Ron Rivera bizarrely reveals he didn't know Commanders would get eliminated from playoff contention with loss vs. Browns
For the Washington Commanders, Sunday was a day full of bizarre things happening on and off the field.
The decision to start Carson Wentz over Taylor Heinicke in the most important game of the season backfired instantly, with Wentz throwing three picks, no touchdowns and completing just 16 passes. A 24-10 loss against the Cleveland Browns meant that, with a win from the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers, the Commanders would be eliminated.
Well, both the Lions and the Packers triumphed, which meant another season without postseason contention from Washington. But the bizarre stuff continued when head coach Ron Rivera learned that the team was at risk of being eliminated with a week to go.
On Monday, he acknowledged during a press conference that he made a mistake, but said that he was expecting to win the game and, because of that, did not know that Washington was at risk.
“I know I made a little bit of a gaffe yesterday, not realizing that we could get knocked out of the playoffs, but to be honest with you, I never thought that we would lose. I was anticipating winning. I was anticipating our game getting flexed to Sunday at 8:30," Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera said.
The Commanders currently sit with a 7-8-1.
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Why were the Commanders eliminated so early?
The midseason winning streak was a clear fluke. Washington won six games during a seven-week span, but they did so against the worst teams in the league, such as the Houston Texans, the Chicago Bears, the Indianapolis Colts and the Atlanta Falcons. They also beat the Green Bay Packers when everyone thought that Green Bay's season was over.
Even their win against the Philadelphia Eagles was a weird one. The Eagles were still undefeated, but looked like a shadow of themselves during that Monday Night Football game. Poor officiating also played a part in the upset.
Washington has a lot of work to do before competing with the Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys for the NFC East again - and they're behind the New York Giants by a mile, too. First and foremost, they should fix the quarterback position, because neither Wentz nor Heinicke is the long-term solution. They also have to rethink Ron Rivera as the head coach.
Apart from all these decisions, the franchise is going through huge turmoil with Dan Snyder and the NFL. The odds are that the Commanders get sold in the coming months and Washington finally gets a real owner with morals and some decency, which will help the entire organization.