Washington Football Team: 5 negatives for WFT vs Bills
3. Not measuring up
Head coach Ron Rivera claimed that the Bills game was a “measuring stick” for the Washington Football Team. Knowing that the Buffalo Bills are a potential Super Bowl team, this statement from Rivera was an honest pre-game assessment of how the organization would perform under such circumstances.
Asked about it being a measuring stick Game, Ron Rivera said they have “a long way to go”.
— John Keim (@john_keim) September 26, 2021
The answer was a resounding defeat at the hands of a far superior team. This was Sherman marching through Atlanta. While it wasn’t Georgia Tech walloping Cumberland, it was an embarrassing display for everyone to see. Coach Rivera knows that making such a claim before Sunday’s game was meant to motivate the team, but it was always going to be a true measure of what this team is able to accomplish in 2021. Now we know and it is time to fully recognize that the rebuild continues.
The players should use this season to learn and improve with each opportunity that is afforded to them. Don’t be surprised if Washington is able to score an upset victory over one of the better teams on the schedule this season. The team has many good players who will improve with more experience and they will perform above expectations when we think it will be another loss. That is typical of teams in rebuild mode.
During the 1989 season, the Dallas Cowboys went 1-15 and their fans were not happy at all. However, the one victory came at the expense of Washington – a yearly favorite to play in the Super Bowl. It took an additional three years for Dallas to win the Super Bowl, but those four years were spent in a rebuild. Their determination, patience, and commitment to making improvements would lead to three Super titles in a four year period. Are we willing to endure at least two more years of a rebuild? Are we willing to recognize that “measuring stick” games are necessary for the future success of the Washington Football Team?
Our focus this summer was on a team that we believed could make a deep run into the playoffs. It’s not that we were fooled into this line of thinking, but we are the fans and analysts who put forth these goals. Yours truly has been guilty of pushing this narrative in recent months and completely ignored that Washington is still in the midst of a rebuild. Changing the longtime culture of losing and futility will take a while longer – perhaps two or three additional years. Our third negative is for all of us to recognize that this rebuild will have its ups and downs, but better times are ahead.