the defensive plays, while Christian Garcia will be elevated into fired defensive backs coach Brent Vieselmeyer’s job.
Del Rio had been Rivera’s coordinator for all four seasons in Washington, and while the defense started the year with six first-round draft picks playing, they were never able to turn that talent into production.
Washington has the league’s worst defense this year, allowing 29.2 points per game.
“For whatever reason, it just wasn’t coming together,” Rivera said on Friday. “We haven’t played as well as we’d like to have this season.
“I think shaking it up now gives us an opportunity to do some things differently and play some guys differently.”
Rivera wouldn’t go into specifics about what he would do differently than Del Rio, and said the two didn’t have any disagreements over scheme or personnel, just that Rivera would attempt to put his own stamp on the unit to try to get them going.
It’s the second big moment in terms of on-field decisions for new owner Josh Harris, who also signed off on trading Chase Young and Montez Sweat four weeks ago.
“I feel exactly how our fans feel today: disappointed and frustrated,” Harris said in a statement on Friday. “It’s how our players and staff feel as well. I knew our first season of ownership would include challenges along the way, and we will not shy away from hard work, nor will we be deterred by adversity.”
He added at the end: “Thank you to our fans for the ways in which you’ve breathed new life into our franchise. We have not been good enough this season, but our resolve for the future is unbroken.”
One domino effect of the move is that Rivera will now spend his practice and coaching time on the defensive side of the ball, leaving offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy the final five weeks to prove himself capable with young quarterback Sam Howell.
Washington’s offense also struggled in the loss, including a fourth-and-1 run where miscommunication led to a collision in the backfield.
“You’re going to take knocks early on; things don’t just automatically become easy,” Rivera said of Bieniemy, likening it to his own first year as a coordinator. “We’ve done some really good things offensively. But, you know, we’re working to get to the consistency portion of it. And I know that’s one thing that EB always talks about.”
While Bieniemy has five weeks to prove he can show that consistency, Rivera likely has five weeks remaining before the end of his tenure in Washington.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.