When Ron Rivera was hired as Washington’s head coach in Jan. 2020, he assumed complete control of the entire organization from the football side. In addition to being the coach, he was Washington’s general manager.
Rivera had control of everything, letting go of Kyle Smith in 2021 to hire his handpicked front office, led by Martin Mayhew, Marty Hurney and Eric Stokes.
Without going into much detail, it hasn’t worked out. Yes, Rivera has faced obstacles most other coaches will never see, but he failed in the little things he could control repeatedly.
There have been failed draft picks, lots of them, and bad free-agent signings — most of them. There have also been head-scratching moves on the sideline.
In Washington’s latest loss, a 28-20 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, we witnessed a little bit of everything.
First, there was long snapper Camaron Cheeseman. Remember, Washington traded up in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL draft to take Cheeseman. It’s rare NFL teams draft a long snapper in the first place, much less trade up for one. Cheeseman had a day to forget on Sunday.
He had at least three bad snaps in the loss, one of which almost saw punter Tress Way suffer a serious injury. Cheeseman skipped the ball back to Way, who had no choice but to cover it, leading to excellent field position for the Rams. Unfortunately, he took a hard hit and left to undergo evaluation for a possible concussion.
Fortunately, Way was fine and returned. However, on two point-after attempts, Cheeseman snapped the ball low each time. Way was able to save one, allowing kicker Joey Slye to convert. On the final PAT, the Rams blocked it as the entire timing of the play was off due to the snap.
It was bad. And to make matters worse, this has been happening since training camp. Players defended Cheeseman, saying he was working with a new grip. Rivera always defended Cheeseman, insisting last month things were fine.
Ron Rivera on long snapper Cheeseman from Nov. 12th: "I’m not concerned. We got it straightened out in the end when it mattered, when it counted. They all matter, they all count."
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) December 17, 2023
When Cheeseman struggled in the summer, the coach refused to bring in competition.
Why? Because Rivera, the coach, was defending Rivera, the GM. That’s always a problem when the head coach also has the final say on personnel.
As if the Cheeseman situation wasn’t enough, there was a sequence late in the fourth quarter where the Commanders couldn’t seem to get out of their own way.
Quarterback Jacoby Brissett connected with Terry McLaurin for a 49-yard completion. Officials initially ruled McLaurin scored but later overturned the call. Instead, Washington would have the ball at the one-yard line with around 4:47 remaining in the game with a chance to cut the Rams’ lead to 28-21.
What happened? The Commanders scored a touchdown, but not until there was 1:46 remaining in the game. That’s right, it took Washington three minutes and 10 plays, beginning at the one-yard line, to score a touchdown.
In that sequence, after two railed runs, Los Angeles was called for pass interference, giving the Commanders another chance. When tight end Logan Thomas seemingly caught a touchdown pass, officials correctly called him for offensive pass interference.
The playcalling was questionable, the clock management was poor, and the execution was terrible. And when Washington eventually did score, Cheeseman’s snap led to a missed PAT. While not all of that is Rivera’s fault, it’s his team and his coaching staff. Who knows what would’ve happened if the Commanders had scored much sooner?
That sums up Rivera’s tenure to a tee. That sums up another miserable season for the Commanders.
