Pardon Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera for four lost seasons. He could just never find a quarterback.
Sam Howell will start against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, which is the season’s final curtain and Rivera’s curtain call. Howell may become the team’s first passer in six seasons to reach 4,000 yards, but it has been a slow walk to the cemetery lately. Only three touchdowns in nearly two months. No 200-yard games in the past month. Ten interceptions over six games. Those early-season haymakers are gone.
Maybe Howell’s light is flickering because defensive coordinators figured out the passer, or offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. An offensive line that once threatened to allow 100 sacks ironically improved once three starters were removed, but Howell’s internal clock was ruined and three Mississippi counts became panic attacks and poor choices.
Maybe the next coach fixes Howell, but it won’t be Rivera. He never figured out the right quarterback in four seasons, and it cost him everything. From owner Dan Snyder forcing Dwayne Haskins to start in 2020 to Ryan Fitzpatrick lasting barely an opening quarter in 2021 to Rivera standing on a table for Carson Wentz in 2022 to Howell inheriting the wind this season, it has been a steady stream of nothing.
Bad quarterbacks get a coach fired. Ask Rivera on Monday.
It’s not all Rivera’s fault. The franchise has started 35 passers since its last Super Bowl championship in 1991. It would have been 36 if Jacoby Brissett hadn’t suddenly pulled a hamstring last week.
Rivera seemingly sighed when reflecting on the biggest reason he’ll be gone. Oh, his kingdom for a one-arm man who could read defenses and stay healthy. Rivera said any new coach inheriting such a passer was lucky and Washington’s only luck has been bad since before its current players were born.
Howell will audition once more against Dallas in the finale, hoping it leads to starting next season under a new coach. And, maybe it will. With a loss, Washington will draft second or third, and that usually means quarterback.
But, there are many moons before that decision is done. Maybe the next bosses decide to trade down for more picks and take an offensive tackle so the 2024 quarterback won’t be beaten into submission. Washington has many ways to spin its draft, but tradition says a new quarterback is coming. After all, owner Josh Harris needs to sell tickets to more than visiting fans, and nothing does so like a first-round passer.
Rivera is only focused on Sunday, not Monday when the pink slip assuredly comes. Certainly, that’s a professional way to spend the final days.
But excuse Rivera for being a little nostalgic over four years of never finding his quarterback. He’s not the first and won’t be the last, but it still stings more than a little.
