Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera found his fall guy after their blowout 45-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving.
After losing for the eighth time in their past 10 games, the Commanders fired defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio. It was Rivera’s way of both admitting that his defense is trash and that he is indeed on the hot seat himself.
This is unlikely to save Rivera’s job. But at the very least, he’ll likely continue to man the sidelines for the remainder of the season. At least, that was the thought process heading into Sunday’s home date with the Miami Dolphins.
About that? Washington was humiliated in front of its “home crowd” by the score of 45-15. It was an embarrassment of all sorts as Miami took a 31-7 lead into the half.
That included two long touchdown catches from star wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Both happened with Washington opting against providing safety help for cornerback Kendall Fuller. One really has to wonder what Rivera was thinking. After all, Hill got up to nearly 20 miles-per-hour on the second touchdown. No one is going to stay with him in single coverage. That’s clear to even the untrained eye.
By virtue of their latest loss, the Commanders find themselves at 4-9 and have lost nine of their past 11 games. They are now guaranteed a losing season for the third time in four years under Rivera.
- Ron Rivera coaching record (w/ Commanders): 26-36-1
Washington’s defense gave up north of 400 yards with Miami taking its foot off the gas as the game quickly turned into a blowout.
The backdrop here is new Commanders owner Josh Harris now likely looking for his own man to call the shots once another lost season for Washington comes to a conclusion.
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It goes without saying that those watching the game did not have a lot of good things to say about Rivera. In fact, there are renewed calls for Washington to simply move on from him right now.
Washington does have a bye coming up next week. If there was any time to fire Rivera it would be right now. You simply can’t retain your job when being blown out and humiliated on a weekly basis.