Commanders Coffee #14

[Canadian Hog]

If the Washington Commanders are able to string together three wins in their final four and finish with 10 wins on the season, should Ron Rivera be given Coach of the Year consideration?

 

[SkinsOrlando]

Not sure how ten wins would qualify him for consideration, yes we're doing it with a QB with questionable NFL talent but I think the other contenders are way stronger than Ron. Sirianni in Philly, Saleh in NY (if they make the playoffs), McDaniel in Miami (same as Jets if they make the playoffs) and as much as it makes me vomit Shanahan if he keeps the 9'ers winning after losing both QB's on the season are much stronger cases imo.

 

[Chris]

I would say no. Not that the in-season turn-around hasn’t been enjoyable but I expected 9-10 wins before the season started. For me, Rivera needs to improve on the habitual poor starts to be a COY candidate.

His teams should not consistently require a change of approach to save the season.

 

[Boone]

If Rivera doesn’t get this team to the playoffs this year, I hope a new owner moves on.

 

[Bulldog]

If I am the new owner I really want to know whether the decision to acquire Carson Wentz was a Ron Rivera move or a Dan Snyder move that Rivera was covering for.

If Rivera was handcuffed as we saw with the Haskins pick in 2019 under Gruden or the 2012 pick of RGIII under Shanahan, then I would be tempted to let him continue for at least another year.

This team has drafted well over the past 2-3 years and has young, talented players spread across the roster.

The quarterback is the one position where we have been less than our opponents over time.

And if that decision is not the fault of the head coach then I think you have to give him a quarterback HE chooses and see what the team then can achieve.

 

[Chris]

This thread has quickly transitioned from whether Rivera should be considered for COY to should he keep his job.

 

[Boone]

Fair take. Only counter I’ll make is that QB hasn’t been Rivera’s only challenge. The chronic and inexplicable slow starts, and poor game and clock management are concerning.

 

[Boone]

That’s my bad - sorry about that CH. Back to the Coach of the Year question

 

[Bulldog]

If the Seahawks keep winning Pete Carroll is probably going to get the COY award because of the departure of so many veterans from his SB teams over the past couple of years and the resurrection of Geno Smith, who quite honestly I didn't know was still in the NFL until the opening game of the season when he faced off against Russell Wilson in that prime time game.

 

[Canadian Hog]

That’s my bad - sorry about that CH. Back to the Coach of the Year question

All good, John! I just like throwing questions out there and seeing where they go.

I know there are much stronger candidates out there this season, but let's say we went 9-2-1 or dare to think it, even 10-1-1 after a disastrous 1-4 start to open the season. Would it count for something? Or is the entire body of work more important?

 

[Bulldog]

In part I think Rivera would suffer from an anti-Washington bias in the media because of the smell coming from the owner's box.

Even at 7-5-1 Washington is getting little credit or applause for turning their season around whereas teams like Seattle, NYG, and Miami are being lionized for their performances.

Ironically, Troy Aikman the former Cowboy was the only talking head I saw that credited Washington. When discussing the NFC playoff picture, he indicated that people should not 'go to sleep on Washington as he likes their chemistry', etc.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

I don’t want to mimimize the job Ron has done this year, but here are the coaches that would be higher than him in the coach of the year race. I went division by division, so no other particular order is specified.

NFC:
Sirianni
O’Connell
Shanahan
Carroll

AFC:
Saleh
McDaniel
McDermott
Taylor
Reid

Some of these guys, you could probably say Ron is on par with for the job he’s done. But there is also some fantastic jobs being done by other coaches around the league, plus you have the familiar names of guys who just keep getting it done. Looking at this list, you could say that Ron is probably in the top 10, but he wouldn’t be in the top 5 for coach of the year in my opinion.

 

[Boone]

If they were able to get to the playoffs and do something crazy like get to the NFC Championship game, he’d have to be considered. I could just as easily see us getting beat by the Giants and collapsing down the stretch.

Our failure to be able to win in New York in a game that was there for the taking with so much riding on it has sapped me of a lot of confidence.

 

[Neophyte]

Honestly...no.

There have been too many places this season, or even pre-season, he could have made a bold move and didn't.

 

[SilentThreat]

No, he should not be coach of the year.

Pete Carroll, Robert Saleh, Nick Sirianni, Mike McDaniel.... all better candidates.

hell, if the 49ers can somehow overcome losing BOTH starting QBs and win their division... that's unheard of.

Yes we've gone 6-1-1 in our last 8, but another slow start to the season, and a team that has entered the season with the WEAKEST schedule in the NFL is now on the outside of the wildcard chase looking in.

 

[Chris]

Has Rivera been better this year than 4th in the NFCE?

 

[DieselPwr44]

Name me one coach that has had to deal with Dan Snyder and all of the investigations and allegations that have happened over the last two years and were able to somehow have a winning record this year?

No other head coach has had to deal with outside distractions on this type of level than Rivera.
Literally no moment of peace.

 

[Chris]

Very fair and inarguable point.

I was thinking more from the standpoint of sheer on-field results and roster-building alone. In my mind, Washington is currently the worst from that perspective when taking into account expectations. However, to be fair, the season’s story is still obviously incomplete.

 

[Bulldog]

Also, let's consider that while a surprise at 7-5 the other teams Seattle has faced isn't exactly a murderer's row. The Rams and Cardinals are a joke this season due to injuries and non-competitive.

I'm a bit amused by folks that are so surprised that in this run we have a down game given how we started and what the expectations were at 1-4.

Another way to look at the Giants game is to say Washington unlike previous efforts against Philly and Green Bay came out flat and didn't seem to have the same consistent energy level as in those other games.

And with all of that the GIANTS were not able to win the game. If Slye makes all of his kicks, they in fact don't win the game.

So, Washington is 7-5-1, Seattle is 7-5 and the Giants are 7-4-1.

You can talk about percentage differences between #6 and #8 at this point, Washington is hardly on the 'outside looking in' unless we are going minute by minute the way we see the annoying analytics during each game that show the 'odds of winning' with a 7 point lead in the second quarter of a 10-3 football game

We know the Giants have a difficult closing schedule and haven't really looked good for a month and a half.

Seattle still has to play Kansas City, San Francisco and the Jets after Carolina.

 

[Boone]

Agreed on most of that Bulldog. I wouldn’t say they ‘came out flat’ as this was a rare game where Washington scored in the first quarter and built a lead. But they made a lot of mistakes, failed to put the Giants away, and got some tough calls by the officiating crew.

As SilentThreat said last night on Blind Pig, it was not one of our best overall performances in a moment where a more consistent effort easily wins a big game for us.

The problem with not winning that one is that we all think our wildcard competition will fold in their remaining tough games but that doesn’t mean that’s what will happen.