Vincent Frank
Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera has put his foot in his mouth a few times during an otherwise solid career in the NFL.
Late last season, Rivera admitted that he had no idea where the Commanders stood in relation to the playoff race following a Week 17 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
Entering what is likely a do-or-die season for the head coach, he named second-year quarterback Sam Howell as the team’s starting quarterback heading into Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals.
In talking about his impressive young quarterback, Rivera admitted he didn’t know how good Howell was as a rookie before eventually turning to him to start Week 18 against the Dallas Cowboys.
“You can ask Stephanie, all we f—ing talked about was the quarterback, what the quarterback did, who he was,” Rivera said, sitting on his office couch on another steamy August day. “I kept saying, F—, if I would have known this, I would have played him sooner. When you only have so much time to show it, it’s hard, I kept thinking, God … but after that game, everything told me this kid, give him the opportunity and see what he does with it,” Ron Rivera to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated.
Prior to Howell’s Week 18 win over the Dallas Cowboys, Washington had lost three consecutive games and was eliminated from playoff contention. That three-game span saw the Commanders score a total of 42 points with Taylor Heinicke and Carson Wentz struggling big time.
Related: Why the Washington Commanders have set Sam Howell up to succeed
Washington Commanders as a surprise team
Based on Howell’s preseason performance and the talent level around him, many believe that the Commanders will surprise in 2023. The team has a new ownership group led by Josh Harris. The Daniel Snyder drama is behind the organization, too.
Even then, it’s all about Rivera getting the most of this group. In three seasons as Washington’s head coach, the team has posted a 22-27-1 record under the veteran defensive mind. All said, Rivera has not won a playoff game since he was the Carolina Panthers’ head coach all the way back in 2015. The pressure is squarely on Rivera.
He now needs to do a bit better with the attention to detail as evidenced by this most-recent admission. After all, things could have turned out differently last season if he had gone with Howell as QB1 long before Week 18.
