The scariest part of the Washington Commanders' collapse is the worst part – coaching.
It's not just coach Ron Rivera's lack of urgency or clock mismanagement. It's also poor play calling by offensive coordinator Scott Turner. Maybe defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio gets a short-term pass after his unit finally isn't overrun, but the season grade is poor.
Rivera keeps talking about the future, but the NFL is all about today. Look at other teams' resurgences. The New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles have standout turnarounds while reports of the Dallas Cowboys' decline are widely wrong. Meanwhile, Washington's firmly in the NFC East basement in Rivera's third year.
The Commanders aren't getting better. And, they won't get better. Oh, they'll maybe snap a four-game losing streak against the Chicago Bears on Thursday, maybe. But, this is another train wreck of a season after an offseason of poor personnel decisions by Rivera and awful game planning by coordinators.
Rivera has sadly fallen upon excuse making. This from someone who famously never accepted excuses while coaching in Carolina. That passion is gone. Rivera is more like a college professor with tenure who lets his teaching assistants handle the heavy lifting. There's nothing wrong with that, but you can't be an NFL coach.
This is a "coach centric" team, said owner Dan Snyder when hiring Rivera. That means all the power and all the blame fall on Rivera. And, that's fair.
The offensive line decisions crippled this team. Replacing guards Brandon Scherff and Ereck Flowers with two former Carolina Panthers has been disastrous. Scherff reportedly wanted to leave, but the old Snyder regime would have paid whatever it took. So, Rivera opts for Trai Turner, who has been hurt and then so bad Rivera made the unusual move of replacing Turner during a game. That's unheard of for an offensive lineman. Meanwhile, left guard Andrew Norwell has been awful and committed costly penalties in the 21-17 loss to Tennessee on Sunday.
Rivera likes to lean on losing center Chase Roullier to injury. Never has a center in the history of football seemed so important. Wes Schweitzer wasn't good as a replacement before being hurt and third center Nick Martin was awful against Tennessee. Still, center is not what's crippling the Commanders.
The bottom line is the team too often looks unprepared, doesn't handle in-game adjustments well and lacks any fire. It's up to players to perform, but it's also up to coaches to lead them and that's just not working.
Now here's the scariest part of all – what's next? If Snyder fires Rivera after the season, partly to salvage whatever fans are left, who helps the owner pick the successor? The front office is all of Rivera's people too, meaning a complete makeover. Snyder doesn't know personnel leaguewide to pick a coach much less a GM. Not after Vinny Cerrato and Bruce Allen are on Snyder's resume.
The Commanders should call their next stadium "The Basement" because that's where they’re staying.
Rick Snider has covered Washington sports since 1978. Follow him on Twitter: @Snide_Remarks.
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