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Will it ever change? That’s the question Washington fans continue to ask themselves year-after-year, regime after regime. After Sunday’s humiliating 56-14 loss to the Cowboys, Washington clinched its fifth consecutive losing season.
That means Ron Rivera has two consecutive losing seasons to begin his Washington coaching career.
Before we delve into the major rebuilding job that was in front of Rivera when he accepted the position, let’s be honest, how many coaches have two losing seasons to begin their tenure and turn things around?
Yes, there are multiple examples of it happening, but NFL teams do not exercise patience the same way as in the past. Rivera is not on the hot seat — nor should he be.
But why should fans continue to believe better things are on the horizon? There’s the ugly NFL investigation in Washington’s toxic workplace culture that saw owner Daniel Snyder walk away with more power than ever. And the NFL doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to release the emails that got Jon Gruden fired, and Bruce Allen shamed.
Then, you have the Sean Taylor debacle. How does that happen?
Then the silly bench fiasco. And team president Jason Wright’s Christmas Day tweet. I didn’t have an issue with Wright’s tweet, but, just like with the benches, when you do something like that, you better be able to back it up.
What about the sideline scuffle from Sunday night?
Have you seen Washington the last two weeks?
Yes, the team is battling a tremendous amount of adversity. There are tons of injuries, almost half the team spent time on the reserve/COVID-19 list and there’s the tragedy involving Deshazor Everett. But fans are tired of hearing excuses.
Former Washington star Brian Mitchell explained it best after Sunday’s loss at Dallas.
.@BMitchliveNBCS sounds off on tonight's #washingtonfootball game in Dallas: pic.twitter.com/qLyBAD9dY6
— NBC Sports Washington Football (@NBCSWASFootball) December 27, 2021
Who can disagree with Mitchell? He’s 100% correct.
Back to Rivera, yes, he inherited a difficult situation. And, yes, it is true that winning a wretched NFC East in his debut season probably gave fans some false expectations, but this team does have talent.
Outside of Chase Young, the defensive line is relatively healthy? Why are teams continuing to gash Washington? Why can’t anyone outside of Jonathan Allen get to the quarterback consistently? And, yes, that included Young.
Does he need to make some staff changes? Rivera was defiant when asked about coaching changes earlier in the season, and, to be fair, Washington’s defense did begin to play much better.
This is Rivera’s team. This is Rivera’s staff. And, this is Rivera’s front office. No more blaming Bruce Allen, Jay Gruden, Kyle Smith, or anyone else. Washington had a terrible offseason. Yes, that can change next season when some guys get healthy or younger players to continue to develop, but the early returns aren’t encouraging.
Do you trust Rivera and his handpicked front office to find the quarterback of the future?
Everyone knows the owner is a problem. He’s not going anywhere. Rivera has complete control. So, if this ship continues to trend in the wrong direction, that’s on him and Wright.
Washington can still finish the season strong with back-to-back NFC East victories, but it will still end another season with a losing record.
At this point, it’s fair to question Rivera. This is a massive offseason for Rivera and Washington.