• Welcome to BGO! We know you will have questions as you become familiar with the software. Please take a moment to read our New BGO User Guide which will give you a great start. If you have questions, post them in the Feedback and Tech Support Forum, or feel free to message any available Staff Member.

Random Commanders Thoughts

After a tumultuous and chaotic first season, we are really in the first real season of ‘rebuilding’. Last season was about navigating challenges and cutting dead weight that wasn’t going to be part of the future. That’s why guys like Kerrigan and Peterson and Smith and Haskins were sent packing. This season is just the start. We had way more needs to fill than we could ever satisfy in a single season. Winning a bad division last season was a nice accomplishment but I think that resulted in almost everyone losing context in terms of where this team is, and should be expected to be.

We have major talent needs at WR, QB, LB, Safety, CB, and kicker spots at a minimum. And we’ve seen over and over how the right QB can cover a teams deficiencies.

If you view where we are in that context, Snider’s suggestion that we need to blow it up and start over sounds ridiculous. Honestly, this is probably what we all should’ve expected in Year 2 of a rebuild.
 
I agree it is far too early for this discussion and I maintain that the worst thing that happened was the fool’s gold of last season’s results/schedule that led to both unrealistic expectations and unwarranted confidence.
 
Maybe Boone...

However, I can't help but remember Gibbs' first season. We started 0-5 and Gibbs was thinking he was on the verge of getting fired so he blew up his entire philosophy on offense. He put his ego on hold and effectively started from scratch building a system that fit the talents of the players he had. We all know what happened next.

I don't see that kind of hubris from this coaching staff (not that I have seen it from any coaching staff other than Gibbs 2 since Joe left the first time but still). We have enough talent on both sides of the ball to compete better than we are but the coordinators are stubbornly clinging to the "what we do works" mantra we all remember from the Norv days.

Are we still building? Sure. Absolutely.

But then so are 31 other franchises. There are no "finished" articles in today's NFL. The salary cap and free agency make that a practical if not literal impossibility.

On offense, we have a line that seems purpose-built to run the ball and a back who has shown an ability to both get tough yards and big plays. It would eat clock, shorten the game, give the defense a rest, and take the pressure off a QB who has now started all of 6 games. Yet Turner is determined to put the game on Heinickie's shoulders week-in and week-out. Ego.

On defense, we continue to play the same guys, in the same places, using the same scheme and we continue to give up big play after big play. It is all well and good to say that we are just a couple of bad plays away from winning but that is every losing team in the league every week. When you go 6 weeks without seeing any improvement what-so-ever and without seeing any adjustments, that is insanity.

I can't always be about more talent. At some point, it has to be about changing the philosophy and so far no one on this staff has shown an understanding around that.
 
I do see hubris in this staff. From the outside it firmly appears that they have total belief in their plan and that the athletes inability to execute it is the only problem.
 
I like Rivera and don't want him gone. But, the fire he's known for seems gone right now. I'm not sure why, but he used to be a very in your face hard nosed coach. Now he just seems like he's going with it.
 
So Bob - the bar for our coaches is Joe Gibbs - a HOFer and in the convo as one of the best all time?

Is that really fair?

Obviously I see a lot of what you guys do, but Rivera, Del Rio and Turner did JUST GET HERE. I think our expectations are at least as responsible for our disappointment as what we’re seeing on the field.

Mike - Rivera was never a fiery coach in the open in Carolina. He was almost always calm and ‘reasonable’. The only time you’ll see the real guy is in the locker room or when there aren’t supposed to be cameras around.
 
Chris said:
I do see hubris in this staff. From the outside it firmly appears that they have total belief in their plan and that the athletes inability to execute it is the only problem.
Click to expand...

It’s only hubris if it never works out :) If 3 seasons from now we are a truly contending team the ‘sticking to the plan’ and seeming stubbornness looks like commitment, belief, and competence.
 
I would be happy with simply being competitive. This team is likely to be 11-23 after the first two seasons.

It is going to need a top third of the league QB to be truly contending. Either buying one or drafting and developing one. I am very interested in seeing that Buffalo plan play out.
 
Boone said:
So Bob - the bar for our coaches is Joe Gibbs - a HOFer and in the convo as one of the best all time?

Is that really fair?

Obviously I see a lot of what you guys do, but Rivera, Del Rio and Turner did JUST GET HERE. I think our expectations are at least as responsible for our disappointment as what we’re seeing on the field.

Mike - Rivera was never a fiery coach in the open in Carolina. He was almost always calm and ‘reasonable’. The only time you’ll see the real guy is in the locker room or when there aren’t supposed to be cameras around.
Click to expand...

The bar for success? No. That would indeed be unfair.

But is it unfair for me to use Joe as a template for how to coach? Is it unfair to expect professional coaches to recognize that the guys they have don't have the skills to do the jobs they have been assigned and either change guys or change the job? No, I don't think so. In fact, I consider it the very job description of a coach.

It is possible to adjust philosophy to current personnel while still planning for better personnel. It is possible to recognize that you had better play the year before with less-heralded players. It is possible to be competitive NOW while recognizing there is a long way to go.

I'm sorry but sticking with a guy like Collins who is obviously a very bad fit for this defensive system when you got solid results last year with Everett and Reaves is just stubborn and stupid. Collins is obviously NOT the future here. We could get better on-field results now with the other two while still building for the future.

While I am not in favor of blowing it up and starting over, I expect to see signs of progress. Currently, all I see, every week, is the same damn guys doing the same damn things, and that goes for coordinators as well as players.
 
Last edited:
Chris said:
I do see hubris in this staff. From the outside it firmly appears that they have total belief in their plan and that the athletes inability to execute it is the only problem.
Click to expand...
If the current players, chosen by this staff, can't execute either because of mental errors or physical limitations, where do you put the blame?

It is literally the job of the coordinator to put his/her 11 guys in a position to win their individual match-ups and their unit match-ups. If the guys are not winning those match-ups, it is the coordinator's job (along with position coaches) to either coach the players on what to do differently so it doesn't happen again or, if that fails, adjust the scheme to put the player in a better position.

The NFL is full of guys who go from job to job without ever sniffing a Super Bowl because they can't coach and can't adjust. Right now, Del Rio and Turner seem to fit this mold to me. At least in Washington.

Look, it is easy to coach when you have world-class talent. The money is earned with second, third, and fourth-tier guys. All I am asking is for JDR and Turner to earn their money.
 
Last edited:
Neophyte said:
If the current players, chosen by this staff, can't execute either because of mental errors or physical limitations, where do you put the blame?

It is literally the job of the coordinator to put his/her 11 guys in a position to win their individual match-ups and their unit match-ups. If the guys are winning those match-ups, it is the coordinator's job to either coach the players on what to do differently so it doesn't happen again or, if the first thing fails, adjust the scheme to put the player in a better position.

The NFL is full of guys who go from job to job without ever sniffing a Super Bowl because they can't coach and can't adjust. Right now, Del Rio and Turner seem to fit this mold.
Click to expand...

What is that often referenced definition of insanity again? 😉
 
This fan base (probably true of most) has no patience for a rebuild. To rebuild, you have to first tear down. Which means absolutely sucking for a time. Neither the fans nor the people running the team have the patience for that. That is why people call for the coaches head every couple of years.
 
I get all of that Bob. I just have a higher opinion of Rivera and Del Rio. I think there has to be a method to their seeming madness in terms of why they are not making wholesale changes so far. I do think the #1 reason we are not winning is that we have inferior talent at some pretty key positions. Swapping those guys out for other inferior talent sounds good, but I’m not sure it changes anything meaningfully. If we are still floundering in a couple seasons my attitude will likely be different, but right now I have to believe our issues are more about talent and poor execution than coaching. I get that the coaches ultimately own that and certainly aren’t immune to criticism, but we are early on in this teams development. People don’t want to hear that - but it’s true nevertheless.
 
Kel Varnsen said:
This fan base (probably true of most) has no patience for a rebuild. To rebuild, you have to first tear down. Which means absolutely sucking for a time. Neither the fans nor the people running the team have the patience for that. That is why people call for the coaches head every couple of years.
Click to expand...

The signing of Fitzpatrick lends itself to a rebuild as long as they drafted a QB.

The signings of Samuel, Humphries, and Jackson 3 do not.
 
Boone said:
I get all of that Bob. I just have a higher opinion of Rivera and Del Rio. I think there has to be a method to their seeming madness in terms of why they are not making wholesale changes so far. I do think the #1 reason we are not winning is that we have inferior talent at some pretty key positions. Swapping those guys out for other inferior talent sounds good, but I’m not sure it changes anything meaningfully. If we are still floundering in a couple seasons my attitude will likely be different, but right now I have to believe our issues are more about talent and poor execution than coaching. I get that the coaches ultimately own that and certainly aren’t immune to criticism, but we are early on in this teams development. People don’t want to hear that - but it’s true nevertheless.
Click to expand...


If the "inferior" talent plays the scheme better then I think the coaches have an obligation to make that switch. Everett and Reaves both played better last year than Collins is playing this year.

Does anyone here really believe Collins will be on this team in a couple of years? Honestly not sure he will be here next year.

I had that opinion of Rivera and Del Rio. I am losing it at this point. What they did at other teams is history. What they are doing now is who they are now. McNab was a great QB once too but he wasn't that guy here. Maybe JDR and Rivera aren't those guys anymore.
 
At least Del Rio finally moved Collins out of the deep safety role.
 
Neophyte said:
If the "inferior" talent plays the scheme better then I think the coaches have an obligation to make that switch. Everett and Reaves both played better last year than Collins is playing this year.

Does anyone here really believe Collins will be on this team in a couple of years? Honestly not sure he will be here next year.

I had that opinion of Rivera and Del Rio. I am losing it at this point. What they did at other teams is history. What they are doing now is who they are now. McNab was a great QB once too but he wasn't that guy here. Maybe JDR and Rivera aren't those guys anymore.
Click to expand...

Maybe they aren’t. Or maybe it’s Year 2 in dysfunction junction and ‘rebuilds’ here take time. I don’t really even count last season given everything Rivera had dumped in his lap. And yeah, it’s ‘history’ but I’m not going to discount all of those years of competence because of a bad first 1/3rd of the 2021 season.

I get the frustration - I don’t even have a desire to watch the games these days. But I don’t know what we can do other than hope the coaches do have some kind of a plan in place (whether it’s evident to us or not) to right the ship.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 5, Members: 1, Guests: 4)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 23)

Help Users
We are all excited to experience the announcement of draft selections IN REAL TIME TOGETHER. If you feel the need to be the first to 'blurt out' the team's picks you are better off staying out of chat and sticking to Twitter. Please refrain from announcing/discussing our picks until the official announcement has been made at the podium. Thanks!

You haven't joined any rooms.

    You haven't joined any rooms.
    Top