The Commanders have reached a crossroads in Ron Rivera’s tenure

Three years and (nearly) one week ago, the Washington Commanders announced they had fired Jay Gruden. A few hours later, Bruce Allen would say the now infamous “The culture is damn good,” quote to the media. The culture, to the surprise of no one, had been revealed to have been anything but “good” or stable.

That was rock bottom for the franchise. They were 0-5, their first-round pick at quarterback looked lost and overdrafted, their team president was arrogantly praising a circus, and the roster was in horrible shape.

I could speak in hyperbole and tell you that the situation the Commanders currently find themselves in is just as bad as in early Oct. 2019. I won’t, though, because it will be hard to top that. This situation could eventually top 2019 with complacency, though, so the fact that it is close is concerning

The circumstances are less than ideal for the burgundy and gold. They are three games out of third place in the NFC East five weeks into the season, and four games out of first. They are 0-3 against the NFC and 0-2 against the NFC East. Washington accounts for 66% of the NFC East’s losses in its entirety this year.

With the Bears on deck, the Commanders will start to get desperate. It is getting late early for Washington and they are quickly reaching a dilemma.

The Washington Commanders’ dilemma

Now three years under the tutelage of Ron Rivera, the product on the field simply hasn’t improved enough. Each year under Rivera the Commanders start slow. In the first five weeks of the season, they are a combined 4-11 under Rivera. And they continue to be getting off to horrendous starts in football games.

The only players that remain from the previous regime are Chase Roullier, Tress Way, Montez Sweat, Jonathan Allen, Terry McLaurin, Cam Sims and Jon Bostic. Other than a few rotational pieces, the only players that remain are the quality building blocks that were here when Rivera took over.

For all intents and purposes, this is the Final Destination of the Ron Rivera rebuild. It is Year 3 and Rivera has been quoted as saying “3-5 years” was the timeframe that was needed to establish a culture in the NFL, citing his military background for his reasoning behind that. Well, it is Year 3. And the Commanders still are not very good.

They were completely outclassed in inner-divisional matchups against the Eagles and the Cooper Rush-led Dallas Cowboys. They were down 22-0 to the Lions at halftime. The Lions’ lone win remains against Washington, and they were just shut out by the Bailey Zappe-led Patriots. Simply put: as of right now, the Commanders are bottom-dwellers in the NFL.

Even the Giants, in their first year with Brian Daboll as head coach, with a roster filled with holes, continue to be competitive every week. And they are winning. They sit at 4-1, tied for second with the Dallas Cowboys with one of the least talented rosters in the NFL.

Ron Rivera’s culture-building timeline wasn’t even remotely true. It’s the NFL; placing a competitive product on the field does not need to take multiple years, whether your team has the QB or not. Good coaches will put their teams in positions to succeed. Rivera has not.

There is a chance the front office can convince themselves into thinking the “culture” Rivera has brought to the DMV is worth giving him one more chance. And the problem is Rivera is the head honcho of the entire football operation.

He essentially answers to himself. Martin Mayhew nor Marty Hurney have the authority to step in and tell the Snyder’s “okay, time to pull the plug.” One, they clearly don’t have that authority, and both understand Rivera being ousted will assuredly lead to pink slips on their desks as well.

The Commanders have a fledgling operation. The coaching staff nor the talent, which the coaching staff has helped construct in the “coach-centric approach,” isn’t working out. And the owner may let it slide for now to handle other problems. And no one else can intercede to stop it.