The Commanders lost to the Rams last night and were officially eliminated from playoff contention, so they are officially now playing out the string and likely the Ron Rivera era.
Eric Bickel has finally reached boiling point with the team, and when Jonathan Allen joined EB and JP Flaim later in Monday’s show presented by MainStreet Bank – Cheer Local. Bank Local. Put our team in your office. – he totally understood because, as we know, he’s been there.
“Of course. We’re 4-10, and nobody wanted to see our season go like this, but here we are,” Allen said. “You’re only as good as your work indicates on the field, and as a team, we haven’t been able to be consistent enough to get better.”
Both JP and Allen thought the Commanders competed well despite the 28-7 score before Jacoby Brissett took over for Sam Howell, although a few explosive plays doomed Washington, and that’s honestly part of the learning curve of a young secondary.
“It's tough because we have a lot of young guys in the secondary with Forrest and Reaves going down,” Allen said. “There's gonna be a learning curve, so I understand it. I get it, and it’s obviously frustrating. We wish we could all play perfect all the time, which isn’t possible, but as one of the leaders on defense, it is my job to try to make their job as easy as possible. I don't know if people understand how complicated the game is, but when you're playing to get some of these quarterbacks and you have a bunch of young guys in the secondary, any small mistake will get taken advantage of.
That’s not just on them, it's also on the linebackers and the D-line, you also have to be better. So just as a defense, we just haven't been able to execute this year.”
So what can Allen and the D-line to better?
“Obviously, the easy answer is get more pressure and be better in the run game,” Allen said. “Again, it’s tough when you don't have each group playing off each other consistently. Things are gonna happen, and we can make excuses as to why we're not playing good this year, but we're just not a good defense right now and that's just the fact of the matter.”
Allen thinks the D has been more aggressive since Ron Rivera took over play-calling, but complementary football is key, and as Allen reiterated, “there are definitely times where we haven't held up our end of the bargain.”
So how close is this team to actually being good?
“I think we’re close, but the difference between winning and losing in the NFL is so small that most teams that have a losing record are close to having gone the other way,” Allen said. “Last year, the Vikings were 11-1 in one score games – if a few go the other way and they’re 6-6, that’s a completely different team we're talking about. But, at the end of the day, you’re only as good as your record says.”
Take a listen to Allen’s entire segment above, which includes thoughts on some bright spots on the team this year, Jacoby Brissett’s performance on Sunday, and more!
