When you play on Sunday, Monday, or Thursday night, all eyes from around the NFL are on you. Other teams are watching you, and fans of other teams are also tuning in because it’s the only game on TV.
So when you make a mistake or have a pathetic showing, expect plenty of hashtags on social media and crying Jordan memes.
In the Washington Commanders’ 12-7 win over the Chicago Bears on Thursday Night Football, one of those moments occurred on Chicago’s lone touchdown of the night.
When Bears quarterback Justin Fields found wide receiver Dante Pettis for a 40-yard touchdown to give the Bears their first lead, the referees threw a flag as the Commanders had 12 men on the field.
Twitter went wild with more jokes at Washington’s expense. Washington can’t even stop the No. 32-ranked Chicago passing offense with 12 defenders on the field?
It was an embarrassing moment for sure, and Washington head coach Ron Rivera discussed that penalty on Friday, calling it “inexcusable.” However, Rivera went in-depth on the penalty and wants his players to use it as a teachable moment.
“I mean, again, you look at some of the things that they did, and we were aware they were gonna do it, and that’s what upsets us because we talked about it,” Rivera said. The guy [Chicago offensive coordinator Luke Getsy] came from Green Bay; he was an assistant there. Green Bay is notorious for trying to get you when you substitute. You’re not supposed to substitute until they substitute is what we said, but we substituted because a guy raised his hand to get out. Well, you know, I can’t say take a knee because if you take a knee and not hurt, then you get in trouble. But when that situation happens, you gotta gut it out, suck it up until they substitute so we can match. And then when they did match, and I said this yesterday, and I know I’m complaining a little bit, but when they substitute late, we should be allowed to match, and we didn’t, and that’s on us. That’s on me.”
Fortunately for the Commanders, the penalties didn’t end up hurting them in the end. However, in Week 7, the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rodgers come to town. Rodgers is legendary for catching his opponents trying to substitute; something Rivera is keenly aware of.
“This is one of the things that we were gonna get from them, and one of ’em obviously was the thing that Aaron Rogers does so well,” Rivera said. “We’re gonna face that this week that’s coming up, so that’ll be a point of emphasis. We cannot get caught substituting. We will only substitute when they substitute.”
The Commanders can’t afford to be undisciplined against Rodgers and the Packers. You can get by with that against the Bears, but Rodgers and Green Bay are a different story. Washington is a team that has very little margin for error right now.
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