The Washington Commanders suffered an embarrassing loss to the Detroit Lions Sunday in the Motor City. While the Commanders mounted a second half comeback, the 22-0 hole they dug themselves by halftime was too much to overcome, as the defense didn’t cooperate with the offense’s second half surge.
The best we can hope for is that Washington takes this loss as a learning experience and implements change to ensure it doesn’t happen again. They weren’t going to go undefeated and blew a gorgeous opportunity to start the year 2-0, but the sky is not falling by any means.
Beat the Eagles next week and everything changes.
After such a demoralizing loss, a head coach can do a lot in his/her postgame press conference to alleviate concerns and tranquilize an agitated fan base. Ron Rivera has done this countless times since he arrived in Washington, but Sunday was one to forget behind the microphone for the third-year head coach.
Sure, Rivera was probably more annoyed behind the scenes, but the lack of urgency and overall tone of his presser left a lot to be desired from a fan’s perspective so let’s highlight three quotes that confounded us beyond belief.
3 infuriating Ron Rivera quotes after the Commanders Week 2 loss
3. Jamin Davis is “running out of time”
Add Rivera to the list of Commanders coaches who’ve ridiculed Davis’ performance in the last week. After Jack Del Rio blasted the young linebacker for his showing against Jacksonville, Rivera came out and said the following about Davis:
"“Well, a little inconsistency,” Rivera said of Davis’ performance. “Again, as a young guy, he’s going to learn and grow but, hey, we’re running out of time as far as that’s concerned. We’ve got to go out and be consistent.”"
Rivera was as cryptic as we can remember after Sunday’s loss. Why was he so direct regarding Davis’ performance? We don’t doubt the 2021 first-round pick had some forgettable moments, but he’s one of a few players (Daron Payne being the other) whom we recall making an actual impact on defense.
The third-down sack of Jared Goff, a run stop near the goal line and sticking with D’Andre Swift on a pass to the end zone were just some of Davis’ standout moments.
What about William Jackson, Bobby McCain and Cole Holcomb? Can’t recall them doing anything helpful in the game. Kendall Fuller’s been inconsistent to start the year, too. Why is Davis the only defender being mentioned by name?
Extremely puzzling tactic from Rivera.
2. Defending the two-point conversion attempt
Commanders Twitter was set ablaze following this decision.
After an Antonio Gibson cut the Lions lead to 29-21, Washington was suddenly an extra point away from making it a seven-point game. Of course, they attempted a two-point conversion, which was doomed from the start as the Lions generated pressure and Carson Wentz was forced to ditch the pocket.
The thinking here is going for two would remove pressure later in the game had Washington got within striking distance of Detroit. That didn’t happen, as the Lions drove right down the field to go back up two scores, 36-21.
To rub salt in the wound, the Commanders executed another quick-scoring drive to bring them within nine only for Joe Slye to miss the extra point which effectively ended the game.
"“It’s in the math. It’s in the math,” Rivera said of the decision. “You guys should appreciate the analytics of it. Okay.”"
We can definitely see the logic in the decision, but just kick the point after and go down seven. Worry about converting the two-point attempt when it’s absolutely called for. Don’t dig yourself a bigger hole when the defense couldn’t stop a nosebleed.
1. Attributing woeful run defense to injuries
This is that lack of urgency that was mentioned earlier. After the Lions racked up 191 rushing yards against the Commanders, Rivera said he’s “not concerned” with the run defense and implied the defense is dealing with key injuries.
"“But having said that, they still ran against us,” Rivera said. “We came out the second half, we responded, we battled and we did some good things. I think you’ve got to look at more than just what you see on the surface. There’s a lot more to what happens.”"
How can you make excuses after THAT performance. D’Andre Swift played on a bum ankle and looked like prime Barry Sanders. Yes the Commanders’ defensive line is banged up and losing Daniel Wise and Casey Toohill to injuries didn’t help, but the Lions were also missing their entire interior offensive line, including two Pro Bowlers, and still produced 8.0 yards per carry in the game. How do you explain that?
It just comes off as weak.
We’re fine with Rivera attributing some of the struggles to injuries, but to say your “not concerned” as your team ranks 29th in rushing yards allowed (314) and dead-last in yards per carry (7.7) is a bizarre hill to die on.