Washington fans were fed up Thursday night after the Commanders’ embarrassing 40-20 home loss to the Chicago Bears. It was the fourth consecutive game that Washington allowed 30 or more points and the second straight blowout loss at home.
This is front of third sellout of the season at FedEx Field. And while the loss in Week 3 was to the Buffalo Bills, a legitimate Super Bowl contender, Thursday’s loss was to the Chicago Bears, which had lost 14 straight games.
Buy Commanders TicketsNot surprisingly, Washington fans were out for blood on social media, calling for the Commanders’ new ownership group to fire head coach Ron Rivera. Or, for Rivera to fire defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio.
Rivera met with reporters via Zoom on Friday and was asked about any potential staff changes. He shut it down.
“No, no,” Rivera said via John of Keim of ESPN. “We’re, what, at Game 5; we’ve got 12 left to play. There’s plenty of football left.”
As much as fans don’t want to hear this, there are lots of things to consider when making these types of changes. Who would step in for Del Rio? I can hear the response to this: “Well, anyone can do what Del Rio is doing.”
In actuality, you’d be firing someone just to be firing someone. Rivera’s not going to do that. And it’s doubtful new managing partner Josh Harris interferes with any coaching moves right now. Harris and his partners are in full evaluation mode. That evaluation isn’t going too well for Washington’s coaching staff at the moment.
But as Rivera said, there are 12 games remaining. Rivera’s team often responds with at least one hot streak during his time in Washington. And for some reason, the Commanders always seem to start slow under Rivera and Del Rio.
However, all bets are off if the Commanders continue to lose, especially ugly home losses.
