Ron Rivera’s Washington teams were embarrassed by the Cowboys in 2023.
Rivera’s team was so overwhelmed in that 45-10 Thanksgiving Day snoozer. A few weeks later, in D.C., the Commanders were again embarrassed by the Cowboys, 38-10.
What about the three times Rivera did beat the Cowboys, going 3-5 against Dallas?
In 2022, Rivera announced he was returning to Taylor Heinicke for the season finale at home against Dallas.
The previous week, Rivera had been so confused following the game that he revealed inadvertently he actually did not even realize the Commanders could be eliminated from the playoffs, seeing they had just lost to the Browns.
Leading up to the finale against the Cowboys, Taylor Heinicke made himself clear to Rivera that the final game was time for Rivera to play rookie Sam Howell and that Heinicke was not playing.
The Cowboys were already in the playoffs, Washington had won, and Ron Rivera apparently drove home with his wife, gushing over Howell’s performance as a starting quarterback.
Rivera quickly announced Howell would be his QB1 when the team reported to training camp later that summer.
His other two wins against the Cowboys came in the 2020 season when Dallas starter Dak Prescott was injured, and the Cowboys’ offense became anemic. Washington won both contests easily.
Rivera’s team only finished 7-9 that season, but because of injuries, the Cowboys and Eagles fell down the NFC East ladder, and Washington took the division.
Rivera then mistakenly thought the team was better than they were, so he went out in free agency and signed aging quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to lead Washington. It was as if it had not appeared to Rivera that finishing first in the division disillusioned him into thinking his team was much better. In reality, the same 7-9 team finishing third in the division would not have resulted in anyone thinking they were a contender.
Commanders fans hope Dan Quinn can deliver them from Ron Rivera’s confusing era, during which Rivera never produced a winning team.
