Tag: Rivera

Are Ron Rivera, Scott Turner and Taylor Heinicke on the rocks?

Signs seem to be pointing to some sort of a split between Heinicke, Rivera and Turner.

Has the relationship of Ron Rivera, Scott Turner and Taylor Heinicke reached a fork in the road?

Sunday, following a Commanders 26-6 win over the visiting Cowboys, Heinicke was emotional leaving the field. Was he contemplating that he might have played his last game for the Burgundy and Gold?

Two weeks prior, Heinicke was visibly uncomfortable, even telling the press, “It sucks” when he had been pulled during the second half of the 49ers game, and Wentz replaced him.

Heinicke had to expect with an elimination game against the Browns approaching, Rivera would give Wentz the start. Rivera had traded for Wentz and agreed to pay him $28 million this season. Of course, he went back to Wentz after the way Heinicke struggled in both games against the Giants.

Even more, losing to the Browns, Rivera had turned back to Heinicke for the finale against Dallas. We do know Heinicke basically said no thank you, Ron. What we don’t know is his attitude and how he expressed it to Rivera.

For the record, last week Rivera, to the press, expressed that Heinicke was being a good teammate in stating that he felt Howell had worked all year, and if Rivera was going to play Howell some, then why not go ahead and let Howell start the game as well.

I see two sides to this pretty quickly. Taylor might be wanting to leave to launch out for a bigger stage elsewhere with a bigger paycheck. Yet, will the grass be greener for Heinicke in another NFL town? Will he find another team willing to pay him starter’s money?

Rivera is now in an uncomfortable position with the majority of the fan base absolutely adoring Heinicke, to such a degree that if he doesn’t retain Heinicke the fan base is upset.

Certainly, Sam Howell, playing well against Dallas will help Rivera make his decision. In addition, if Rivera brings in another quarterback next year, how will the fan base accept the new guy?

Might Rivera be thinking about not bringing back Heinicke because Taylor is frankly reaching a celebrity status that forgoes rational thinking for many?

After Wentz was injured in Week 6 this season, requiring surgery, Heinicke started six games, and the Commanders went 5-1. However, the last three he started the Commanders were 0-2-1.

Taylor Heinicke was with Rivera and Turner in Carolina. In fact, Heinicke was with Turner (prior to Carolina) in Minnesota as well. They also obviously continued that relationship in Washington dating back to December of the 2020 season.

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First four games for Redskins in 2020 among toughest in NFL

It’s imperative for teams to get out to a hot start in the NFL these days, but Washington’s first stretch of games is no cake-walk.

We all watched as the Washington Redskins schedule was released last week, setting the road map to a potentially successful season — at least in their terms. There are a number of tough road games on the docket, and a few that are extremely winnable here and there. While we may have predicted that Washington will end up going 5-11 on the season, what’s important to note is where those wins might come, and what that means.

Of course, 5-11 isn’t going to get you into the playoffs, but a string of wins at the start of the season, or a couple of victories in December might make the difference between starting and sitting for a couple of key players. With a young QB in Dwayne Haskins and a new coaching staff under the leadership of Ron Rivera, getting out to a hot start can make all the difference. Unfortunately for the Redskins, the start of the schedule is a bit tough, and it might be hard to find a win in the first few weeks of the year.

“New coach Ron Rivera will have his work cut out for him. Washington starts at home against the Philadelphia Eagles, the defending NFC East champions,” wrote Neil Greenberg, on The Washington Post. “Then the Redskins have back-to-back road games against the Cardinals and Cleveland Browns. Capping the four-game stretch is a matchup with the Ravens at FedEx Field.”

It lightens up a bit after that, with games against the NY Giants, the Detroit Lions, and the Cincinnati Bengals coming over the next couple of months, but wins there won’t mean a ton if Washington can’t find a way to steal a victory in the first four weeks. According to the Washington Post, there is a 34-percent chance the Redskins start the season with an 0-4 record and a 77-percent chance they go 1-3. If you look to the larger statistics, teams that start out the season with a 0-4 record have approximately zero chance to make the playoffs, while teams that go 1-3 make the postseason just 13-percent of the time.

The playoffs aren’t a realistic goal this season, but escaping that first stretch with a victory isn’t out of the question. If it happens, the rest of the season will be set up to be semi-respectable.

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